'Atomic People' sheds light on the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Aug. 6, 1945 — the day the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. Three days later, the U.S. dropped bomb on Nagasaki.

The events were some of the most momentous and destructive in world history.

Eighty years later, directors Benedict Sanderson and Megumi Inman are behind the PBS documentary “Atomic People,” which takes a look at the beginning of the Atomic Age through the lens of the Japanese — specifically survivors of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The documentary will premiere at 10 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 5, on New Mexico PBS, channel 5.1. It will also be available to stream on the PBS app.

“This documentary is from another perspective,” Inman says. “Atomic bombs have such a strong impact on the national psyche in Japanese. It’s a big part of Japanese history, and the legacy has left fear. It’s very real.”

Sanderson continues, “Eighty years later and it seems like we haven’t learned anything. We have world leaders who continue to make nuclear threats. It feels like a pretty relevant story.”

The PBS documentary has a powerful historical record, capturing the testimony of the last Japanese survivors.

The bomb known as “Little Boy” that decimated Hiroshima was 2,000 times more powerful than any bomb before, instantly killing approximately 80,000 of the city’s 350,000 residents. By the end of the year, the death toll would rise to 140,000 as initial survivors succumbed to illnesses connected to radiation exposure. In Nagasaki, where approximately 40,000 were killed instantly, the number would rise to 74,000 by the end of the year.

The directors say it was important to be able to present the testimony of some of the last “hibakusha” — the Japanese term for survivors of the two atomic bombs — before their voices are lost forever. With an average age of 85, the hibakusha were children when the bombs were dropped.

The pair began filming in Japan in March 2024.

Inman was pregnant at the time, and Sanderson was brought in just before the first days of shooting.

“I don’t think we could find many Western documentaries that focused on the Japanese perspective,” Sanderson says. “I wasn’t a Japanese speaker, but Meg stepped in and began to build relationships with the people. You don’t get to hear this type of testimony every day. It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

Inman says interviewing the hibakusha was a difficult task because these are people who have gone through one of the worst bombings in world history.

“Hibakusha felt guilty and ashamed for being who they are,” Inman says. “It was difficult to get jobs and get married. I grew up in Japan and I heard the stories in history classes, but listening to the raw, first-hand experiences as a grown up really impacted me. Despite surviving the bombs, every time we met a hibakusha, they are some of the most positive, graceful humans. I learned so much from them and it was a real lesson on many levels. To this day, they have so much forgiveness and positivity.”

Knowing that time was against them, the filmmakers moved quickly once relationships were established.

Sanderson says each story resonated with him.

“One of the interviewees gave a description of when she had to cremate fellow Japanese and being told she had to wait until the bones turn the color of a cherry blossom,” he says. “I had never heard testimony like that. I make documentaries for a living and this one is really different.”

'Atomic People' sheds light on the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki