PICTURES DRAWN BY ATOMIC BOMB SURVIVORS Edited by Japan Broadcasting Corporation 'Unforgettable Fire is tremendously moving— more moving than any book of photographs of the horror could be, because what is registered is what has been burned into the minds of the survivors!' -JOHN HERSEY, author of Hiroshima Cr JL ^- JjHjSmeffaofe Tire PICTURES DRAWN BY ATOMIC BOMB SURVIVORS Edited by the Japanese Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) Pantheon Books, New York r Copyright© 1977 by NHK All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copy- right Conventions. Published in the United States by Pantheon Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultane- ously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto. Originally published in Japanese asCoka oMita and in English trans- lation as Unforgctlabte Fire by Nippon Hoso Shuppan Kyokai, Tokyo. English translation by World Friendship Center in Hiroshima, supervised by Howard Schonberger and Leona Row. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING IN PUBLICATION DATA Main entry under title: Unforgettable fire. Translation of Goka o rnita. Includes index. 1. Hiroshima— Bombardment, 1945— Pictorial works. I . Nippon Hoso Kyokai. D767.25.H6G13 1981 940.54'26 80-8647 isbn 0-394-51585-4 isbn 0-394-74823-9 (pbk.) Manufactured in the United States of America FIRST AMERICAN EDITION PREFACE HIROSHIMA ON THAT DAY CONTENTS One THE BOMB AND I II Two BOMB FLASH! 8: 15 A.M. 14 Three WHAT I SAW ON THAT DAY 20 Four THE ENFLAMED CITY 29 Five WHERE IS MY CHILD? WHERE ISMYWIFE? 51 Six HANDS OF HELP lb Seven THE CITY OF THE DEAD 96 THE PICTURES ABOUT THE ATOMIC BOMB 105 INDEX III PREFACE The collection of pictures about the A-Bomb experience as drawn by the survivors was started by Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK) Japan Broad- casting Corporation. The impetus for this project came when one survi- vor brought a hand-drawn picture to NHK's Hiroshima office The collection was .ntroduccd on television and exhibited at the Peace Culture Center in Hiroshima City August 1 to August 6, 1975. The exhibition hall was filled w.th excitement and deep emotion. A notebook in which vis- itors could wnte their impressions had been placed in the hall and was quickly filled. More impression notes continued to come in until more than ten notebooks were piled up. Some of these notes urged that the pictures be displayed not only in Japan but also in foreign countries in order that this cruel situation should be widely known Thirty years have passed since the A-Bomb was dropped. The mem- ory of how things were in Hiroshima at that time is being forgotten It is therefore necessary to appeal to the people of Japan and of the world that there be no "No More Hiroshima." The pictures in this book are only a small part of those which were sent in by the survivors. To publish a col- lection of these pictures as a book is very significant, since we are living in a world in which the diffusion of nuclear weapons is threatening the exis- tence ot all humanity. The pictures are a vivid documentary of the miserable scenes of that day although thirty year, have passed. The memories, etched in the minds of the survivors, are unforgettable ! Photographs cannot express the strong impressions which these pictures, drawn by the actual survivors portray. We hope that all of you can understand the heart-felt cries of the survivors as you look at the individual pictures of this collection. We thank those of you who participated in the movement "Let Us Leave for Posterity Pictures about the Atomic-Bomb Drawn by Citizens" and helped in so many different ways. June, 1975 NHK Chugoku Area Chief Sqjl Matsumoto HIROSHIMA ON THAT DAY That morning On August 6, 1945, the morning started with a cloudless blue sky characteristic of the Inland Sea's summer. In March the big Tokyo air raid had killed 120,000 citizens. Many other cities in Japan were also violently bombed and burned by the American air attacks so that many non-combatants continued to be cruelly killed. In April American armed forces landed on Okinawa and the whole island became a battlefield. 90,000 Japanese soldiers were killed and 100,000 civilians died. Japanese people cried loudly that they would fight a decisive battle on the mainland. Hiroshima remained unharmed. A wild rumor spread that the Americans were not bombing in Hiroshima because it was a religious city with many Buddhist believers. Though not known at the time, in fact, the American military had ordered that Hiro- shima be spared from bombing raids in order to later calculate accurately the full effects of the A-Bomb. Hiroshima -developed on the delta at the mouth of the Ota River that ran from the Chugoku mountains into the Seto Inland Sea. In line with the Meiji government's policy to make the coun- try rich and the army strong, Hiroshima became a strategic center for the Japanese military. From Hiroshima's Ujina Port soldiers recruited from all over Japan were sent to battle on the Asian continent. As World War II continued, Hiroshima developed into a major military city. Before daybreak of August 6 an air raid alarm was given in Hiroshima. At 7 : 00 A.M. another air raid alarm was sounded. But at 7:31 A.M. the all clear was given. Soldiers at the anti- aircraft machine guns on the roofs of the military installations and munitions factories were released by an air defense order. Just before the fateful moment the seven rivers which ran through the city looked stagnant because of the high tide and re- flected the deep-blue of the summer- sky. Wearing work clothes and gaiters, with air defense hoods thrown back, people were run- ning on the big and small bridges throughout the city. One of these was the Aioi Bridge, an unusual T-type bridge. It was the target of the A-Bomb. The mobilized students, even school girls, were hurrying to the munitions factories by streetcar. A horse-drawn farmer's