HIROSHIMA -- A report filed by an expert panel to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare on Jan. 20 stating that insufficient data prevents it from reviewing the area affected by radiation-tainted "black rain" after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima has made many survivors angry."They have not tried to look at this from the standpoint of atomic-bomb victims," says 86-year-old Masayuki Matsumoto, who lives in the Hiroshima Prefecture town of Akiota, and is deputy chief of an association of "black rain" atomic-bomb victims. He expressed resentment toward the health ministry's expert panel and the national government, which has not conducted on-site investigations.
When the U.S. military dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, Matsumoto was at a relative's home 20 kilometers northwest of the hypocenter. He saw a blue light in the direction of Hiroshima city, and subsequently heard a rumbling noise. Sometime after noon, he was rained on at his home not far away. Read More
