Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Fukushima

摘要

In this issue of The Lancet, three Series1–3 papers and a Viewpoint4 commemorate 70 years of caring for survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as well as the more recent extension of that care to those aff ected by the Fukushima nuclear accident.As a result of this unwelcome triple legacy, Japan has become a uniquely important site for understanding radiation-related health eff ects1 and the aftermath and eff ects of nuclear accidents.2,3 As the From Hiroshima and Nagasaki to Fukushima Series makes clear, the three Japanese locations are linked by more than tragedy. The events of 1945 shaped institutions and research programmes that came to play a major part in Fukushima prefecture 66 years later.