The first atomic bomb actually used in war time was  dropped 
on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 killing 130,000 to 150,000  people 
by  the  end  of the year.  Those who survived  the  bombing  are 
rapidly  aging now at struggling for many years.   The  Hiroshima 
Peace and Culture Foundation has decided to compile the testimony  
of 108 bomb victims to commemorate  the  International Peace Year  
1986 and to record the precious  experiences  of  these survivors 
to be handed down to the future generations.
 
     Mr.  Hiroshi  Sawachika was 28 years old when the  bomb  was 
dropped.    He  was  an  army  doctor  stationed  at   the   army 
headquarters  in Ujina.  When he was exposed, he was  inside  the 
building at the headquarters, 4.1 km from the hypocenter.   Being 
rather  far  from the hypocenter, he was not  seriously  injured.  
Afterwards,  he  was very busy getting medical treatment  to  the 
survivors.
 
MR. SAWACHIKA :  I was in my office.  I had just entered the room 
and  said  "Good  morning."  to colleagues and  I  was  about  to 
approach  my desk when outside it suddenly turned bright red.   I 
felt  very  hot  on my cheeks.  Being the chief of  the  room,  I 
shouted  to the young men and women in the room that they  should 
evacuate.  As soon as I cried, I felt weightless as if I were  an 
astronaut.  I was then unconscious for 20 or 30 seconds.  When  I 
came to, I realized that everybody including myself was lying  at 
one side of the room.  Nobody was standing.  The desks and chairs 
had  also  blown off to one side.  At the windows, there  was  no 
window glass and the window flames had been blown out as well.  I 
went  to  the  windows to find out where the  bombing  had  taken 
place.   And I saw the mushroom cloud over the gas company.   The 
sound and shock somehow suggested that the bomb had been  dropped 
right  over  the  gas  company.  I still had  no  idea  what  had 
happened.   And I kept looking towards the gas company.  After  a 
while,  I  realized  that my white shirt was  red  all  over.   I 
thought it was funny because I was not injured at all.  i  looked 
around and then realized that the girl lying near by was  heavily 
injured, with lots of broken glass stuck all over her body.   Her 
blood  had  splashed  and  made stains on my  shirt.   In  a  few 
minutes,  I  heard  my  name called.  I was told  to  go  to  the 
headquarters where there were lots of injured persons waiting.  I 
went  there  and  I started to give treatment with  the  help  of 
nurses  and  medical  course men.  We first  treated  the  office 
personnel for their injuries.  Most of them had broken glass  and 
pieces  of  woods  stuck into them.  We treated  them  one  after 
another.  Afterwards, we heard the strange noise.  It sounded  as 
if  a large flock of mosquitoes were coming from a distance.   We 
looked out of the window to find out what was happening.  We  saw 
that  citizens  from  the town were marching  towards  us.   They 
looked  unusual.   We understood that the injured  citizens  were 
coming  towards  us for treatment.  But while,  we  thought  that 
there should be Red Cross Hospitals and another big hospitals  in 
the  center  of  the  town.  So why  should  they  come  here,  I 
wondered,  instead of going there.  At that time, I did not  know 
that the center of the town had been so heavily damaged.  After a 
while,  with  the guide of the hospital  personnel,  the  injured 
persons  reached our headquarters.  With lots of  injured  people 
arriving,  we  realized  just how serious  the  matter  was.   We 
decided  that we should treat them all so.  Soon  afterwards,  we 
learned that many of them had badly burned.  As they came to  us, 
they held their hands aloft.  They looked like they were  ghosts.  
We  made the tincture for that treatment by mixing edible  peanut 
oil  and  something.  We had to work in a  mechanical  manner  in 
order  to treat so many patients.  We provided one room  for  the 
heavily  injured  and  another  for  the  slightly  injured.    A 
treatment  was  limited to the first aid because  there  were  no 
facilities for the patients to be hospitalized.  Later on, when I 
felt that I could leave the work to other staffs for a moment,  I 
walked  out of the treatment room and went into the another  room 
to  see  what had happened.  When I stepped inside, I  found  the 
room filled with the smell that was quite similar to the smell of 
dried  squid  when  it has been grilled.   The  smell  was  quite 
strong.   It's a sad reality that the smell human beings  produce 
when they are burned is the same as that of the dried squid  when 
it  is  grilled.  The squid - we like so much to eat.  It  was  a 
strange  feeling, a feeling that I had never had before.   I  can 
still remember that smell quite clearly.  Afterwards, I came back 
to the treatment room and walked through the roads of people  who 
were  either seriously injured or waiting to be treated.  When  I 
felt  someone  touch my leg, it was a pregnant woman.   She  said 
that she was about to die in a few hours.  She said, "I know that 
I am going to die.  But I can feel that my baby is moving inside.  
It  wants  to get out of the room.  I don't mind if I  had  died.  
But  if the baby is delivered now, it does not have to  die  with 
me.   Please  help my baby live."  There  were  no  obstetricians 
there.   There was no delivery room.  There was no time  to  take 
care  of her baby.  All I could do was to tell her that  I  would 
come  back later when everything was ready for her and her  baby.  
Thus  I  cheered her up and she looks so happy.  But  I  have  to 
return  to the treatment work.  So I resumed to work taking  care 
of the injured one by one.  There were so many patients.  I  felt 
as  if I was fighting against the limited time.  It was  late  in 
the  afternoon towards the evening.  And image of  that  pregnant 
woman never left my mind.  Later, I went to the place where I had 
found her before, she was still there lying in the same place.  I 
patted  her  on the shoulder, but she said nothing.   The  person 
lying  next  to her said that a short while ago, she  had  become 
silent.  I still recalled this incident partly because I was  not 
able to fulfill the last wish of this dying young woman.  I  also 
remember  her  because I had a chance to talk  with  her  however 
short it was.
INTERVIEWER :  How many patients did you treat on August 6?
ANSWER :  Well, at least 2 or 3 thousands on that very day if you 
include  those  patients whom I gave all directions to.   I  felt 
that as if once that day started, it never ended.  I had to  keep 
on and on treating the patients forever.  It was the longest  day 
of my life.  Later on, when I had time to reflect on that day,  I 
came  to  realize  that we, doctors learned  a  lot  through  the 
experience, through the suffering of all those people.  It's true 
that   the  lack  of  medical  knowledge,   medical   facilities, 
integrated  organization  and  so on  prevented  us  from  giving 
sufficient  medical  treatment.  Still there was a  lot  for  us, 
medical doctors to learn on that day.  I learned that the nuclear 
weapons  which gnaw the minds and bodies of human  beings  should 
never be used.  Even the slightest idea using nuclear arms should 
be completely exterminated the minds of human beings.  Otherwise, 
we  will repeat the same tragedy.  And we will never  stop  being 
ashamed of ourselves.