cart, taking nightsoil from the city to outlying farms, passed by at a leisurely pace with a clop-clop noise. Small clouds of dust rose here and there among the crowded, tile-roofed houses. These showed that work had begun on pulling down evacuated buildings to make compulsory firelanes. Members of the Women's Society of Labor Service, National Volunteers from the suburban districts, and junior high school students put their lunches in the shade of nearby trees before beginning a long day of sweaty, dusty work. In public offices and businesses workers had begun their jobs after their section chiefs had given their morning instructions. In public schools morning assemblies had begun because even during summer vacation, students who had not been evacuated had lessons there. Little children were busy playing in the streets. There were even foreigners in Hiroshima. Several thousand Koreans who had been taken from their country were working as forced laborers in an armament factory. There were some foreign students from Southeast Asian countries. And there were even Americans, POW Army pilots who had been shot down. Suddenly a bell rang in the broadcasting department of NHK. It was a warning given from the Army Headquarters of Chugoku District. The radio an- nouncer began to read the bulletin, "Chugoku District Army Infor- mation. Three enemy airplanes have been spotted over the Saijo area..." Just then there was a dreadful shaking and loud crash of iron and concrete. The announcer was thrown into the air. The Flash : 8 : 15 The A-Bomb, which was nicknamed "Little Boy", was dropped from the B-29, Enola Gay. It exploded 570 meters above the ground with a light blue flash. The diameter of the fireball was 100 meters and the temperature at its' center was 300,000° C. Soon after the explosion black and white smoke covered the whole city and rose thousands of meters high. The pressure of the blast directly under the center of the explosion was from 4.5 to 6.7 tons per square meter. Wooden houses within a radius of two kilo- meters of the hypocenter collapsed and completely burned from the wind and heat. The fires continued for two days. Some people who were near the center of the explosion literally evaporated and only their shadows remained ; others were turned to charred corpses. Those who survived were badly burned. Usually their clothes were scorched and burned so they were practically naked. Their skin peeled off and hung down. They rushed to nearby fire prevention water boxes and river banks seeking water. Friends and relatives trapped under collapsed houses were crying for help. But flames surrounded them so closely that they were about to burn. Later large black drops of rain poured down. It was a deadly rain which contained mud, ash, and other radioactive fallout. Through burning flames and pouring black rain there was an end- less line of injured people heading for the outskirts of the city. The burns on their hands made the skin hang down. Their hands looked like those of ghosts. "Give me water." The security functions of the army, police, prefecture, and city agencies practically ceased. Under such circumstances medical treatment was started by doctors and nurses who were injured themselves. Damage to nearby army posts was rather slight and so soldiers from them first began the relief job. Hospitals soon became full, so public schools around the city were used as first-aid stations. They were also crowded by the rush of wounded persons. Countless dead bodies and seriously wounded people, who barely breathed, were left on the road or the river-banks of the city. Medical supplies were used up immediately because of the unim- aginable number of wounded persons. The untreated people took their last breath moaning, "Give me water." What is now called radiation sickness soon appeared. People began suffering from diarrhea as if they had dysentery, losing clumps of their hair, and developing purple colored spots on their skin which made them look like a map. Such people soon died, their bodies full of big maggots they were too weak to remove. Those who were looking for their relatives walked around in the still smoldering city with the rescue parties. What they saw were dead bodies piled up on the ground and filling up the rivers. Figures of mothers who died protecting their own children were 8 especially heartbreaking. People were deeply scarred by the in- discriminate cruelty of the new styled bomb and the dreadfuiness oT war itself. Among those who entered the city later, there were a large number of people who were affected by lingering radioactivity, and died. Cremation of dead bodies continued for many days through- out the city. On top of some wood dead bodies were piled up, oil poured on them, and a fire was lit. The smell of dead bodies and the wail of sutra-chanting spread over the vast scorched desolation. And on August 9, the second A-Bomb was dropped on Naga- saki. Appeal for Peace Although many believed Hiroshima would be barren for seventy years, amidst the ruins canna lilies bloomed and grass flourished from the effects of radioactivity. On the first anniver- sary of the A-Bomb a "Peace Revival Festival" was organized by citizen groups in the city where only shacks stood. Although under the American occupation speeches and gatherings were strictly controlled, the festival was attended by thousands holding flags draped in black and placards saying "World Peace from Hiro- shima". The following year, August 6, 1947, Mayor of Hiroshima, Mr. Hamai, read the first "Peace Declaration" at the renamed "Peace Festival". He declared : "Those who have experienced and fully realized the anguish and sin of war would denounce war absolutely as the ultimate agony, and wish for peace most passion- ately." Despite such pleas for peace, the Soviet Union proclaimed its possession of the A-Bomb in September 1949 ; in January 1950, the President of the United States announced that