Science Friday - A Nagasaki Survivor And Physician Recounts His Life's Work

Episode Date: August 6, 2025

Dr. Masao Tomonaga was only 2 years old when the United States bombed his home city of Nagasaki. He survived, and grew up to become a physician for other survivors, known as hibakusha. He also studied hematology, and his research on leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes was foundational for understanding how radiation affects the body. On the 80th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, he speaks with Host Ira Flatow about his life’s work, how hibakusha lived with the medical consequences of the bombs, and his message to the world.Guest: Dr. Masao Tomonaga is a survivor of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki and director emeritus of the Japanese Red Cross Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Hospital.Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

Hey there, it's Ira Flato, and you're listening to Science Friday. 80 years ago, the U.S. bomb to Hiroshima and Nagasaki. So today on the show, an atomic bomb survivor and physician recounts his life's work and understanding how radiation affects the body. I have a fear I should be a leukemia patient. So I finally decided to go to medical school and to learn. why adiomia was induced by radiation. An estimated 210,000 people died instantly or within five months of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Another 210,000 survived and became known as Heibaksha in Japanese. For decades, Heabaksha have been receiving medical care at specialized hospitals designed to care for atom bomb survivors. and to this day those hospitals are busy and filled with survivors who have suffered the medical consequences of the bombings. Dr. Musao Tomonaga was a doctor at one of these hospitals. He was just two years old in Nagasaki when the U.S. bombed the city. Years later, he became a physician and ultimately ran a Red Cross hospital in Nagasaki that cared for Heibakshha just like himself. Now he directs a nursing home for Heibokshah and still

sees patients regularly. Dr. Tomenaga is my guest on Science Friday today. Welcome to the show. Nice to meet you. Thank you. You were only two years old when the U.S. bombed Nagasaki. What was your first memory of the aftermath? I have no memory of atomic bombing in Nagasaki, especially what happened in our house. Later, when I became age four or five, my mother explained what happened. My mother was preparing lunch in the first floor, and I was sleeping on the second floor,

but suddenly the blast came, and our Japanese wooden house half broken, not completely, half broken. So my mother came up to broken second floor and found me in a narrow space under the roof, and she took me out successfully. If she was not successful to take out me from the... space, maybe I was burned by a firestorm, firestorm after one hour or two hours. So I was a lucky boy. I was a lucky boy. There were many unlucky boys and the girls. Yeah. Your father was a physician. He was a doctor. Yeah. Was your father working as a doctor during the

bombings? No. My father, I, my father. actually stationed in Taiwan. He was serving Japanese Army Air Force as medic. My father first received information about Nagasaki a disaster by bombing. He first thought his wife and newborn son already dead, but one month later, a letter from my mother. reached him. So he was so glad to read. So he came back to Nagasaki. Did he take care of the survivors when he returned? Yeah, he became one of the main doctors who take care of atomic bomb survivors,

especially as a hematologist. It's a blood disease specialist. And, And later, my father found among children, acute leukemia case started to increase. So the leukemia was due to the radiation? Yeah, this was actually due to radiation because the distance from the ground zero, this distance, shorter the distance, the increased incidence of acute eukesemone. among citizens was increased. We call it dose-dependent dependency was clearly shown. So your father was one of the first people to realize

that the leukemia he was seeing was becoming more common in the survivors, correct? Correct, correct. That was happening also in Hiroshima City, simultaneously, as if there were two, experiments, massive radiation on citizens. So let's move a little bit ahead.

Why did you decide to become a doctor? My family was actually from my grandfather, all doctors. So I was grown up surrounding doctors. So it was my natural way to become a doctor. And more than that, when I became high school boy, I must prepare for examination in medical school. My knowledge about atomic bomb-induced leukemia was increased. So I have a fear I should be also becoming a leukemia patient.

So I finally decided to go to medical school to learn why a leukemia was induced by radiation, atomic warming radiation. Yeah. After you graduated medical school, why did you graduate? medical school, why did you want to study and take care of other survivors? Why was that important to you? Yeah. When I become a doctor and I decided to enter hematology to study and treat leukemia patients as a hibakshare care doctor. Yeah. So this continued over all. entire my life. Because the diseases which developed from atomic bomb survivors continued even now,

even now. Are there still any cases? Do you think of illnesses from the radiation, whether it's leukemia or others, still being discovered left from the bomb? Yeah. Actually, we first observed leukemia increase in the first 20 years, but leukemia began to decline gradually. We thought this was the end of radiation effect on human being, but it was not true. Around this 20 years phase, cancer, solid cancer, such as lung cancer, colon cancer and so on, began to increase among many

survivors. So it continues long, very long, until present time. And other than leukemia, we've discovered that in 1980s, almost 40 years after atomic bombing, another disease, which is, similar to leukemia, but quite different diseases of the elderly people, elderly leukemia began to increase. That's name is myeloplastic syndrome. We abbreviation is MDS. This is the first discovery in Hiroshima-Nagosaki. This is continuing now.