       

     Next is Mr. Yosaku Mikami.  He was 32 years old when he  was 
exposed.  When the bomb was exploded, he was on a streetcar which 
was running in Sendamachi, 1.9 km from the hypocenter.  He was  a 
fireman.  On the morning of August 6, he was on his way back from 
the  night  duty to Ujina going to his home in  Sakaemachi.   The 
rest of his family was all evacuated one day before.
 
     I was stationed at Ujina fire station.  Our duty was to work 
24  hours  from  8 o'clock in the morning to  8  o'clock  in  the 
following morning.  We were divided into 2 groups for the shifts.  
On that day, August 6, I was just about to leave work and go home 
at  8 o'clock in the morning.  Shortly before it, the  all  clear 
was  sounded.   So I started to go home to  Sakaemachi.   When  I 
reached the streetcar stop, I found out that I had missed the car 
by  just a few minutes.  So I had to wait about ten minutes  more 
before  I  got on the next car.  The car  passed  through  Miyuki 
Bashi  and was approaching the train office, when I saw the  blue 
flash  from the window.  At the same time, smoke filled  the  car 
which  prevented me even from seeing person standing directly  in 
front  of me.  In about half an hour, I went out of the  car.   I 
noticed  that the fire was burning everywhere.  The sky was  dull 
as it covered by clouds.  I decided to go back to work and I  ran 
back  to  the fire station.  There was nothing to drink  at  all.  
Can  you  see  there  is a streetcar over  there  near  the  fire 
station?   When  I reached that corner, I jumped  onto  the  fire 
track with my colleagues who were on duty on that day.  I  joined 
them.  We drove along the trouble way but we had to return to the 
fire station soon because there was too much fire and we couldn't 
do anything at all.  When we were on our way back to the station, 
and  approaching  the  office  of the  Tobacco  and  Salt  Public 
Cooperation,  we  found that the warehouse was on  fire.   So  we 
stopped there and went inside to put out the fire.  When the fire 
had come down, we decided to go to the main fire station to  find 
out what had happened.  We passed by the Miyuki Bridge. It was so 
hot  as  the  result  of the heat  produced  by  the  fire.   The 
electric-light  poles burned down.  All of us wore  raincoats  to 
protect  us  from  the  fire.  We also wore  caps  for  the  same 
purpose.   Using buckets, we threw water over ourselves  when  we 
reached  the  water  tanks.  Finally, we reached  the  main  fire 
station.   I guess that about 5 or 6 of my coworkers  were  there 
already.   Then  we  were  told to take  care  of  the  seriously 
injured.   We  drove  a chief to a hospital  and  then  we  drove 
towards Miyuki Bridge and Takano Bridge, where we found a lot  of 
people dying.  There were about 4 or 5 firemen on the fire track.  
The  men in good condition were clinging to the side of the  car.  
We  heard many people swearing, screaming, shouting,  asking  for 
help.   Since our order was to help the most heavily injured,  we 
searched for them.  We tried to open the eyes of the injured  and 
we  found out they were still alive.  We tried to carry  them  by 
their  arms and legs and to place them onto the fire track.   But 
this was difficult because their skin was peeled off as we  tried 
to  move  them.  They were all heavily burned.   But  they  never 
complained  but they felt pain even when their skin  was  peeling 
off.   We carried the victims to the prefectural hospital.   Soon 
afterwards, the hospital was full, so then we carried the injured 
to  the  Akatsuki Military Hospital.  On the  following  day,  we 
decided to visit the small fire stations throughout the town.   I 
believe there were about 20 or 30 small stations with only 7 or 8 
firemen  each.   Those small stations were temporary  place  near 
police  stations  and city halls during war  time.   The  workers 
stationed at the important places were all killed.  I visited one 
of the fire stations and inside the burned fire engine, I found a 
man  who was scorched to death.  He looked as if he was about  to 
start  the  fire  engine to fight the fire.   Inside  the  broken 
building,  I  also  found several dead men.  I  guess  they  were 
trapped inside the building.  Many of my colleagues who  survived 
on  that day died one month later.  Some of them lost their  hair 
before  their death.  Yes.  There were lots of firemen  who  died 
one or one and half months later.  I feel very sorry for them.  I 
also  feel  deeply sorry for those who lost  their  families.   I 
sincerely hope that there would be no more nuclear war.  




     Next  is Mr. Isao Kita.  He was 33 years old when  the  bomb 
fell.   He was working for the Hiroshima District Weather  Bureau 
3.7 km from the hypocenter. He was the chief weather man and  his 
shift fell on August 5 to 6.  He kept observing the weather  even 
after he was exposed.
 
