This archive report was first published on 23 November 2019.
Published on November 23, 2019, Pope Francis is set to visit Nagasaki, a city still grappling with the devastating effects of the atomic bombings in 1945.
Among those who will be listening to the Pope's message are ageing survivors of the bombings, who are passionate about nuclear abolition.
Hayashida, an 81-year-old survivor of the Nagasaki bombing, hopes the Pope's visit will bring fresh international attention to the cause of nuclear abolition and keep alive the memory of the devastating bombings.
"We must not use nuclear weapons. I don't even think nuclear deterrence works," Hayashida told AFP at a church in the southwestern Japanese city.
Hayashida's experience of the bombing is a harrowing one. He was just seven years old when the US dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, killing at least 74,000 people.
He lost his mother and two brothers in the bombing and suffered severe burns on his head, arms, and legs.
"I felt something was wrong with my head and I touched it. Then I saw blood all over my hand," he recalled.
Hayashida's story is not unique. Many survivors of the bombings are still alive today, and they are calling for a world without nuclear weapons.
"The world is in a critical situation," said Masako Wada, a 76-year-old survivor of the Nagasaki attack.
"In today's Japan, not many people know about nuclear abolition. People don't relate to the issue."
