Hibakusha

[Benjamin Barrett]

I forgot to check the more recent edition of the Green Goddess. In the 2003 edition of "Kenkyusha's New Japanese-English Dictionary," the definition indicates that the English word "hibakusha" is a narrowing of the Japanese 被爆者 (hibakusha).

The definitions of 被爆者 given are:

a person who was exposed to radiation from an A-[H-]bomb
a survivor [victim] of an A-[H-] bomb [an atomic air raid]
{of Hiroshima/Nagasaki} a _hibakusha_

Benjamin Barrett
Seattle, WA

On Aug 6, 2011, at 2:43 PM, Benjamin Barrett wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Benjamin Barrett <gogaku at IX.NETCOM.COM>
> Subject:      Hibakusha
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> In ADS list message 5915, 17 April 2000, Barry Popik mentions that he =
> sees the word "hibakusha" all over Hiroshima Peace Park. He also notes =
> that it's not in the OED, and it still is not. =
> (http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=3Dind0004C&L=3DADS-L&P=3DR=
> 928&I=3D-3&d=3DNo+Match%3BMatch%3BMatches)
>
> Because the anniversaries of the Nagasaki and Hiroshima atomic bombings =
> are upon us, the word is in the news right now. In an article in the =
> Washington Post =
> (http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia-pacific/in-a-switch-japans-a-bom=
> b-survivors-turn-against-nuclear-energy/2011/08/04/gIQALjBzvI_story.html) =
> dated yesterday, Chico Harlan uses the word without italics, but does =
> describe the meaning:
>
> -----
> But most of the bombing survivors, known as hibakusha, have long had a =
> far more complex, and often positive, view of nuclear power =97 which =
> partly explains why Japan now has reactors along almost every rural =
> swath of its shoreline, 54 in all, accounting for about 30 percent of =
> the national power supply.
> -----
>
> Outside of Google Books, the earliest citation I can find on Google is =
> June 1977, when the magazine Penthouse ran a story titled "The HIbakusha =
> Gallery" by Edward Bryant. (See =
> http://www.wonderclub.com/magazines/adult_magazine_single_page.php?magid=3D=
> penthouse&u=3DPENT197706.) In the years after that, my manual searching =
> on Google showed there is a scattering of hits each year, until 2001 =
> when the number of hits suddenly increases dramatically.=20
>
> The earliest Google Books citation I see is 1961: "Children of the =
> ashes: the story of a rebirth" by Robert Jungk =
> (http://books.google.com/books?id=3DvIA1AAAAIAAJ&q=3Dhibakusha&dq=3Dhibaku=
> sha&hl=3Den&ei=3D17E9TuGPLeOLsQLtjoHCBw&sa=3DX&oi=3Dbook_result&ct=3Dresul=
> t&resnum=3D1&ved=3D0CDAQ6AEwAA)
>
> Italics are used, indicated here by underscores:
> -----
> ...the Japanese began to think less about the 'cold-hearted Americans' =
> and more about their own failure to do anything to ameliorate the =
> suffering of the _hibakusha_. (page 278)
>
> Yet now, in Hiroshima, the foundation stone had been laid for a new =
> hospital to care for the atomic sick. (Incidentally, not a single =
> _hibakusha_ had been invited to attend this ceremony.) (page 288)
> -----
>
> An earlier hit in 1953 reveals the word spelled in capitals, but it is =
> in Japanese and translated as "atomic bomb survivors" =
> (http://books.google.com/books?id=3DJqITAQAAMAAJ&q=3Dhibakusha&dq=3Dhibaku=
> sha&hl=3Den&ei=3D17E9TuGPLeOLsQLtjoHCBw&sa=3DX&oi=3Dbook_result&ct=3Dresul=
> t&resnum=3D2&ved=3D0CDQQ6AEwAQ).
>
> "Kenkyusha's New Japanese-English Dictionary" (known as "The Green =
> Goddess"), fourth edition, 1974 (impressed 1993), has hibaku as a =
> headword and hibakusha listed under it: "a victim of an atomic air =
> raid."
>
> The "New Shogakukan Random House English-Japanese Dictionary", second =
> edition, 1994, gives a citation of 1970 for hibakusha.

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