RERF's letter requesting corrections to Yomiuri Telecasting Corp.'s broadcast (August 17,2017)
RERF Hiroshima, General Affairs Section, Doc. No. 2017-110
August 17, 2017
To:

Mr. Kan Tsutagawa, Representative Director and President
Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation

From:

Ohtsura Niwa, Chairman
Radiation Effects Research Foundation“Wake up! Plus” aired on August 12, 2017

(Request for correcting the broadcast content)
We viewed your co中oration ’ s TV program ， “Wake Up! Plus: the加th of the dropping of
the atomic bombs-research over treatment, ABCC's darkness” that was aired on August 12th
based on an interview we gave on July 28th.
In the program, the moderator and commentators criticized 也at the Radiation Effects
Research Foundation (hereafter “ RERF”） does not disclose personal information to A-bombsurvivors. However, it is far企om the truth. As a matter of regular practice, RERF, complying
with the Personal Information Protection Law, strictly manages the health information ofA-bomb survivors, in p訂ticular, as sensitive personal information. In other words, RERF does
not make the personal information public and open. However, RERF discloses information toA-bomb survivors at their request. When we receive a request for disclosure from A-bomb
survivors themselves, we 佐y to communicate with them to find out what kind of information
they 町e requesting and whether血ey can offer us some clues helping us to find theinformation, and then we take the time to search out the information.
”
日 is regrettable that in the progr副： n ， “making personal information public and open
isconfused with “disclosing personal information to a rightful person，”which gave misleading
information to its viewers. At也e same time，吐1e progr出n gave the impression that RERF isreluctant to disclose information.

Based on reflection of the ABCC era, RERF has been making sincere efforts to respondadequately and thoroughly to A-bomb survivors' requests in order to be acknowledged b y thepublic as an open organization. However, with broadcasting of programs such as this one, we
fear that our ongoing efforts could end in vain. In order to restore RERF's honor, I would liketo ask you to correct the broadcast content in your progr創n.

Yomiuri Telecasting Corp.'s response (August 31, 2017)
August 31, 2017
To:Dr. Ohtsura Niwa, Chairman
Radiation E ffects Research Foundation

From:Jun Yamane, Chief Producer
Wake up! Plus
Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation
Response to your letter titled(Request for correcting the broadcast content） ”

We would like to也ank you for your cooperation, including the interview you granted us,
with o町 television program “Wake Up! Plus: Truth of what happened after the atomic
bombings-Research not treatment, ABCC's darkness， ”which was broadcast on August 12,
2017.
“We would like to take this opportunity to respond to由e letter we received企om RERF,HiroshimaRERF, General Affairs Section, Doc. No. 2017・ 110， ”dated August I 7, 20 I 7.

The program in question covered the research conducted by ABCC, the predecessor
organization ofRERF, in Hiroshima and Nagasaki after the atomic bombings, dealing withtwo main themes：日rst, the grievance of A-bomb survivors claiming that ABCC conducted
research on but did not provide trea伽1ent for A-bomb victims; the program then addressed theconcern of an A-bomb survivor who felt dissatisfied with RERF ’s response to her request fordisclosure of medical charts. She had doubts that the medical charts she received comprised
the totality of her charts on file. Despite the grievances of A-bomb survivors, the progr田n did
not intend to deny RERF's stance that it has been making sincere efforts to respondadequately and thoroughly in an open manner to A-bomb survivors' requests for provision ofinformation ( disclosure of personal information), based on its reconsideration of andreflection on the ABCC era.
In the letter “Hiroshima RERF, General Affairs Section, Doc. No. 2017-110， ”RERF
pointed out血at our progr副n had confused the release of personal information to the generalpublic with the disclosure of personal information to the A-bomb survivors themselves, giving
the misleading impression that RERF is reluctant to disclose information to survivors.
However, our program was designed to more closely understand the position of A-bomb
survivors, and we血.us do not think that the broadcast content needs to be corrected. We ask
for your understanding of our position in this matter.

Along with continuing our efforts to draw closer to A-bomb survivors' feelings, we will
make an effort in the fu加re to produce programs with more diverse views by also
incorporating RERF ’ s perspective.

RERF's reaction to factual errors in Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation's broadcast(September 12, 2017)
September 12, 2017
Broadcast ofYomiuri TV ’ s Wake up! Plus
The television program Wake up! Plus, aired by the Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation(Yomiuri TV) on August 12, 2017, featured a segment titled “Truth of the atomic bombings-Research without treatment: the darkness of ABCC，＇’in which the Radiation Effects
Research Foundation (RERF), and its predecessor the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission(ABCC), were covered. However, the segment included information that was untrue. Inresponse, RERF requested on August 17 that the portions of the program concerned becorrected. On August 31, however, we received a reply企om Yomiuri TV indicating that the’company did not feel the program s content required correction.
RERF carefully stores the personal infoロnation of A-bomb survivors, including that of thesurvivors' status at the time of bombing and their medical charts. The information has been
managed in strict compliance with the Personal Information Protection Law and is not“made open and public" (so that everyone can access the information). When we receive
requests for “disclosure” of personal information企om A-bomb survivors, however, RERF
responds to such requests in good faith and provides the survivors in question with all therelevant materials stored at RERF.
Despite the aforementioned reality, the program confused “making the materials open andpublic" with “disclosing personal information，”and as a result, the program concluded with’
e町oneous remarks by the moderator and commentators, including statements such as “Isn t
it strange that the charts and data duly belonging to patients cannot be accessed or viewed
by them？ ” The program thus wound up by giving viewers the mistaken impression thatRERF does not disclose personal information to the A bomb survivors.
四’Yomiuri TV first requested peロnission企om RERF to do a story on the foundation s future,
and with that in mind, RERF participated conscientiously in a long interview. In theprogram, however, the scene of my reply to the question about “making the materials open”
and public" was edited and inserted into the scene of the discussion about “disclosure.
”“Because my remark that making the materials open and public needed to be carried out
care白lly企om the viewpoint of information management was edited for broadcast to appear
as a remark about “disclosure” of personal information, requests to which RERF responds
actively, RERF made the judgment that the broadcast in question deserved correction.
’It is very regrettable that, despite RERF s request, Yomiuri TV did not air a correctedversion of the program. We anticipate that, as a company playing a very important role intoday ’s society, Yomiuri TV will produce 白同re programs based on fairness, neutrality, andaccuracy, to ensure that the company does not override the good intentions of those being
interviewed and covered.

Ohtsura Niwa
ChairmanRadiation Effects Research Foundation