he had ordered the start of H-Bomb production. Five months later, the Korean War broke out. England also began atomic development. On March 1, 1954, a tuna fishing boat from Yaizu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Fifth Lucky Dragon, while operating near Bikini Atoll in the South Pacific, was showered with radioactive fallout from an H-Bomb test conducted by the United States. The chief radio operator of the boat, Mr. Aikichi Kuboyama, died in the fall of that year from the radiation effects of this weapon, one 600 times more powerful than the A-Bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The Yaizu City Council passed a resolution at the end of March, 1954, against nuclear weapons and this appeal met with an immediate response from many other local governments in Japan. Both Houses of the Diet passed resolutions in April to ban the use of atomic weapons. At the same time, a movement to circulate a petition calling for a ban on nuclear weapons arose among the women of Hiroshima and of Suginami Ward of Tokyo. This non-partisan movement became part of a strong current which spread all over the nation. Twenty million signatures were col- lected and Gensuikyo, the Japan Council Against A- and H-Bombs, was established. When Gensuikyo divided into factions resulting from conflicts over the U. S.-Japan Security Treaty and the resumption of nu- clear testing by the Soviet Union, many citizens of Hiroshima were discouraged and silent. But in August, 1966, their hopes were rekindled by an NHK-Hiroshima television program which at- tempted to answer many simple questions about the A-Bomb explo- sion. How many people were in the hypocenter area at the time of the explosion ? Where were they from ? What kind of work did they do ? What kind of buildings were there ? Growing out of this program, television journalists, scientists at the Research Insti- tute for Nuclear Medicine and Biology of Hiroshima University, and a large number of ordinary citizens, jftincd in a movement to recover information about and to reproduce on a scale model the hypocenter area. The movement would also make an appeal for peace based on the survivors' experiences of the first A-Bomb explo- sion in history. The City of Hiroshima took over this movement and prepared a report to the United Nations as part of the activities of the 30th anniversary year. Even after careful investigation, the estimate of 240,000 casualties from the A-Bomb is not considered reliable. Last year the movement of "Pictures about the A-Bomb Drawn bv Hiroshima Citizens" was triggered by a single drawing brought to NHK-Hiroshima and the enthusiasm of Hiroshima's people. This is a new civic movement not seen since the movement to repli- cate the hypocenter area. (Sources : "A-Bomb Record of Hiro- shima" by Hiroshima City ; "History of Hiroshima Prefecture- A- Bomb Materials Volume" by Hiroshima Prefecture ; "The A-Bomb Hypocenter" by Dr. Kiyoshi Shirnizu ; a large number of drawings contributed by the citizens.) 10 One THE BOMB AND I t %, % ..'.:•*.•..' 1* ^ '>l i Goto Kiyoyoshi age SO (283) This is a picture from Mt. Futaba which overlooks Hiroshima city. Standing on the hill I could see the shrine at its foot engulfed in flames and Shukkeien Garden burning between two branches of the Ota River. The fire ex- tended to the Hiroshima Castle. Above the city was a mushroom cloud from the Atomic Bomb. 11 /. jfci'1-SK. 3af2o'i'tf->M" : ?C< ! t** l -' , =. 5 £^2 ■3.^iu^ta. C5W3^rt( Around Yokogawa Station about 8 : 30 A.M. I had worn a white blouse with a blue striped pattern that day. The back fell apart later when I washed it. A civilian guard told us, "Please go to the school in Misasa." I heard a woman saying in a small voice, "Please help me." Four or five people got together immediately to help her. But we couldn't move the concrete block off her no matter how we tried. Saying, "Forgive us", the others left her as she was and went away. I prayed for her and then also left. 12 About 8 : 20 A.M. at Yokogawa Station I do not know when they had gathered, but a crowd of people were reeling and collid- ing with each other. Soon the sun appeared blood-red in the dark sky. When it became a little lighter around me I saw a group of 15 or 16 adults. "Where had the children gone ?" I wondered. Black smoke was rising here and there and Nakahiro-cho where my parents lived was already in flame. Apologizing in my heart to my parents I decided to seek shelter. Th 4 ;fj$ingg,ftra (iifJ»*tS) (*»* ft *«!*/,) |i]8|*'BHS<>Sf->T 1 nVI-&$-'>I|i:. v ft l%k « Bi* **<: t **■ l.&K«S| itt tit frit J R t a'irr tft. «/7 ^B + SS*' *ft«iRf£Sij (■*#«'. ft Ll LI* Near Yokogawa Station about 8 : 50 A.M. A lady about 40 years old was bleeding from her eyes. It was getting light and I met a lady whose eyes were bloodshot. The blood was oozing down from the corners of the eyes along both sides of her nose. Unconsciously I wiped my face with my hands and I was surprised to see that there was blood on them. I got my mirror out of my pocket and looked into it. I found only a small cut on my eyebrow. I took my khaki air-raid dress out of my bag and put it on, tied my hair with a handker- chief, dressed myself neatly and started walking. Ai A, th in wi ra us W( or SCI sei sa hs '.y =j|-ffff5 4JU«-.*JStf*ft<>t" Tomoko Konishi age 58 (431-438) tie t "i (.ft, tAdAjrj^ The river bank from Misasa to Mitaki A girl was standing in the middle of the road staring vacantly. Strange to say, her clothes were not tattered. She was eight years old. The wound on her head looked like a cracked pomegranate. Silently I carried her on my back and headed in the direction of the Ota River. Then I heard a girl's voice clearly from behind a tree. "Help me, please." Her back was completely burned and the skin peeled off and was hanging down from her hips. 7 b * m 4- t \ II I r «f»-'"*'=*'"T;>ui Shinjo near Gion Bridge * A straw-thatched cottage among bamboo bushes was burning. Three persons were taking furniture out. The passers-by did not help them. They glanced at them and silently continued on their way. A nurse was stand- ing near the soldiers in white as if she was watching over them. The soldiers did not appear wounded to me. What I remember is just the pale face and the wide-opened eyes of one soldier lying there. SI* 4- ftlKe, : » m iff* J8feR« ft fi *"*** * L *. « t»'*' a *" D **.