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Friday, August 14, 2009

Issey Miyake reveals he is a Hibakusha

In this Japan Times commentary on Issey Miyake's July revelation that he is a hibakusha––public scholar Jeff Kingston says we must raise awareness of the "lessons and legacies" of the atomic bombings to resensitize ourselves to the horrifying possibility of nuclear holocaust that accompanies dependence on nuclear weaponry:
Global fashion icon Issey Miyake recently made headlines by divulging in a New York Times article he penned on July 13 that he is a hibakusha, a survivor of the atomic bombings of Japan...

Miyake had remained quiet all these years, not wanting to be defined by his past or to become known as the "hibakusha designer." But he was inspired to speak out after an April 5 speech by U.S. President Barack Obama in Prague, in which he announced his intention to work toward abolishing nuclear weapons, declaring, " . . . as a nuclear power, as the only nuclear power to have used a nuclear weapon, the United States has a moral responsibility to act..."

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