Photo/Illutration Cannon Hersey, left, and Koko Kondo attend a news conference at the Hiroshima city office on Aug. 1. (Yuhei Kyono)

HIROSHIMA--Shooting will begin next year for a movie portraying the bond between the U.S. author of the bestseller “Hiroshima” and an atomic bomb survivor featured in the book.

John Hersey was one of the first writers to report on the devastation caused by the city’s Aug. 6, 1945, atomic bombing, and particularly the damage from radiation through the lives of six “hibakusha” survivors.

One of the victims was Kiyoshi Tanimoto, a pastor of the Methodist Church.

“Hiroshima” was first published in The New Yorker magazine in 1946.

Cannon Hersey, the author's grandson who is co-producing the movie, said the film, “What Divides Us,” is a story about two men who tried to reveal the truth of the atomic bombing.

“They were willing to take a chance on a new way at a hard time that things can change,” he said. “We all have to believe in that opportunity for change in this time when we face so many problems of war, climate change and economic uncertainty. When we hold hands and work together, we can fix any problem.”

Hersey, 47, attended a news conference here on Aug. 1 with other members of the Japan-U.S. production team, including Koko Kondo, Tanimoto’s daughter and a hibakusha.

“I hope that the hibakusha’s wish to rid the world of nuclear weapons will spring from everyone’s heart as well (after watching the movie),” said Kondo, 79.

John Hersey visited Hiroshima as a war correspondent in May 1946 and interviewed the six survivors, who also included two doctors and a German priest.

Tanimoto was instrumental in ensuring that 25 women with keloid scars caused by the atomic bombing, known as “Hiroshima Maidens,” received surgical treatment in the United States.

A core part of “What Divides Us” will be based on his English-language memoir found among materials kept by Hersey.

The record covering more than two years from Aug. 6, 1945, contains entries regarding his encounter with Hersey.

It was discovered several years ago by Cannon Hersey and Taku Nishimae, 62, a Japanese movie producer.

Locations in both Japan and the United States will feature in the film.

The Japanese title and the release date have yet to be decided.

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