(Photo: close up of a statue of Kuan Yin, the Bodhisattva of great compassion which was atomic-bombed in Hiroshima)

On Thursday the 30th of March 2017, Faslane Peace Camp (the worlds longest running active protest site and a frontline in the fight against nuclear weapons of mass destruction), was honoured to host a visit by the Hibakusha Reiko Yamada and Midori Yamada together with their translator and fellow anti-nuclear activist Shigeo Kobayashi (a member of Japanese Against Nuclear – JAN) and many visitors from SCND (Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament).

(Photo: Left to right – Shigeo Kobayashi, Reiko Yamada, Midori Yamada & Peace Campers)

It seems almost unthinkable that any living thing could survive the blast of the atomic bomb, “Little Boy”, that was dropped on Hiroshima at 8:15am, August 6th, 1945. 80,000 – 140,000 people were killed instantly and a further 100,000 seriously injured. In less than a second…