MR.  KITA :  Well, at that time, I happened to be  receiving  the 
transmission over the wireless.  I was in the receiving room  and 
I  was facing northward.  I noticed the flashing light.   It  was 
not  really a big flash.  But still it drew my attention.   In  a 
few  seconds, the heat wave arrived.  After I noticed the  flash, 
white  clouds spread over the blue sky.  It was amazing.  It  was 
as  if blue morning-glories had suddenly bloomed up in  the  sky.  
It  was funny, I thought.  Then came the heat wave.  It was  very 
very hot.  Even though there was a window glass in front of me, I 
felt  really  hot.  It was as if I was looking  directly  into  a 
kitchen oven.  I couldn't bear the heat for a long time.  Then  I 
heard the cracking sound.  I don't know what made that sound, but 
probably  it  came from the air which suddenly  expanded  in  the 
room.   By that time, I realized that the bomb had been  dropped.  
As  I had been instructed, I pushed aside the chair and lay  with 
my  face on the floor.  Also as I had been instructed during  the 
frequent  emergency  exercises, I covered my eyes and  ears  with 
hands  like this.  And I started to count.  You may feel  that  I 
was  rather  heartless just to start counting.  But for  us,  who 
observed the weather, it is a duty to record the process of time, 
of  various  phenomena.   So I started counting  with  the  light 
flash.  When I counted to 5 seconds, I heard the groaning  sound.  
At the same time, the window glass was blown off and the building 
shook from the bomb blast.  So the blast reached that place about 
5  seconds after the explosion.  We later measured  the  distance 
between  the  hypocenter  and  our place.   And  with  these  two 
figures, we calculated that the speed of the blast was about  700 
meters  per second.  The speed of sound is about 330  meters  per 
second,  which means that the speed of the blast was about  twice 
as  fast  as the speed of sound.  It didn't move as fast  as  the 
speed of light but it moved quite rapidly.  There is a path which 
leads  by  here over there.  And on that day, a large  number  of 
injured  persons  walked this way along the path toward  the  Omi 
Hospital.   They were bleeding all over and some of them  had  no 
clothes.   Many of them were carrying people on their  shoulders.  
Looking  at  the injured, I realized how seriously the  town  had 
been  damaged.   The fire was its peak at around that  time.   It 
thundered  10  times  between 10 and 11 o'clock.   The  sound  of 
thunder  itself  was  not  so great but still  I  could  see  the 
lightning over the fire.  When I looked down on the town from the 
top of that hill, I could see that the city was completely  lost.  
The city turned into a yellow sand.  It turned yellow, the  color 
of the yellow desert.
INTERVIEWER :  Was this before the fire broke out? 
ANSWER :  Yes.The town looked yellowish.   The smoke was so thick 
that  it  covered the entire town.  After about 5  minutes,  fire 
broke  out  here and there.  The fire gradually grew  bigger  and 
there were smoke everywhere and so we could no longer see towards 
the  town.  The cloud of the smoke was very tall, but  it  didn't 
come in this direction at all.  The cloud moved in that direction 
from  the ocean towards Hiroshima Station.  It moved towards  the 
north.The smoke from the fire, it was like a screen dividing  the 
city  into two parts.  The sun was shining brightly just like  it 
was  a middle of the summer over here on this side.   And  behind 
the  cloud  on  the  other side, it  was  completely  dark.   The 
contrast  was  very  much.  So about 60 or 70 % of  the  sky  was 
covered by the cloud and the other 30 % was completely clear.  It 
was  a  bright clear blue sky.  The condition had  remained  like 
this for some time.  From Koi, looking towards Hiroshima Station, 
you could see the black rain falling.  But from here, I  couldn't 
judge how much rain was falling.  But based on the information  I 
heard  later,  it  seems that the rain fell quite  heavy  over  a 
period  of  several hours.  It was a black and sticky  rain.   It 
stuck  everything.  When it fell on trees and leaves,  it  stayed 
and turned everything black.  When it fell on people's  clothing, 
the  clothing turned black.  It also stuck on people's hands  and 
feet.  And it couldn't be washed off.  I couldn't be washed  off.  
I  couldn't  see what was taking place inside the  burning  area.  
But  I was able to see the extent of the area which was on  fire.  
Based  on  the information which came later, it  seems  that  the 
center  of the town suffered the worst damage.  The  atomic  bomb 
does  not discriminate.  Of course, those who were  fighting  may 
have  to suffer.  But the atomic bomb kills everyone from  little 
babies  to old people.  And it's not an easy death.  It's a  very 
cruel  and very painful way to die.  I think that this cannot  be 
allowed to happen again anywhere in the world.  I don't say  this 
just  because I'm a Japanese atomic bomb survivor.  I  feel  that 
people all over the world must speak out.



     Mr. Akira Onogi was 16 years old when the bomb was  dropped.  
He  was at home 1.2 km away from center of explosion.  The  house 
was  under the shade of the warehouse, which protected  him  from 
the   first  blast.   All  five  members  of  the  Onogi   family 
miraculously survived in immediate fire at their house.
 
