Peter Kuznick greets Mr. Tanaka in Oslo before the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony. Courtesy of Peter Kuznick.
Vermont Business Magazine On August 6 and 9, 2025, the world will mark the tragic 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki perpetrated by the United States.
On the day of the Nagasaki bombing, Taniguchi Sumiteru, then 16, was delivering mail on his bicycle in the northern part of the city, about a mile from ground zero. The force of the explosion tossed him into the air and the heat of the bomb seared the skin off his back and one arm. He spent ten years in recovery and a lifetime advocating for the abolition of nuclear weapons, becoming a co-chair of Nihon Hidankyo, the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October 2024.
In 2020, Rootstock Publishing, based in Montpelier, Vermont, with the support of Nihon Hidankyo, published the English language edition of Mr. Taniguchi’s memoir, The Atomic Bomb on My Back, released for the 75th anniversary of the bombings. The memoir’s introduction is by Peter Kuznick, professor of history and director of the Nuclear Studies Institute at American University, who knew Mr. Taniguchi well from bringing his students to study abroad in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Kuznick nominated Nihon Hidankyo for the Nobel Prize and attended the award ceremony in Oslo in December.
Compiled by Hisashi Tomokuni, the book shows Mr. Taniguchi’s role as the symbol of the anti-nuclear peace movement and his life story: his youth burdened with being an A-bomb survivor, the joy when his child was born, the pain of the scars on his back, and how his wife supported his activism even while he faced discrimination and prejudice.
“I would like people to imagine what nuclear weapons could do to human beings, as real as possible,” said author Mr. Hisashi. “The Nagasaki atomic bomb took tens of thousands of lives with just one shot and caused lifelong damage even to those who survived. I hope that the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Hidankyo and this book will provide an opportunity for as many people as possible to reflect on themselves and their families in the image of Mr. Taniguchi and other A-bomb survivors, and to recognize the danger of the existence of nuclear weapons in the world.”
According to the Nihon Hidankyo, there are nearly 100,000 survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (called Hibakusha), and their average age is over 85 years old.
“The time will soon come when there will be no more Hibakusha,” said Tanaka Terumi, current co-chair of Nihon Hidankyo, in a statement. “Now is the time to dig up their testimonies, and communicate the inhumanity of nuclear weapons to the world and to change the nuclear policies of the nuclear-armed states and their allies.”
Before his death in 2017, Mr. Taniguchi said, “I am most afraid of what the world will look like when there are no more A-bomb survivors left.”
In a press release, the Nobel Committee emphasized the significance of awarding the prize to Nihon Hidankyo, with the intention of sounding the alarm and warning the world that the “nuclear taboo” against the use of nuclear weapons is under stress today.
“Every young person who is living in the 21st century should have a chance to read this book. This is my earnest desire,” Mr. Tanaka added. “I hope that those who have read this book will respond to Mr. Taniguchi's appeal and take action together with us to prevent the use of these inhumane weapons, and to abolish them once and for all.”
The Atomic Bomb on My Back: A Life Story of Survival and Activism (ISBN: 978-1-57869-040-4) is available for the book trade through Ingram and for the public everywhere books are sold or at www.rootstockpublishing.com.
About Rootstock Publishing
Rootstock Publishing (rootstockpublishing.com) is a curated hybrid and traditional publishing house collaborating with authors—the rootstock of creative content. Rootstock’s books have won multiple awards, including, among others, the Eric Hoffer Award, the IPPY, Foreword INDIES, the IBPA Book Award, Literary Titan, and IPNE Award. Founded in 2017 in Montpelier, Vermont, Rootstock has published more than eighty books of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and children’s books by authors from all over the globe.
7.25.2025. Rootstock Publishing www.rootstockpublishing.com
To support vital journalism, access our archives and get unique features like our award-winning profiles, Book of Lists & Business-to-Business Directory, subscribe HERE!
