Hibakusha?

Question

John Hersey says it means "explosion-affected persons." John Berger says it means "those who have seen hell." Can anyone give me a literal translation?

Answer 1

Hibakusha - bomb victim

bomb - bakudan, bomu

victim - higaisha

explosion - bakuhatsu, haretsu

Answer 2

Hibakusha (被爆者, Hibakusha?) is the term widely used in Japan referring to victims of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Japanese word translates literally to "explosion-affected people." As of March 2005, there were 266,598 hibakusha certified by the Japanese government.[1] Almost all live in Japan, but several thousand bomb survivors live in Korea and elsewhere.

The Atomic Bomb Survivors Relief Law defines hibakusha as people (1) who were within a few kilometers of the hypocenters of the bombs, (2) who were within 2 km of the hypocenters within two weeks of the bombings, (3) who were exposed to radiation from fallout, and (4) babies carried by pregnant women in any of these categories.

Hibakusha are entitled to government support; they receive a certain amount of allowance per month. They and their children were (and still are) victims of severe discrimination due to lack of knowledge about the consequences of radiation sickness, which people believed to be hereditary or even contagious. About 1%, certified as suffering from bomb-related diseases, receive a special medical allowance.

Each year, on the anniversaries of the bombings, lists of the names of hibakusha whose deaths have been recorded in the previous year are added to the cenotaphs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As of August, 2005, the death tolls stand at 242,437 (Hiroshima[2]), and 137,339 (Nagasaki[3]).

Answer 3

'Hibakusha' means a bomb victim