MR.  ONOGI :  I was in the second year of junior high school  and 
was  mobilized  work  with  my  classmates  at  the  Eba   Plant, 
Mitsubishi  shipbuilding.  On the day when A-bomb was dropped,  I 
happened  to be taking the day off and I was staying at home.   I 
was reading lying on the floor with a friend of mine.  Under  the 
eaves I saw blue flash of light just like a spark made by a train 
or some short circuit.  Next, a stemlike blast came.
INTERVIEWER :  From which direction?
ANSWER  :   Well, I'm not sure, anyway, when the blast  came,  my 
friend and I were blown into another room.  I was unconscious for 
a  while,  and  when  I came to, I  found  myself  in  the  dark.  
Thinking my house was directly hit by a bomb, I removed red  soil 
and  roof tiles covering me by hand and for the first time I  saw 
the  sky.  I managed to go out to open space and I looked  around 
wondering what my family were doing.  I found that all the houses 
around there had collapsed for as far as I could see.
INTERVIEWER :  All the houses?
ANSWER :  Yes, well, I couldn't see anyone around me but I  heard 
somebody  shouting "Help! Help!" from somewhere.  The cries  were 
actually  from underground as I was walking on.  Since no  choose 
were available, I'd just dug out red soil and roof tiles by  hand 
to help my family; my mother, my three sisters and a child of one 
of my sisters.  Then, I looked next door and I saw the father  of 
neighboring  family standing almost naked.  His skin was  peeling 
off all over his body and was hanging from finger tips.  I talked 
to  him  but  he was too exhausted to give me a  reply.   He  was 
looking  for his family desperately.  The person in this  picture 
was  a  neighbor  of  us.  I think  the  family's  name  was  the 
Matsumotos.   When we were escaping from the edge of the  bridge, 
we  found  this small girl crying and she asked us  to  help  her 
mother.  Just beside the girl, her mother was trapped by a fallen 
beam  on  top  of  the lower half of  her  body.   Together  with 
neighbors,  we  tried  hard  to  remove  the  beam,  but  it  was 
impossible   without  any  tools.   Finally  a  fire  broke   out 
endangering  us.  So we had no choice but to leave her.  She  was 
conscious  and  we  deeply bowed to her  with  clasped  hands  to 
apologize  to  her and then we left.  About one  hour  later,  it 
started  raining heavily.  There were large drops of black  rain.  
I  was  wearing  a  short sleeve shirt  and  shorts  and  it  was 
freezing.   Everybody  was  shivering.  We  warmed  ourselves  up 
around the burning fire in the middle of the summer.
INTERVIEWER :  You mean the fire did not distinguish by the rain?
ANSWER :  That's right.  The fire didn't subside it at all.  What 
impressed  my  very strongly was a 5 or 6 year-old-boy  with  his 
right  leg cut at the thigh.  He was hopping on his left foot  to 
cross  over  the  bridge.  I can still  record  this  scene  very 
clearly.  The water of the river êa looking`¡t`®ow`©s`¶ery` £lean`
anÌ  cÚear, but on the day of bombing, all the houses along  this 
river  were  blown  by the blast with their  pillars,  beams  and 
pieces  of  furniture  blown into the river or  hanging  off  the 
bridges.  The river was also filled with dead people blown by the 
blast  and with survivors who came here to seek water.  Anyway  I 
could  not  see the surface of the water at  all.   Many  injured 
people with peeled skin were crying out for help.  Obviously they 
were  looking at us and we could hardly turn our eyes toward  the 
river.
INTERVIEWER :  Wasn't it possible to help them?
ANSWER  :  No, there were too many people.  We took care  of  the 
people around us by using the clothes of dead people as bandages, 
especially for those who were terribly wounded.  By that time  we 
somehow became insensible all those awful things.  After a while, 
the  fire  reached  the river bank and we decided  to  leave  the 
river.   We crossed over this railway bridge and escaped  in  the 
direction  along  the railway.  The houses on both sides  of  the 
railroad were burning and railway was the hollow in the fire.   I 
thought  I  was  going  to  die  here.   It  was  such  an  awful 
experience.   You know for about 10 years after bombing I  always 
felt  paralyzed  we  never  saw the  sparks  made  by  trains  or 
lightning.  Also even at home, I could not sit beside the windows 
because  I  had seen so many people badly wounded  by  pieces  of 
glass.   So  I always sat with the wall behind me  for  about  10 
years.  It was some sort of instinct to self-preservation.



     Ms.  Hiroko  Fukada  was  18 years old  when  the  bomb  was 
dropped.  She was inside the Bureau of Post Communications,  then 
it  located in Hakushima 1 km away from the center of  explosion.  
She  lost  her  parents and one sister and never  since  the  war 
