Hibakusha The surviving victims of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are called , a Japanese word that literally translates as " explosion - affected people " and is used to refer to people who were exposed to radiation from the bombings . Official recognition . The Atomic Bomb Survivors Relief Law defines " hibakusha " as people who fall into one of the following categories : within a few kilometers of the hypocenter s of the bombs ; within 2 km of the hypocenters within two weeks of the bombings ; exposed to radiation from fallout ; or not yet born but carried by pregnant women in any of these categories . , 201 , 779 " hibakusha " were recognized by the Japanese government , most living in Japan . The government of Japan recognizes about 1 % of these as having illnesses caused by radiation . " Hibakusha " are entitled to government support . They receive a certain amount of allowance per month . About 1 % , certified as suffering from bomb - related diseases , receive a special medical allowance . The memorials in Hiroshima and Nagasaki contain lists of the names of the " hibakusha " who are known to have died since the bombings . Updated annually on the anniversaries of the bombings , the memorials record the names of almost 450 , 000 " hibakusha " ; 286 , 818 in Hiroshima and 162 , 083 in Nagasaki . Korean survivors . During the war , Japan brought many Korean conscripts to both Hiroshima and Nagasaki to work as forced labor . According to recent estimates , about 20 , 000 Koreans were killed in Hiroshima and about 2 , 000 died in Nagasaki . It is estimated that one in seven of the Hiroshima victims was of Korean ancestry . For many years , Koreans had a difficult time fighting for recognition as atomic bomb victims and were denied health benefits . However , most issues have been addressed in recent years through lawsuits . Other foreign survivors . While one British Commonwealth citizen and seven Dutch POWs ( two names known ) died in the Nagasaki bombing , at least two POWs reportedly died postwar from cancer thought to have been caused by the atomic bomb . One American POW , Joe Kieyoomia , was in Nagasaki at the time of the bombing but survived , reportedly having been shielded from the effects of the bomb by the concrete walls of his cell . Double survivors . People who suffered the effects of both bombings are known as " nijū hibakusha " in Japan . A documentary called " Twice Survived : The Doubly Atomic Bombed of Hiroshima and Nagasaki " was produced in 2006 . The producers found 165 people who were victims of both bombings , and the production was screened at the United Nations . On March 24 , 2009 , the Japanese government officially recognized Tsutomu Yamaguchi ( 1916 – 2010 ) as a double " hibakusha " . Tsutomu Yamaguchi was confirmed to be 3 kilometers from ground zero in Hiroshima on a business trip when the bomb was detonated . He was seriously burnt on his left side and spent the night in Hiroshima . He got back to his home city of Nagasaki on August 8 , a day before the bomb in Nagasaki was dropped , and he was exposed to residual radiation while searching for his relatives . He was the first officially recognised survivor of both bombings . Tsutomu Yamaguchi died at the age of 93 on January 4 , 2010 of stomach cancer . Discrimination . " Hibakusha " and their children were ( and still are ) victims of severe discrimination due to public ignorance about the consequences of radiation sickness , with much of the public believing it to be hereditary or even contagious . This is despite the fact that no statistically demonstrable increase of birth defects / congenital malformations was found among the " later conceived children born " to survivors of the nuclear weapons used at Hiroshima and Nagasaki , or found in the later conceived children of cancer survivors who had previously received radiotherapy . The surviving women of Hiroshima and Nagasaki , that could conceive , who were exposed to substantial amounts of radiation , went on and had children with no higher incidence of abnormalities / birth defects than the rate which is observed in the Japanese average . Studs Terkel ' s book " The Good War " includes a conversation with two " hibakusha " . The postscript observes : The is a group formed by " hibakusha " in 1956 with the goals of pressuring the Japanese government to improve support of the victims and lobbying governments for the abolition of nuclear weapon s .