«» rim ft. jfinv^'W^ftfllf jisft**^ sw-^fta.iT'^s* is. 8. frgjp $.&;£ . IS. ft->TJfc *ir-, ■Yi £ 7 #11 *MSC Sft* t *fl ? Br. HSjifcnitft.. ■¥■#<> *»>tt#£ *!fit^tlt, f (hi ,5,')»'J'1-;jt"ii&' y'kft.Jti.T, #-.T«?*tj t it ->*¥*£. At the bank of the Nagatsuka around 9 : 40 A.M. The refugees walked in procession along the bank of the river toward Gion. There was nobody who was wearing good clothes or was without wounds except me. Everyone was in rags and hurt. 1 walked feeling guilty beca- use only I still had nice clothes and was not wounded. A woman was walking, crying, "Can any- one help me ?" The flesh of her side was scooped out and bleeding profusely and I could see her ribs. A man began to walk beside her, saying, "Everyone has the same pain as you have. Endure it and we will seek a shelter". Higashi Yamamoto, Asa County My mother, 63 years old While lying on a potato farm in Mitaki my mother had asked the rescue party from her village for help and they brought her home. Her face was larger than usual, her lips were badly swollen, and her eyes remained closed. The skin of both her hands was hanging loose as if it were rubber gloves. The upper part of her body was badly burned. My mother passed away on August 9 before seeing the war end. My father who was in Daiku-cho at the time of the explosion, just as my mother was, disappeared and we have never even found his body. 13 Two BOMB FLASH! 8:15 AM. | ■ jL Tsutomu Ojiri age 36 (867) (Top row of circles represents the sun compared to growing size of fireball in bottom row.) I saw the explosion in Hatsukaichi about 10 miles away when I was five years old. This is the way I remembered the explosion in the five seconds before the sound reached me. (from right to left) One second before, two seconds, three seconds, four seconds, five sec- onds. I imagine others saw the same scene from Mizujiri near the Inland Sea at Saka- machi. 14 ' o TV, ! ***«*r»<7W>*« : mi I 'a •^i^W © s» «i X M j, ? Kiyoshi Input age 51 (532) I I How many people saw the explosion at. that terrible instant ! I saw the explosion about 20 kilometers away at the red circle on the picture. The other spot on the picture marks the barracks for the Navy at the Otake evacuation center. 75 Kiyoshi Innue age 51 {533-535) 16 m Sumako Yamada age 54 (439-4 il) \ l -'-V- ■ I ft? I &| 1 # 3 j Koi Nakamachi At 8:15 A.M. on August 6 everything was instantly covered with pink and light blue rays. There was a strange whooshing sound and then black rain came down. August 6 around 8 : 20 A.M. I had a view of Hijiyama from Hijiyama Elementary School. Going out of an air-raid I shelter I could see the mushroom cloud beyond I the mountain. The top was narrower than! below but it was getting bigger as I watched. | I wondered what the red smoke was. 18 Hidehika Okazak i age 50 {64M vi I 2 $ ^^ * * B ^ x. ■if ih Bo- Three WHAT I SAW ON THAT DAY :* WW • ■ . -a Takehika Sakai age 53 (294-295) 20 The disaster in the old Fukuya Depart- ■ merit Store which I saw from the fourth floor oil new Fukuya store in Hacchobori about vwcn-E ty or thirty minutes after the A-Bomb badH dropped. ► t / -^ -fr- £> i .1. -i ) v- r Setsuko Yamamoto age 46 (414) 22 (415) A desperate escape from the streetcar at Hakushima line just after the A-Romb explo- sion. 23 V — ■• • . - . / ■ ' - ■ • is ; % ■ • - I Q Y l--,-■ * -^ r, • (caption at bottom of page for lower middle picture) What I still cannot forget is that my scis- sors and my lunch box were both thrown onto the floor from my emergency bag when I fell down on the floor. Although they were within my reach, I escaped leaving them behind. I have always regretted not bringing them. Why didn't I stretch out my hands to take them ? I did not have enough presence of mind and I am still heartsick. That pair of scissors sent by my friend in Hawaii was a good remembrance to me. It was sharp, shiny, and never rusted. I have many good memories of my lunch box, too. (on picture, left side) I smiled and tasted the black rain on my hand. Parents were looking for their children and children were crying for their parents. Houses along the street were burning, I went down to the river from the back-gate and washed my hands and feet, and dampened my clothes for the next air-raid. In the excitement I urinated in my clothes and then washed them. There were countless people on the riverbank. 24 M\ p> . \ \ x * net [ ' f i> I: Name imthkeld by request (250) (top middle picture) August 6 a few minutes after 8 ; 00 A.M. (Black ink is used to draw the scene before the A-Bomb ; red ink immediately after the A- Bomb exploded.) The vice-principal who came into the classroom immediately after the A-Bomb had lost his glasses, his clothes were torn off, and his arms, bloody and skinned, hung down by his side. His face was burned black. I met him at the doorway. I sighed with relief and sat down at a desk when the air-raid alarm, which was given during the night, was called off. Suddenly there was an unusual blue light. It was hot and painful. Numerous pieces of glass scat- tered and attacked me on my head, face, and back. When I stood up and took a few steps toward the entrance, 1 was pushed from behind by a strong force and fell down by the doorway. 25 rw ft i 11 i Torako Hitonaka age 63 (183) 26 tefi^J^^V';, I • 10 I'j .' 12 1-1 •£. ■ . " . ^H - 13 4 i ' 1. 2. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. Some burned work-clothes. People crying for help with their heads, shoulders, or the soles of their feet injured by fragments of broken window glass. Glass fragments were scattered every- where. She was crying, saying "Aigo ! Aigo !" (a Korean expression of sorrow) A burning pine tree. A naked woman. Naked girls crying "Stupid America !" I was crouching in a puddle for fear of being shot by a machine gun. My breasts were torn. Burned down electric power lines. A telephone pole had burned and fallen down. A field of watermelons. A dead horse. What with dead cats, pigs, and people, it was just a hell on earth. 9 : 30 A.M. August 6, 1945 I was on the way from Koi station to Tokaichi. These are tomatoes, pumpkins, water- melons, eggplants, etc. which were scat- tered on the field or roads in Fukushirna- cho because of the blast. 27 Near Takanobashi a fire had already broken out around 8 : 25 A.M. A woman's cry for help saddened me as I could not help her. Kanichi Ito age 72 (350) ' ' ' IS = &i\ Please help this child ! Someone, please help this child. Please help ! Someone, please. ■&\\k' ' \\ m 7 I s Wmm Hat.mji Takeuchi age 60 (896) 28 Four THE ENFLAMED CITY The girl was injured on the chest and covered with blood. She had no shoes on her feet. Still able to think clearly she avoided the many splintered things on the road and trudged towards her home where her family was waiting for her. Passing through Matoba section, the girl and I came to the area called Kojin-machi Akebono-cho. On both sides of the road there were temples. Everywhere was a sea of fire. No road was open for us anymore except for a narrow path and that was barely passable. The: clothes which we earlier had dipped in water had already dried so much that they were almost at the point of burning. There was no time to lose. We dipped our clothes in the water that was stored in an air-raid shelter, and dashed through the fires desperately. "Awfully hot ! Is this the end of my life ?...Oh God [...Help me!" I murmured and prayed. When we managed to come to a safer place, we looked back at the path we had dashed through. It was the most frightful scene I had ever , witnessed in my life. Yet even at this safer place, I found many dead bodies lying in the air-raid shelter, under fallen trees, and everywhere. When we finally arrived at the girl's home at Nakayama section, the darkness of the sum- mer's night was already falling upon us. 29 , KH (. 1» : * jl 'J' ■f t * i H_ JS figffijj. ft AT >7 Magoichi Jitsukuni age 69 {93) * *V *£'! ^ 5\ T " ? * 5 & wf f V fa 1 ^ njrjjjpiinjmi_ TELL tnnu l ! \R ^ t * ^ \ A * * ** 9" About 3 : 00 P.M. August 6 Under Hijiyama suspension bridge In reality several hundred people, not all drawn ; were fleeing. Next day these people were found dead. 30 Masaka Yamamura age 67 {629) fi£_ Atsuko Tomita age 45 (iff ^ •*•'.•: * >j ■. t 1 ' V ^ ^ A"i $ ^M. fyfi&^&vafyfyf&kLx UjlM^ tf *>*£-&>, $ mm*, tit: A ft . _ „ Xi •« ^ / ttn^M Kiihie Masukawa died in 1975 "(901) . Members of the neighborhood council from Yamane section of Hiroshima were work- ing on the west approach to the Tsurumi Bridge for the Volunteer Corps on that day. When the A-Bomb exploded, they were blown by the blast into the river and carried by the ebbing tide to the east approach of the Hijiyama Bridge some 1200 feet away. There were cries of "Please help, teacher" "To the river", and "God help me". 32 Tomoe Harada age 52 {41m 3j % & ' )v] 'V. ■ \ 6 I 8 ■*i ^f- ,/ 'I y 3 5 14 ?0j._ -7 SL . J - I L ^ • -« 1 ■'K -£: ;-3 *1 v^ , - 7 /" 4 Yoshimi Ikeda age 51 (831) 1 2b 1 . The skin of her hands was burned, swol- len, and hanging down. 2. A piece of wood stuck out of her right eye and she seemed to be very much in pain. She walked almost unconsciously. 3. I gave her a cucumber which she held with her left hand. 4. Give me water. 5. Please give me water. 6. Please give me water. 7. Mommy. 8. (Title of picture) On the bank of the Koi River. - ' JS* ■ -: 34 Ayako Uesugi age 77 (516) At about 1 1 : 00 A.M. on August 6, 1945 on the road along the back of my house in Funairi-Kawaguchi-cho, there were a lot of people that looked like this. "Help me ! I can't see anything." "Water, water ! Give me some water !" " Water ! I can't see anything." 35 2 J- A ,.-.. I St . ..V m '■. > N ,: ■ \ ■ • -.1' '. •■ OHs J 1 J, < ■ :<■ I v - \ ■ No 1 •.■'* Foot of Mt. Hiji Streetcar road Help ! Mommy ! i Mt. Hiji Bridge People who jumped into the river and died. corpse V it , Hirano-maclii neighborhood • i -. 1 v J Y ± r< ^D ' V \ Showa-machi The fire started here; Post office Tsurumi-machi neighborhood The man under the roof beam Tai neii 36 &*&#t^ x 4ttfer§ &'< The A-Bomb exploded when I was near Takara-machi. ;] 1 ~-'i 1 A d ' Taisho market neighborhood • A person who was running away from Fujimicho toward Mt. Hiji, Pieces of window glass all over his face Big face Takara-machi Kimiyo Higaki age 76 {270) 37 L #L--,J ^ J . ... .' Ma 4 > Yokogawa Bridge above Tenma River, August 6, 1945, 8 : 30 A.M. People crying and moaning were running to- wards the city. I did not know why. Steam engines were burning at Yokogawa Sta- tion. Tail of cow tied to wire. Skin of girl's hip was hanging down. "My baby is dead, isn't she ?" Sawami Katagiri age 76 {284) At the Aioi Bridge On August 9, 1945, I walked around the city looking for my husband. 