So after 80 years, radiation effect is continuing. Is that surprising? Was that surprising to you? Yes, surprising, surprising. So we decided to begin research on why such a long-time induction of malignant diseases by radiation actually happens. There must be some mechanism for this. We finally discovered that those radiation cause genetic abnormality. in each cells of organs. And some of the such cells are called stem cell, very primitive, primitive cells, which every day produce red cells, white cells,

and so on. But still, these cells are not leukemia cells. This condition continues for more than 60 years, 70 years, some of them began to develop actual MDS. And MDS is also a lethal disease, because after four or five years of mild clinical course, many MDS patients develop acute leukemia and finally die. The treatment is very inactive.

So we must say leukemia and, And other cancers related to radiation are lifelong effect of atomic bombing. Wow. Those are the long-term effects. Very long-term. Very long-term. Yeah, they certainly seem surprising. Who would have thought back 80 years later?

No one. No one. Actually, we didn't at all. Yeah. But there were those short-term immediate effects from the bomb itself, right? We had miscarriages, birth defects, not to mention the severe burns. Yeah, severe burns was the most popular injury given by atomic bomb heat rays, heat rays. Those who died of severe burn, the number was the greatest among early deaths of hemactions.

Coming up after the break, how the atomic. bomb lives on. She said, I was confident that the atomic bomb is surviving in my body, deep, deep body. What about the psychological effects? Yeah, we doctors responsible for hibakshare care began to

see many hibokshers who are exposed to high-dose radiation, began to complain every year during the atomic bomb season. That starts about June, July, August. They often complain of sleeplessness, anxiety, and the flashback of atomic bomb experience.

And their psychological condition deteriorates. remarkably. So we performed 8,000 large-scale psychological examinations by using WHO questionnaire, which is a powerful scoring methodology. Twelve is the largest scores. So we found within 1.5 kilometers from the ground zero. Almost all survivors showed very high score over 10 to 12. So this was our surprise. That was done in 1995. 50 year anniversary of atomic bombing, we performed this large-scale study.

What about now? Yeah, I began to feel that their memory is fading, fading, fading out. In their 50s, 60s, their memory was very clear, and they always complained of their experience. But recently, when they got over 80 years, their memory seemed to be fading, fading, fading. So that is maybe a good point for them to.

They have been relieved from the, anxiety and depressive states, they are now very spending calm days. Yeah, and I know that you follow them because I understand you run a nursing home for other survivors. Tell me about that. How many people there? 450, 450 in total. And every day I examine 20 to 30 patients who suffer from, transgent fever, diarrhea, and sometimes coronavirus infection, influenza, and so on. But among such daily diseases, we sometimes find MDS and cancer in cases of short-distance survivors. I read that some patients describe it like the atom bomb is still in their bodies.

That was an astonishing moment for me when I conveyed my diagnosis, acutriumia, to patients. She was 76 years old at that time. She said, I was confident that the atomic bomb is surviving in my body, deep body. Tell me more, what did she mean by that? He meant not radiation itself. Most seabactiars have no such residual radiation, except plutonium. About 20 years ago, one of our researcher at Nagasaki University found plutonium particles deposited in several organs of autopsied cases of Tobin-Bomb survivors, most often lung and bones. bones, those calculated from this deposited plutonium particles, was so small, very tiny amount.

So it is impossible to suspect after bombing, the induction of cancer was maybe negligible, negligible. Negligible. Do you have a message for those of us on this 80s? anniversary of the bombing? Yes, 80 years is enough period. If we can understand the atomic bomb is inhumane weapon. When a large-scale nuclear war happens, the human being could be a cessation. So why our society cannot abandon nuclear weapons? That is my largest problem.

I'm working for the realization of nuclear weapon-free world. And I want to talk to leaders of nuclear weapon states and I urge their decision to make the nuclear weapon be abundant. Yesterday I met some youth at the United Nations, and I talked and they clearly understood. But how these new generation will protest to their government, especially in nuclear weapons states government, that is very unclear, unclear. Yeah, that is the biggest problem.

Dr. Tomonaga, I want to thank you for joining us today. You are very much welcome, yeah. Dr. Massau Tomonaga is a survivor of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki and director emeritus of the Japanese Red Cross Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Hospital. Special thanks to Laura Pelman. for her help with this interview. This episode was produced by Rasha Airedi. I'm Ira Flato. Thanks for listening.