1955: The Hiroshima Maidens

About this episode

This episode explores the story of the Hiroshima Maidens, Japanese women who sought surgery in the U.S. after the atomic bombing.

Ten years after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, 25 women who’d been disfigured by the blast came to the United States. Those Japanese survivors would go to the White House and end up on a bizarre proto reality TV show. They’d also put their lives in the hands of American doctors, hoping that risky, cutting-edge surgeries might repair their injuries and give them a chance for a fresh start. Josh Levin is One Year’s editorial director. One Year’s senior producer is Evan Chung. This episode was produced by Kelly Jones and Evan Chung, with additional production by Sophie Summergrad. It was edited by Joel Meyer and Derek John, Slate’s executive producer of narrative podcasts. Merritt Jacob is our senior technical director. Holly Allen created the artwork for this season. Join Slate Plus to get a bonus 1955 episode at the end of the season. Slate Plus members also get to listen to all Slate podcasts without any ads. Sign up now to support One Year. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People in this episode

Host: Josh Levin

Topics covered

• Hiroshima Maidens
• surgery
• reality TV
• disfigurement
• Japanese survivors
• American doctors

Keywords

• Hiroshima
• surgery
• disfigurement
• reality TV
• Japanese women
• American doctors
• 1955

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Slate, Acast

Places: United States

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