'There were many burned persons at each evacuation center. Their injuries were quite extraordi- nary. I was walking among many dead peo- ple. I was too shocked to feel loneliness for my husband. It was like hell. The sight of a living horse burning was very striking. This picture shows only a part of Hiroshima. The whole city was just like this at that time. 39 •T- $ S -// Kishiro Nagara age 72 (39) They headed for Koi Elementary School. She could not see through the black rain. "Don't die, my brother !" (title of picture) The memories of the A- Borrib at that time, Kishiro Nagara, 2-7-4 Koi-kami, Hiroshima city. ; §t ? f-x v / 7 «m» -« «n. TrL tf. n%. About 9 : 00 A.M., August 6, 1945 in the neigh- borhood of the Shinjo Bridge about 1 kilo- meter from Hiroshima City. Voluntary labor corps suffering from deadly burns were returning home ; others were escaping in a hurry to the outskirts of the city ; many were seeking water on the other side of the river ; some were lying under the bamboo thicket, completely exhausted from walking. Masao Kobayashi age 77 (549) 40 I? '1 ■ ifiLd ftw^ • •«fc ■"i J-> A* 1* A group of junior high school girls seeking shelter were all naked. Teacher ! Teacher ! Teacher ! A sense of responsibility. A junior high school student whose hair had fallen out except where he had worn a cap. They were tired out when they were caught in the rain. I am 78 years old. I was living at Midori- machi on the day of the A-Bomb blast. Around 9 : 00 A.M. that morning, when I looked out of my window, I saw several women coming along the street one after another toward the Hiroshima Prefectural Hospital. I realized for the first time, as it is sometimes said, that when people are very much frightened hair really does stand up on end. The women's hair was, in fact, standing straight up and the skin of their arms was peeled off. I supposed they were around 30 years old. Asa Skigemori age 81 (234) 41 Sar,*,6 >k7f t S ■ 3 ' »* £ ft ? f $ Kazuo Mahumuro died in 1977 (919) On the stairs in front of the statue of Fleet Admiral Kato in Hijiyama Park Although we were lying side by side we did not recognize each other. He heard my voice and said, "Are you Mr. Matsumuro ?" It was Mr. Yoshimoto. His face was dark and swollen. He seemed unable to open his eyes or mouth. The left side of his face, neck, and hands, were burned. Soon we were separated. I was bleeding from my ears, nose, and mouth and was wounded from being crushed. I learned later that the twelfth backbone and the first lumbar vertebra were fractured. I could hardly move. 42 ■■■ s * « ? *-* S 9 >.' a. (J Mi "**,;?■"'>' 1. About 8 : 15 A.M. August 6, 1945 As I looked up at the sky from the back- yard of my house, I heard the faint buzzing of a B-29 but the plane was not visible. A few minutes later, the all clear was sounded. The sun was glaring in the cloudless summer sky. I looked up and suddenly saw a strange thing. There was a fire ball like a baseball growing larger becoming the size of a volleyball. And then something fell on my head. I realized it was something like a bomb showering my body. At that time I was 14 years old. 2. How many seconds or minutes had passed I could not tell but regaining consciousness I found myself lying on the ground covered with pieces of wood. When I stood up in a frantic effort to look around there was darkness. Ter- ribly frightened I thought I was alone in a world of death and groped for any light. My fear was so great I did not think anyone would truly understand. When 1 came to my senses I found my clothes in shreds and I was without my "gcta" (wooden sandals). 3. Suddenly I wondered what had happened to my mother and sister. My mother was then 45 and my sister 5 years old. When the dark- ness began to fade I found that there was nothing around me. My house, the nextdoor neighbor's house, and the next had all van- ished. I was standing amid the ruins of my house. No one was around, It was quiet, very quiet, an eerie moment. I discovered my mother in a water tank. She had fainted. Crying out, "Mamma, Mamma", I shook her to bring her back to her senses. After coming to my mother began to shout madly' for my sister, ''Elko, Eiko !" 43 f fif? %v, iv* f » ^ ftjni : ' ? \\ iCi>«fo Nishioki age 39 (686) Around noon of August 6, 1945 This is the scene of the courtyard of the present Hiroshima Prefectural Hospital for- merly the Kyosai Hospital. The girl sitting in the center is me. I was gazing at my mother and younger brother who were both totally burned. My brother died around noon before my eyes. A baby in this picture was clinging to his dead mother. He probably died the next day as he was lying rather still beside his mother. The young boy in front of the baby died after saying to me, "I am from Hiroshima First Middle School. Please hand this lunch to my mother." He entrusted me with his Hinomaru Bcnto, a lunch of rice and plum. 55 August 10, 1945 At Honkawa Elementary School Two little girls about 3 and 5 years old were cooling their seriously injured mother with paper fans. Hiroshi Shinda age 65 (J 93) * 56 HI 57 L - 1. r- v £ 9 if-- r? f JR> Jf* t^> i /. *j I f L * /- r< af 1% Pr ' «. * 3 #- -., Y Before noon August 8, 1 945, Kannon Town, I returned to the ruins after the fire. My house was the second one on the left. An old neighbor lady with palsy had been bedridden and burned to death. Only the still smoldering flesh of her abdomen remained. '\ f " .3=V V '4 m ¥ '*-b "it 20? M V" Mw^l . j > ..... - *.;- *0M***8 s k 1 "\ I "v; ■■■> #. 1 ■ v. I 7- MA. p I fflh-r -7 1 (7) A*. t~ I. !•=; -*n- -s S ^**. E / 2 ? 5 .iv 'Jfeif ?Vn£ £ ^e» Another woman who had lied with her baby returned home to search for her older son she had been forced to leave behind. By removing roof tiles, she found the bones of her boy at the bottom of the ruin. The Kannon Bridge sank in the middle. (upper) A person dipped his face into a water tank, (upper middle) At the foot of the bridge, a dead mother is leaning on a pillar, (right side) 61 Name unknown, housewife, (932) At Meiji Bridge A mother, driven half-mad while looking for her child, was calling his name. At last she found him. His head looked like a boiled octopus. His eyes were half-closed, and his mouth was white, pursed, and swollen. 62 August 10 At the stone steps of a collapsed house along the riverside near the Dobashi area lay this child. Perhaps he had been playing on the stone steps. He must have been three or four years old. Eyeballs popped out about 3 centimeters. His body was swollen and had turned a brown color. His navel protruded. ' ^ -e •■■ L. i > 0) %^ »\ m 47 (23) August 6, after 5 : 00 P.M. In front of the broadcasting station in Nagarekawa I saw a strange thing. There was no doubt that it was a mother and a child burned black. 