Rafu Staff Report
Medical examinations for Hiroshima and Nagasaki survivors living in Southern California are being conducted by Osato Medical Clinic in Torrance.
The exams began in May and will end this month.
On Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 19-20, doctors from the Hiroshima Prefecture Medical Association, who have expertise in radiation-related illnesses, will come to Torrance to review the test results and meet with local hibakusha.
Members of the American Society of Hiroshima-Nagasaki A-Bomb Survivors, who number about 150, have been participating in the exams.
Since last year, the Japanese government has given overseas survivors an opportunity to be examined every year instead of every other year. The results of the exams will be mailed to each hibakusha after Japanese doctors have reviewed them and added comments. The Hiroshima medical team will continue to visit every other year.
Children of hibakusha are allowed to have an exam every other year.
Patients must have a hibakusha techou, a certificate proving one’s status as an A-bomb survivor.
For more information on the exams, contact Midori Seino at (310) 265-1236 or seinom6@gmail.com.
The Japanese government is also sponsoring a medical team to visit San Francisco on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 12-13, to provide free medical screenings to hibakusha living in Northern California.
Medical exams will be given to those who have been issued a survivor identification card from the Japanese government.
First-time applicants must go through a face-to-face interview process with a Japanese representative. Bring proof of survivor status, or bring witnesses to interview or be able to explain your atomic-bomb experience.
Second-generation survivors who want to be interviewed must have a parent or parents who have a certificate.
The exams will be given at St. Mary’s Medical Center.
To participate, contact Carrolyn Kubota at (415) 860-5511 or kubotacarrolyn@yahoo.com.