ended.   She  has  been working taking care of  her  two  younger 
brothers who survived.
 
MS.  FUKADA :  This is my first time to come back this place  you 
know in 41 years since the A-bomb was dropped.  I don't know what 
to  say  really.  The memory of that day seems  to  be  gradually 
coming  back to be though.  At the moment when I sat down  at  my 
desk  and took out my notebooks and pens, I suddenly saw  a  very 
strong  flash  of  light.  Then it was  tremendous  impact.   The 
atomic bomb is often described as Pika-don or spark and bang  and 
that's a very good description, I think. 
INTERVIEWER :  What was the color of the light?
ANSWER  :  I remember it was yellow.  I clearly remember  it  now 
and  despite the shower of glass, fortunately I didn't  have  any 
major injuries.  I thought it was hopeless because I thought  the 
buildings directly head and I went out of the building because  I 
thought  it  would  be dangerous to stay inside.   Soon  I  found 
soldiers walking in this direction.  I was with my friends and we 
thought  it  would be safe to go with soldiers, and  so  we  came 
here.
INTERVIEWER :  What were the conditions outside the building?
ANSWER   :   Everybody  was  terribly  injured.   We  were   even 
embarrassed  because  we were not injured.  I have  no  words  to 
describe the scene.  A flood of people went down this cliff  just 
like dominoes down.
INTERVIEWER :  So you were also pushed forward, weren't you?
ANSWER :  Yes, Yes.  I was almost crashed and it was very hard to 
stay  on  this  side.   And the other  side  was  burning  and  a 
tremendous heat attached us on this side, too.  And more and more 
people  came  from behind me crashing us and  crashing  us.   And 
since  it  was so hot, I dipped my face under the water  so  many 
times.
INTERVIEWER :  So you jumped into the river right here?
ANSWER  :   Yeah.  I was pushed into the river  with  many  other 
people.   And  since I thought it would be dangerous to  stay  on 
this side, I swam over to the other side.  It was so frightening.
INTERVIEWER  :  What happened when you were swimming  across  the 
river?
ANSWER  :  Well an awful thing happened when I reached the  other 
side,  and  was  relieved.  I was suddenly  spun  around  by  the 
current.  And then large pieces of hail begin to fall and my face 
started  hurting.  So to avoid that I again plunged my face  into 
the water time and time again.  And then I spun around again  and 
again.  It just didn't stop.
INTERVIEWER :  What actually happened in the water?
ANSWER  :  The water was swirling around me and later  I  learned 
that  was a tornado.  And my friends somehow managed  to  survive 
it.
INTERVIEWER :  Did you think you were going to die?
ANSWER :  Yes.  The faces of my family came to my mind one  after 
another.  And I really thought I was dying because I drank a  lot 
of water, too.
INTERVIEWER  :  This is a picture which you drew  describing  the 
moment, isn't it?  Would you explain this again?  Do you remember 
this picture?  How many years ago did you last see this picture?
ANSWER  :   Well, I'm not really sure.  I really  thought  I  was 
dying because I drank so much water, too.  I don't know how  many 
minutes have passed but anyway I found something like a piece  of 
wood  which is very soft and sticky and I touched it.   That  was 
actually my friend's leg.  And she was alive and we were so  glad 
to  see each other.  Then I began to wonder what my  family  were 
doing.   Since we lived in Takaramachi, I thought that they  went 
to Ujina rather than in this direction.  And I also thought  they 
might  have already been killed by the bomb.  I just didn't  know 
what was going on.
INTERVIEWER :  How your mother and brothers?
ANSWER  :   Well,  my  mother was at  the  first  aid  center  in 
Ninoshima.  And she died on August 10.
INTERVIEWER :  How about your brothers?
ANSWER  :   Although the small one was together  with  my  mother 
since  they  had been mobilized to do tear down  houses  to  make 
streets wider for the military purposes.  He survived because  he 
happened  to  be standing just by chance under the eaves  of  the 
building  and the younger brother was at his  elementary  school.  
He  was stuck under the collapsed school building but he  managed 
to get out.  He escaped to Hijiyama Bridge and survived.
INTERVIEWER :  How was your younger sister?
ANSWER  :  She was in Zakoba-cho and she had also been  mobilized 
to  pull  down houses.  We never found her.  At that time  I  was 
only  18 years old and have lost my parents all of a  sudden.   I 
didn't know what to do.  But I had two small brothers that I  had 
to  take care of and support.  So I could not afford to  bend  my 
self to grief.  I was very hard to raise my brothers and try  not 
to depend on others.  I went frantically day after day.  Well, it 
was so cruel.  It is hard to talk about it.  I can't.