63 m M ■J r=fH ?a }3£ 4o t ^■i 4 ,»i 1^ -V" 1> l4p 'u A /V ^L H*L r "' c f jfc.i'1 BJt ' "3S + a# «'"?-*& *d#^ Ajf ,(2*A i*AJS»Nsi^4ta*-*n*»j t */>: #f&>* ©^^i.-:^ #->•'*$* 5K*.--fj-l«'-^ Hisashi Niwa age 93 {197) August 7, 1945 about 8 : 00 A.M. Aioi Bridge It was too horrifying to look into the river. I prayed for these dead people. The area was deserted. This horse's intestines were laying on the ground, clear and puffy, 3 centimeters in dia- meter by about 2 meters in length. Freight from horse carts was scattered over the road. Streetcar tracks Streetcars turned over. My fifth son was in the army hospital and at this spot (•) I gave up looking for him. Flattened concrete bridge railing 64 **«***■*■'* #> * V *jv »?= « i- • 5=^ Kinu Kusata age 73 (599) Honkawa Elementary School Here, three foreigners were dead. Aioi Bridge Location from which Kinu Kusata viewed this scene. 65 Kazukiro Ishizu age 68 (373) Kaitaichi area "Oh Praise to Great Buddha" A woman cycling into Hiroshima City. She was going to rescue her child who was in the Volunteer Corps. 66 1 JVanw unknown (576) My sister expires, August 8 1. I, the sixth grader of primary school 2. Mom 3. I : "Never die, never !" Sis. : "You should be the last to die !" 4. The last drip of water given by a injector 5. Pillow made up of rags 6. Torn-off curtain The place : Motohigashi Police Station in Ginzan-machi Died of total burn 67 u Masalo Une age SO {685) A first year junior high school student asked me to give him some water. I heard that if people who had been exposed to the A- Bomb drank water, they would die. So, I would not give him water. The next day, when I passed by the place, he was lying on the ground dead. I wished then that I had let him drink some water, even if he would have died sooner. I clasped my hands and chanted a prayer to Amitaba. I started to worry even more about my own child, for whom I was looking. He might have died in such a miserable condition or be suffer- ing pain. I left there wiping away the tears which welled up in my eyes. I heard in the evening that my child had been calling "Daddy", "Mommy" and that he had taken his last breath alone without seeing us. That was the short life of a thirteen-year- old ! It is twenty-nine years since my son died, and his memory, and the miserable image of the junior high school boy asking for water always haunts me. Oh, the hateful A-Bomb ! 68 -> Kazuo Akiyama age 66 {518} Most of the A-Bomb survivors were burned all over their bodies. They were not only naked, but also their skin came off. Suffering from the severe pain of the burns, they were wandering around looking for their parents, husbands, wives, and children in the city of Hiroshima which had been reduced to ashes. Near Kamiyacho in Hiroshima 69 fcse ■- . ;~ Kazua Matmmnro died in 1977 (922) August 7, 1945, 8:00 A.M., Takeya section 8 kilometers from the hypocenter. In search of a place to cremate her dead child. The burned face of the child on her back was infested with maggots. I guess she was thinking of putting her child's bones in a battle helmet she had picked up. I feared she would have to go far to find burnable material to cremate her child. 70 tit ,1 ft I 4 k 3 I r # i r ) fit t X" V x d \ ■£& / S4°!.%. -%&% —F&W*) Sadako Kimura age 77 {176) 71 72 - / » \ I I I - - 1 - l l *~" 2^1 «***ite" 1 ^t^- 1 '- 1 V \ I 1 Kigfi lekida age 64 [398) Tadao Inoue age fS7 (642) 74 I Kikuno Segawa age 69 {593) I was walking along the Hijiyama Bridge about 3 : 00 P.M. on August 7. A woman, who looked like an expectant mother, was dead. At her side, a girl of about three years of age brought some water in an empty can she had found. She was trying to let her mother drink from it. As soon as I saw this miserable scene with' the pitiful child, I embraced the girl close to me and cried with her, telling her that her mother was dead. 75 Six HANDS OF HELP Iwao Fukui age 61 (702) X 76 When the A-Bomb was dropped I was an army ambulance sergeant of Akatsuki 4039 Corps stationed at Ninoshima Island. I saw this scene when our rescue squad was departing for Hiroshima from Ninoshima Pier, About half an hour after the A-Bomb dropped small ships and barges filled with wounded began arriving at Ninoshima. Some people were towed in the water by rope lashed to their bodies and to the stern of the boats. Of course, they were dead when they were pulled on shore. I did not know whether or not they had already died when they left Hiroshima or whether they hacj died while being towed by boats too crowded with the injured. But I still remem- ber that miserable sight of the dead bodies with white faces washed in sea water. 1 P I . Sagami Ogawa age 60 (664) 78 /C\ | > Sfr ^ MM if ***> *« ?#t | f ' m 5 5 I ' ■J* 7 ] e I I | Kiyoaki Ueno age 46 (850) August 9, 1945, when I was a freshman at the Hiroshima Teacher Training School. After the A-Bomb dropped I helped in the clean-up and reorganization of the Hiroshima Teacher Training School in Shinonome Town. This is only a sketch of what I saw at the Niho Elementary School when I went there on an errand. I cannot forget the scene I witnessed. Since there was no medicine, one of the rescue party was coating a survivor's burn with mercurochrome, another coated it with cooking oil, and the third person pasted newspaper over it. I cannot forget the victim's cries at the time the paper was being torn off ! As there were a lot of flies, maggots were crawling in the wounds. The corridor of Niho Elementary School was being used for a survivors' rescue station even though all the windowpanes were broken. 79 ai '#'f *$-h%Jg&JL * fM^£/?