>> In today's New York Times, Issey Miyake wrote an op-ed in which, for the first time ever, he publicly shares his thoughts of the day when he was seven years old and the first atomic bomb was dropped in his hometown of Hiroshima.  

Before, he says, questions on the subject made him "uncomfortable" and he "did not want to be labeled 'the designer who survived the atomic bomb.'”  But now, he feels he has "a personal and moral responsibility to speak out as one who survived."

He writes in the column that was translated from Japanese by his staff:

"When I close my eyes, I still see things no one should ever experience: a bright red light, the black cloud soon after, people running in every direction trying desperately to escape — I remember it all. Within three years, my mother died from radiation exposure. 

I have never chosen to share my memories or thoughts of that day. I have tried, albeit unsuccessfully, to put them behind me, preferring to think of things that can be created, not destroyed, and that bring beauty and joy. I gravitated toward the field of clothing design, partly because it is a creative format that is modern and optimistic."

He was spurred to speak by President Obama's call for elimination of nuclear weapons in April, and says of his change of heart: "Now I realize it is a subject that must be discussed if we are ever to rid the world of nuclear weapons."