      

     Mr.  Akihiro Takahashi was 14 years old, when the  bomb  was 
dropped.   he  was standing in line with other  students  of  his 
junior  high school, waiting for the morning meeting 1.4 km  away 
from  the center.  He was under medical treatment for about  year 
and  half.   And even today black nail grows at his  finger  tip, 
where a piece of glass was stuck.
 
MR.  TAKAHASHI  :   We were about to fall in on  the  ground  the 
Hiroshima  Municipal  Junior  High  School  on  this  spot.   The 
position of the school building was not so different from what it 
is today and the platform was not positioned, too.  We were about 
to form lines facing the front, we saw B29 approaching and  about 
fly over us.  All of us were looking up the sky, pointing out the 
aircraft.   Then the teachers came out from the  school  building 
and  the  class leaders gave the command to fall in.   Our  faces 
were  all  shifted from the direction of the sky to that  of  the 
platform.  That was the moment when the blast came.  And then the 
tremendous  noise came and we were left in the dark.  I  couldn't 
see  anything  at  the  moment of explosion  just  like  in  this 
picture.  We had been blown by the blast.  Of course, I  couldn't 
realize  this  until the darkness disappeared.   I  was  actually 
blown about 10 m.  My friends were all marked down on the  ground 
by the blast just like this.  Everything collapsed for as far  as 
I could see.  I felt the city of Hiroshima had disappeared all of 
a  sudden.   Then  I looked at myself and found  my  clothes  had 
turned  into  rags due to the heat.  I was probably burn  at  the 
back  of  the head, on my back, on both arms and both  legs.   My 
skin was peeling and hanging like this.  Automatically I began to 
walk  heading  west because that was the direction  of  my  home.  
After  a  while, I noticed somebody calling my  name.   I  looked 
around  and found a friend of mine who lived in my town  and  was 
studying  at  the same school.  His name was  Yamamoto.   He  was 
badly  burnt just like myself.  We walked toward the river.   And 
on  the  way  we saw many victims.  I saw a man  whose  skin  was 
completely  peeled  off the upper half of his body  and  a  woman 
whose eye balls were sticking out.  Her whole baby was  bleeding.  
A  mother and her baby were lying with a skin  completely  peeled 
off.  We desperately made a way crawling.  And finally we reached 
the river bank.  At the same moment, a fire broke out.  We made a 
narrow  escape from the fire.  If we had been slower by even  one 
second, we would have been killed by the fire.  Fire was  blowing 
into  the  sky becoming 4 or even 5 m high.  There  was  a  small 
wooden bridge left, which had not been destroyed by the blast.  I 
went over to the other side of the river using that bridge.   But 
Yamamoto  was  not with me any more.  He was lost  somewhere.   I 
remember  I crossed the river by myself and on the other side,  I 
purged  myself  into  the  water  three  times.   The  heat   was 
tremendous .  And I felt like my body was burning all over.   For 
my  burning body the cold water of the river was as  precious  as 
the  treasure.   Then I left the river, and I  walked  along  the 
railroad  tracks in the direction of my home.  On the way, I  ran 
into  an another friend of mine, Tokujiro Hatta.  I wondered  why 
the  soles of his feet were badly burnt.  It was  unthinkable  to 
get  burn  there.   But it was undeniable  fact  the  soles  were 
peeling  and red muscle was exposed.  Even I myself was  terribly 
burnt, I could not go home ignoring him.  I made him crawl  using 
his  arms and knees.  Next, I made him stand on his heels  and  I 
supported  him.  We walked heading toward my home  repeating  the 
two methods.  When we were resting because we were so  exhausted, 
I  found my grandfather's brother and his wife, in  other  words, 
grade  uncle  and grade aunt, coming toward us.  That  was  quite 
coincidence.  As you know, we have a proverb about meeting Buddha 
in  Hell.  My encounter with my relatives at that time  was  just 
like  that.   They seem to be the Buddha to me wandering  in  the 
living  hell.  Afterwards I was under medical treatment  for  one 
year  and  half and I miraculously recovered.  Out  of  sixty  of 
junior  high school classmates, only ten of us are  alive  today.  
Yamamoto and Hatta soon died on the acute radiation disease.  The 
radiation corroded the bodies and killed them.  I myself am still 
alive  on this earth suffering after-effect of the bomb.  I  have 
and  I  have  to see regularly an ear doctor, an  eye  doctor,  a 
dermatologist and a surgeon.  I feel uneasy about my health every 
day.   Further, on both of my hands, I have keloids.   My  injury 
was  most  serious on my right hand and I used to  have  terrible 
keloids  at right here.  I had it removed by surgery 1954,  which 
enabled  me to move my rest a little bit like this.  For my  four 
fingers  are fixed just like this, and my elbow is fixed  at  one 
hundred  twenty degrees and doesn't move.  The muscle  and  bones 
are  attached each other.  Also the four finger of my right  hand 
doesn't have normal nail.  It has a black nail.  A piece of glass 
which  was blown by the blast stuck here and destroyed the  cells 
of  the  base  of  the finger now.  That  is  why  a  black  nail 
continues  to grow and from now on, too, it will continue  to  be 
black  and never become normal.  Anyway I'm alive today  together 
with  nine  of  my classmates for this forty  years.   I've  been 
living  believing  that  we  can never waste  the  depth  of  the 
victims.   I've been living on dragging my body full of  sickness 
and  from time to time I question myself I wonder if it is  worth 
living  in  such hardship and pain and I become  desperate.   But 
it's time I manage to pull myself together and I tell myself once 
my  life was saved, I should fulfill my mission as a survivor  in 
other  words  it  has been and it is my  belief  that  those  who 
survived  must continue to talk about our experiences.  The  hand 
down  the awful memories to future generations  representing  the 
silent  voices of those who had to die in misery.  Throughout  my 
life,  I would like to fulfill this mission by talking  about  my 
experience both here in Japan and overseas.