^t fej . ' | If* " ■' ' ' ■' ■ i ■ - : • . * 7 L ft 1 f III 3' \ is ji 1 <» i "J -U s t K # •5 =1 /£ % *." M *> \h 1 r 1 7 is /-- / .1 if) -y 4- 1 it IT K i 5 ]'- 1 f T IT t i< fa- ^ ^ w % 5| 4 * k £ : L A 1 £ %. -, i ■1 ''■> f '" p] I 1 1 5? IT il 1 1 T K- ft y /'-. Kimiyo Higaki age 76 {271) While fleeing toward Ogawara I stopped at the auditorium of Fuchu Elementary School. Seeing so many people badly injured and ask- ing for help, I could not help crying myself. It was terrible to see people with their faces, hands, and legs so badly swollen. I also felt sick from inhaling noxious gases. The army had no medicine except mercurochrome and it was, at best, a temporary treatment. Even now I am anxious about what happened to those people. I also had some mercurochrome put on the injury to my face. 80 ,'-) %wM^ -&~ to I ,f ^ >si^: i i Fumie Enseki age 56 {572) 81 '""'.'' '-':~ / /' :*— ~ — ' •'- ... ^ •g P. ■ S ■■' L , ■' I it. ..... ■ ' S -^ : - ■ '■' V P, ! ; vi TJ Yoshimi Hara age 58 (22) 82 ;>.-// / ' 4 j>. 1^3 i?!i in •%ib 1H n if* f After a few days we carried the injured people who had been on Kanawa Island to the Otake Marine Corps Base. Each motorboat pulled five rafts as this picture shows. On each raft were one noncommissioned officer, three soldiers, fifty injured people, and about twenty of their relatives taking care of them. We could do nothing for the injured people but give them water. A girl spurted blood from her artery when her pressure bandage was taken off. There was a man whose face looked like a broken watermelon whenever he moved his mouth. There was just one medical or- derly on five of such rafts ! We set sail at five in the morning and were to arrive at Otake at one in the afternoon. Suddenly an enemy plane flew toward us and shot at us with machine guns. We could do nothing but put biankets over the people. During the attack, two of the fifty people were killed. One was a man of fifty from Kamino- bori-cho who got up, crawled a few feet while calling for his wife, and then died. I heard later that his wife was taken in another unit and died also. The other of the two was a girl with her family near her. I I 83 Satoru Yoshimoto age 44 [353) O* August 6, 1945 at a hospital in Takasu Hundreds of people had come to receive some treatment. The doctors were putting mercurochrome on the entirely burned bodies of these people. 84 My burn immediately after the A-Bomb explo- sion, August 6, 1945 At that time medicine was scarce. A large number of injured people gathered in a line and were treated with cucumbers, cooking oil, or mercurochrome. i$ilil^i. < jjjtg U g &$'>*r&\- Shiro Fujimoto age 66 (498-500) 85 The morning of August 7, 1945 I awoke to find my face terribly changed as if it was not my face. My whole body ached. I suffered from a fever during the night. My mother, wife, and the Ishizu family in whose house we lived during evacuation, kindly took care of me. My face, especially my mouth, felt like a rubber ball. My body did too. The fever, which robbed me of all energy, was more unbearable than the injury. After one month in bed I managed to walk again and so I rejoined my military unit. (As I had not been directly exposed to the bomb-flash, my illness was not too serious.) Within a week all my comrades' hair turned a red-brown color and fell out. They were also bleeding from the gums and under the nails. Gradually they became emaciated and their burns festered all over. It looked like they were carrying bags of water on their backs. They all soon died. I decided to return to Hon-in against the advice of my friends. On the way I met Mr. Samura, a friend of mine. Without his name plate I could not have identified him. He said that all his companions were killed during a morning assembly. I advised him to go to Hesaka Elementary School for medical treat- ment. Then we parted. Three soldiers who were brought here by the ambulance squad yesterday had all died. Each of them was swollen like a balloon doll and their skins were the color of potatoes. Yoshio Takakara age 66 [144, 145, 147) 86 (I) u n* fS.) A' *X £ 1 yfc % *•-> Pi t # It a <*■ ,i» }* ^ fl ■fc ■& -? r J* i tt i t h "i " R? tf *? 4t- 5 f "1 *l <* t* « V 4 «* ^ \^ ■h =i i M j ft R b ft t~- It L ft *- The condition in which I found my 40 year old wife on the morning of August 11, 1945. She was badly burned and had developed run- ning sores. I was a soldier and had left for Takamatsu in Shikoku by orders of the Army on August 5. So I returned home to Ushita in Hiroshima City. 1 . She looked just like a ghost because her eyelids were badly burned and swollen. Fusataro Tanimine age 77 (900) 2. Her lips, swollen and protruding, made her mouth look like a monkey's. 3. Although she was under mosquito net- ting, the skin of her whole burned body on which maggots were breeding had the appearance of the crust of a crab. She died on September 8, 1945, even though I applied oil, seaweed, and tried every other means I could think of to save her life. I 87 Fumiko Yamaoka age 50 (734) fen Nakagawa age 64 (540) This picture is about the rescue operation along the riverbank in Sakaimachi at 8 : 40 A.M., August 6, 1945. Navy personnel started to rescue people in Honkawa, Enoma- chi, and Motomachi. There were cries for help from women, children, and old people pinned under houses or crushed between pil- lars. The fire spread so rapidly that 280,000 people died from burning, asphyxiation, drown- ing, and being crushed. The dead were sacrificed for their country. Children, wives, fathers, and friends never came back. I hear phantom voices crying for help. I can not forget. 90 I llfa&Jfr&ftf I w 7 r-&s 12 10 11 13 Fusako Suma age 44 {34) Uchikoshi town's evacuation center 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 9. 10, 11. 12. 13. Smclled bad Distributed rice balls His face was covered with gauze. Carpet made of straw Bandage Flies caused maggots to form on the wounded people. His stomach was swollen and filled with water. A corpse A corpse Fukushima River He died as he was about to drink water. A hole The soldiers gathered and burned the corpse. A dead horse I 91 > i ^'^z&& Yoshiko Tokutomi age 66 (243) 92 ■ '»■ J v I If • ^ a, j j **t . ^- '"r, 8 .5^ ^ \% ISM i ?V t- A~ <. < /# \ ^