Tokyo: Shigemi Fukahori, who survived the 1945 atomic bomb attack on Nagasaki, Japan, has died. He was 93 years old. Shigemi Fukahori also campaigned against nuclear weapons. The Urakami Catholic Church said on Sunday that Fukahori breathed his last on January 3 in a hospital in southwestern Japan. He used to pray in this church almost daily until his last day last year. Local media said that he died due to old age.

Fukahori was only 14 years old at the time of the attack 

Fukahori was only 14 years old when America dropped a bomb on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. Thousands of people died in that incident. Three days before that, a nuclear attack was carried out on Hiroshima in which 140,000 people died. 

Fukahori used to work in the shipyard

Japan surrendered a few days after the atomic attack, ending World War II. Fukahori worked at a shipyard about three kilometers from where the bombs were dropped. He couldn't talk about the incident for years, not only because of the painful memories, but also because of how helpless he felt at the time. 

He became more outspoken after meeting a man who experienced the bombing of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War in 1937 during a trip to Spain about 15 years ago, who was also 14 years old at the time. After sharing their experiences, Fukahori began to speak out openly. 

When I extended my hand for help...

"The day the bomb fell, I heard a voice for help. When I went to him and extended my hand, (I saw that) the person's skin melted. I still remember how it felt then," Fukahori told Japan's national broadcaster NHK in 2019. He often addressed students, hoping they would "carry forward the peace movement."