Ms.  Kinue  Tomoyasu was 44 years old at the time of  the  A-bomb 
attack.  She was at home, 5 kilometers from the hypocenter.   She 
then   entered  Hiroshima  City  to  search  for  her   daughter. 
Previously  her husband had died of illness and her only son  was 
sent  to a battle field.  She was living with her only  daughter. 
Ms.  Tomoyasu was admitted to the Hiroshima Atomic  Bomb  Victims 
Nursing Home thirteen years ago.
Tomoyasu:  That  morning I left home with my daughter.   She  was 
working  at the industrial Research Institute.  Then an  air-raid 
warning was issued.  I went back home, but my daughter  insisted, 
"I'm  going to the office." even though the air-raid warning  had 
been  issued.   She reached the train station.  The  trains  were 
always late in the morning, but they were on time that day.   She 
took  the train and when she got off at the station, she was  hit 
by the A-bomb.  I went inside my home since the warning was still 
on.  I  tucked  myself in bed and waited for the  warning  to  be 
lifted.
After  the warning was lifted, I got up and folded  the  bedding, 
put it back into the closet, and opened the window.  As I  opened 
the  window,  there came the flash.  it was so bright, a  ten  or 
hundred or thousand times brighter than a camera flash bulb.  The 
flash  was  piercing my eyes and my mind went blank.   The  glass 
from  the windows was shattered all over the floor.  I was  lying 
on  the floor, too.  When I came to, I was anxious to  know  what 
happened  to my daughter, Yatchan.  I looked outside  the  window 
and  saw  one  of my neighbors.  He was standing  out  there.   I 
called, "Mr. Okamoto, what was that flash?"  He said, "That was a 
killer  beam." I became more anxious.  I thought, "I must  go,  I 
must  go and find her."  I swept up the pieces of glass,  put  my 
shoes on, and took my air-raid hood with me.  I made my way to  a 
train station near Hiroshima.  I saw a young girl coming my  way.  
Her  skin  was  dangling all ever and she  was  naked.   She  was 
muttering,  "Mother, water,mother,water."  I took a look at  her.  
I  thought  she might be my daughter, but she wasn't.   I  didn't 
give  her any water.  I am sorry that I didn't.  Bat my mind  was 
full, worrying about my daughter.  I ran all the way to Hiroshima 
Station.   Hiroshima  Station was full of people.  Some  of  them 
were dead, and many of them were lying on the ground, calling for 
their mothers and asking for water.  I went to Tokiwa Bridge.   I 
had  to  cross the bridge to get to my  daughter's  office.   But 
there  was  a rope for tote across the bridge.   And  the  people 
there  told me, "You can't go beyond here today."   I  protested, 
"My daughter's office is over there.  Please let me go  through."  
They  told  me,  "No."   Some men were daring  to  make  the  way 
through, but I couldn't go beyond it. I thought she might be on a 
way  back  home.  I returned home, but my daughter was  not  back 
yet.
Interviewer: Did you see the large cloud?
Tomoyasu: No, I didn't see the cloud.
Interviewer: You didn't see the mushroom cloud?
Tomoyasu: I didn't see the Mushroom cloud.  I was trying to  find 
my  daughter.  They told me I couldn't go beyond the  bridge.   I 
thought she might be back home, so I went back as far as  Nikitsu 
Shrine.  Then, the black rain started falling from the sky.   And 
I wondered what it was.  And it was what's called the black rain. 
Interviewer: Can you tell us what was the black rain like?
Tomoyasu:  It was like a heavy rain.  And I had my air-raid  hood 
on, so I didn't get it on my head fortunately, but it fell on  my 
hands.   And  I ran and ran.  I waited for her with  the  windows 
open.  I stayed awake all night waiting and waiting for her,  but 
she  didn't  come back.  About six thirty on the morning  of  the 
7th,  Mr. Ishido, whose daughter was working at the  same  office 
with  my  daughter, came around.  He called out  asking  for  the 
Tomoyasu's  house.   I went outside calling to him,  "It's  here, 
over  here!" Mr.Ishido came up to me and said, "Quick!  Get  some 
clothes and go for her.  Your daughter is at the bank of the  Ota 
River."  I said, "Thank you, thank you very much.   Is she  still 
alive?"   He said, "She is alive," and added, "I'll show you  the 
way."   I  took  a yukata with me.  My  neighbors  offered  me  a 
stretcher.  And I started running at full speed.  People followed 
me and said, "Slow down!  Be careful not to hurt yourself!"   But 
still,  I hurried as fast as I could.  When I reached the  Tokiwa 
Bridge,  there  were  soldiers  lying  on  the  ground.    Around 
Hiroshima  Station,  I saw more people lying dead,  more  on  the 
morning  of  the 7th than on the 6th.  When I reached  the  river 
bank,  I  couldn't tell who was who. I kept  wondering  where  my 
daughter was.  But then, she cried for me, "Mother!" I recognized 
her  voice.    I  found her in a horrible  condition.   Her  face 
looked  terrible.  And she still appears in my dreams  like  that 
sometimes.   When I met her, she  said, "There shouldn't  be  any 
war."  The first thing she said to me was "Mother, it took you so 
long  to  get  here."   And then she said  to  me  again,  "There 
shouldn't send for a doctor.  I couldn't do anything for her.  My 
neighbors  went  back home.  They had wounded family  members  as 
well.   I was all by myself, and I didn't know what to do.  There 
were  maggots in her wounds and a sticky yellowish pus,  a  white 
watery  liquid  coming  out her wounds  and  a  sticky  yellowish 
liquid. I didn't know what was going on. 
Interviewer:  So  you  tried  to remove  the  maggots  from  your 
daughter's body?
Tomoyasu:  Yes.   But her skin was just peeling right  off.   The 
maggots  were coming out all over.  I couldn't wipe them off.   I 
thought  it  would be too painful.  I picked  off  some  maggots, 
though.  She asked me what I was doing and I told her, "Oh,  it's 
nothing."   She  nodded at my words.  And nine hours  later,  she 
died.  Interviewer:  You were holding her in your arms  all  that 
time?  Tomoyasu: Yes, on my lap. I had had bedding and folded  on 
the floor, but I held her in my arms. when I held her on my  lap, 
she  said, "I don't  want to die."  I told her, "Hang   on   Hang 
on." She said, "I won't  die before my brother comes home."   But 
she  was  in pain and she kept crying, "Brother.    Mother."   On 
August  15th, I held her funeral.  And around early October,   my 
hair  started to come out.  I wondered what was happening to  me,  
but  all  my hair was disappearing. In November, I  become  bald.  
Then, purple spots started to appear around my neck, my body  and 
my arms, and on the inner parts of  my thighs, a lot of them, all 
over,  the purple spots all over my body.  I had a high fever  of 
forty  degrees.   I  was shivering and I   couldn't  consult  the  
doctor.   I  still  had a fever when I was admitted  here  for  a 
while, but now I don't have a fever so often. 
Interviewer : After your son returned home from the war, what did
he do?
Tomoyasu : He came back in February of 1946, and he took care  of 
me.  When he heard how his sister died, he said he felt so  sorry 
for  her.  He told me he hated war.  I understand.  Many  of  his 
friends  had died in the war.  He told me he felt sorry  that  he 
survived.   He was just filled with regret.  My son  got  malaria 
during the war, also.  He suffered a lot.  I don't  know why, but 
he  became  neurotic and killed himself, finally, by  jumping  in 
front  of  a train in October.  I was left alone.  I  had  to  go 
through hardships, living alone.  I have no family.  I joined the 
white   chrysanthemum  organization  at   Hiroshima   University, 
pledging  to donate my body upon death for medical education  and 
research.  My registration number is number 1200 I'm ready.   I'm 
ready  now to be summoned by God at any moment.  But God  doesn't 
allow  me to come his side yet.  If it were not for the  war,  my 
two children would not have died.  If it were not for the war,  I 
wouldn't have to stay at an institution like this.  I suppose the 
three of us would have been living together in happiness.  Ah, it 
is so hard on me. This has been testimony by Ms.Kinue Tomoyasu.


