Educational Media Reviews Online

Hibakusha, literally “victim of radiation,” is the Japanese word used to refer to survivors of the atomic bomb. Though the link to cancer and thyroid problems has not been scientifically proved, this film presents strong evidence that low-level radiation exposure, particularly to radiation released into the atmosphere from nuclear reactors, depleted uranium munitions, and from long-ago irradiated sites like Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Chernobyl, is responsible for a new generation of hibakusha.

This documentary consists primarily of interviews with those exposed to radiation, their survivors, or their doctors, in English, or in Japanese, or Persian with English subtitles. The story moves back and forth between Iran, Japan, and Hanford, Washington, though as an added DVD feature, the viewer can choose to view the segments arranged by country.

Strengths include devastating statistics, such as a four-fold rise in cancer and leukemia in Iranian children, and an 18-fold increase in adult deaths from cancer by 2003, only twelve years after the 1st Gulf War, with alarming stats regarding cancer and thyroid problems in the US and Japan, too. Weaknesses include a “genetics” doctor, who speculates on radiation induced reproductive problems for Japanese women and a rising rate of birth defects; and a tendency for exaggeration, or inaccuracy, in several subtitles. For example, “2000 tons of depleted uranium fell on the Iraqi people and their land,” more accurately stated is, “2000 tons of munitions containing depleted uranium fell on the Iraqi people and their land.” And, “By 2003, waste from Japanese nuclear power plants equaled 2350 times the plutonium of the bomb that fell on Nagasaki,” is a curious statement, probably the result of a minor translation error.

Technically, the film is excellent, especially considering the lengths of segments that were filmed outdoors, inside (or from inside) vehicles, in homes or hospitals. The sound and sound editing is likewise excellent: the viewer can see windblown dust, bending trees and grasses, but not hear the buffeting of the wind.

This film will enhance collections in the health and environmental sciences and is appropriate for audiences from high school through adult. As mentioned earlier, the “by country” DVD choice lends some flexibility to teaching the material since each country’s segments document separate sources of low-level radiation that are the source of health problems. For English speakers, about half of the films’ information is conveyed in subtitles, so appropriate reading skills and the ability to concentrate will be very important to your students as the film is used in instruction. The video is accompanied by links to a guidebook and a lesson plan on the Choices Video website.