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The new documentary, Atomic Echoes: Untold Stories from WWII, produced by novelist and journalist Karin Tanabe (USJLP 2019, 2022) and co-creator Victoria Kelly, began airing nationally on PBS on August 1 and will be available to stream on the PBS app until October 1. The film brings the stories of American atomic veterans and Japanese hibakusha into a productive dialogue, challenging the familiar narrative that nuclear devastation is a Japanese experience and nuclear power a U.S. responsibility.
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Tanabe is a Fellow of the U.S.-Japan Leadership Program, and this program began with a Fellows Stipend Program. As the film took shape, Tanabe and Kelly applied for a grant from the US-Japan Foundation Grant Program and were able to build from there. “The USJF grant was the first money we got,” Tanabe recalls. “It bolstered us emotionally and made the project feel possible.”
The film's mission, articulated by Tanabe, is to help people understand that nuclear war is "a global issue, not just a Japanese issue." It highlights the shared human cost of nuclear trauma, bringing to light the experiences of American servicemembers who endured radiation exposure and government-enforced silence, and Japanese survivors who have lived with the trauma of the atomic bombings for decades.
The film is envisioned as a "tool for peace" to be used in classrooms and community centers. Screenings are scheduled at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C., and the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. The team is also preparing for a school and university tour in Japan, aiming to engage young people to carry these important stories forward.
If you are in the U.S., you can watch the film on your local PBS station and on the PBS app.
To find out more about the story behind Atomic Echoes, see our Grantee Profile series on this project.
