A Remarkable Man: Dr. Shuntaro Hida from Hiroshima to Fukushima
A doctor and survivor of the Hiroshima bombing of August 6, 1945, tells his story of that fateful day and his years of advocating for radiation sufferers in A Remarkable Man by Marc Petitjean.
In a blend of reportage and intimate interviews with Dr. Shuntaro Hida, Petitjean tells the story of this quiet, conscientious physician who stood on a hill a mere seven kilometers from the blast zone. He rushed toward the pillar of fire that was Hiroshima to help as many as he could. The sights he saw would haunt him for a lifetime and infuse in him a desire to educate people, and other doctors, about the dangers of internal radiation… at the time, an unseen and undiagnosed wound that would eventually kill many hibakusha (bomb survivors) in the years ahead. Dr. Hida’s advocacy against nuclear weapons is a second theme of this rather short read, but his voice is a clarion call throughout for humanity to start acting, well, human.
A Remarkable Man is an elegiac portrait of an amazing soul who rushed toward danger and certain death to treat the untreatable. This is an important addition to hibakusha studies and well worth your time.