      

Mr.  Yoshitaka  Kawamoto was thirteen years old.  He was  in  the 
classroom at Zakoba-cho, 0.8 kilometers away from the hypocenter.  
He is now working as the director of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial 
Museum, telling visitors from all over the world what the  atomic 
bomb did to the people of Hiroshima.
Kawamoto: One of my classmates, I think his name is Fujimoto,  he  
muttered something and pointed outside the window,saying, "A B-29 
is coming."  He  pointed outside with his finger.  So I began  to 
get  up from my chair and asked him, "Where is it?"   Looking  in 
the direction that he was pointing towards, I got up on my  feet, 
but I was not yet in an upright  position when it happened.   All 
I  can  remember was a pale lightening flash for  two   or  three 
seconds.   Then,  I  collapsed.  I don t know  much  time  passed 
before  I came to.  It was awful, awful.  The smoke was coming in 
from  somewhere above the debris.  Sandy dust was flying  around.  
I  was  trapped under the debris and I was in terrible  pain  and 
that  s probably why I came to.  I couldn't t move, not  even  an 
inch.  Then, I heard about ten of my surviving classmates singing 
our  school song.  I remember that.  I could hear  sobs.  Someone 
was  calling  his mother.  But those who were  still  alive  were 
singing  the  school song for as long as they could.  I  think  I 
joined the chorus. We thought that someone would come and help us 
out.   That  t why we were singing a school song  so  loud.   But 
nobody  came to help, and we stopped singing one by one.  In  the 
end,  I was singing alone.  Then I started to feel fear  creeping 
in.  I started to feel my way out pushing the debris away  little 
by  little, using all my strength.  Finally I cleared the  things 
around  my head.  And with my head sticking our of the debris,  I 
realized  the  scale of the damage.  The sky over  Hiroshima  was 
dark.   Something like a tornado or a big fire ball was  storming 
throughout  the  city.  I was only injured around  my  mouth  and 
around  my arms.  But I lost a good deal of blood from my  mouth, 
otherwise  I was Ok.  I thought I could make my way out.   But  I 
was  afraid at the thought of escaping alone.  We had been  going  
through  military  drills  everyday, and they had  told  us  that 
running  away by oneself is an act of cowardice, so I  thought  I 
must  take  somebody along with me.  I crawled over  the  debris, 
trying  to find someone who were still alive.  Then, I found  one 
od  my classmates lying alive.  I held him up in my arms.  It  is 
hard to tell, his scull was cracked open, his flesh was  dangling 
out from his head.  He had only one eye left, and it was  looking  
right  at  me.  First, he was mumbling something but  I  couldn't 
understand him.  He started to bite off his finger nail.  I  took 
his finger out from  his mouth.  And then, I held his hand,  then 
he  started to reach for his  notebook in his chest pocket, so  I 
asked  him,  I said, "You want me to take this along to  hand  it 
over  to your mother?"  He nodded.  He was going to  faint.   But 
still  I  could hear him crying out, saying  "Mother,  Mother"  I 
thought  I could t take him along.  I guess that his  body  below 
the  waist was crashed.  The lower part of his body was  trapped, 
buried inside of  the debris.  He just adhered to go, he told  me 
to  go  away.   And by that  time, another  wing  of  the  school 
building,  or what used to be the school building, had caught  on 
fire.   I tried to get to the playground.  Smoke was  filling  in 
the air, but I could see the white sandy earth beneath. I thought 
this  must  be  the playground, then I started  to  run  in  that  
direction.  I turned back and I saw my classmates Wada looking at 
me.   I still remember the situation and is still appears  in  my 
dreams.   I felt sorry for him, but it was the last time  I  ever 
saw him. I, so, was running, hands were trying to grab my ankles, 
they were asking me to take them along. I was only a child  then. 
And I was horrified at so many hands trying to grab me.  I was in 
pain,  too.   So  all I could do was to get rid  of  them,  it  s 
terrible to say, but I kicked their hands away.  I still feel bad  
about  that.  I went to Miyuki Bridge to get some water.  At  the 
river bank,  I saw so many people collapsed there.  And the small 
steps to the river were jammed, filled with people pushing  their 
way  to the water.  I was small, so I pushed on the  river  along 
the  small steps.  The water was dead people. I had to  push  the 
bodies  aside to drink the muddy water.  We didn't know  anything 
about  radioactivity that time.  I stood up in the  water and  so 
many  bodies were floating away along the stream.  I can  t  find 
the  words  to  describe  it.  It was  horrible.   I  felt  fear.  
Instead of going into the water, I climbed up the river bank.   I 
couldn't  move.  I couldn't find my shadow.  I looked up.  I  saw 
the  cloud, the mushroom cloud growing in the sky.  It  was  very 
bright.  It had so much heat inside.  It caught the light and  it 
showed every color of the rainbow.  Reflecting on the past, it  s 
strange,  but I could say that it was beautiful.  Looking at  the 
cloud, I thought I would never be able to see my mother again,  I 
wouldn't  be able to see my younger brother again.  And  then,  I 
lost  consciousness.  When I came to, it was about seven  in  the 
evening.   I  was the transportation bureau at  Ujina.   I  found 
myself  lying on the floor of the warehouse.  And an old  soldier 
was  looking in my face.  He  gave me a light slap on  the  cheek 
and he said, "You are a lucky boy."  He told me that he had  gone 
with  one of the few trucks left to  collect the dead  bodies  at 
Miyuki  Bridge.  They  were loading bodies,  treating  them  like 
sacks.  They picked me up  from the river bank and then, threw me 
on top of the pile.  My body slid off and when they grabbed my by 
the  arm to put me back onto the truck,  they felt that my  pulse 
was  still beating, so they reloaded me onto the truck,  carrying 
the  survivors.   I was really lucky.  But I couldn't  stand  for 
about a year.  I was so weak.  My hair came off, even the hair in 
my  nose fell out.  My hair, it s started to come off  about  two 
weeks later.  I  became completely bald.  My eyes, I lost my  eye 
sight,  probably not because of the radioactivity, but because  I 
became so weak. I couldn`t see for about three months.  But I was 
only thirteen, I was still young, and I was still growing when  I 
was  hit by the A-bomb.  So about one year later. I  regained  my 
health.  I recovered good health.  Today I m still working as you 
can see.  As the director of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, 
today,  I am  handing my message over to the children who  visit.  
I want them to learn  about Hiroshima.  And when they grow up,  I 
want them to hand down the  message  to the next generation  with 
accurate  information.  I d like to see him conveying  the  right 
sense  of  judgment  so  that  we  will  not  lead  mankind    to 
annihilation.    That  is  our  responsibility.  This  has   been 
testimony by Mr.Yoshitaka Kawamoto. 



      

Ms.Toshiko  Saeki was 26 at the time of the bombing.  She was  at 
her parents home in Yasufuruichi with her children.  Returning to 
Hiroshima  on the afternoon of August 6th, she searched  for  her 
other relatives for many days, but wasn t able to find them.  Ms. 
Saeki lost thirteen members of her family in the A-bomb attack. 
Saeki:I  remember an airplane appeared from behind the  mountains 
on  my left. I thought it was strange to see an  airplane  flying 
that  time all by itself. I looked at it and it was a  B-29.   It 
seemed very strange since there were on anti aircraft guns firing 
at  it.  I watched it for a while, then it disappeared.  As  soon 
as  it  disappeared,  another airplane  appeared  from  the  same 
direction.  It seemed very, very strange.  I was still  wondering 
what  would happen.  Then, suddenly there came a flash of  light.  
I  can't  describe what it was like.  And then, I felt  some  hot 
mask  attacking me all of a sudden.  I felt hot.  I lay  flat  on 
the  ground, trying to escape from the heat.  I forgot all  about 
my  children for a moment. Then, there came a big sound,  sliding 
wooden  doors  and window were blown off into the air.  I  turned 
around to see what had happened to the house, and at one part  of 
the  ceiling,  it  was hanging in the air.  At  some  parts,  the 
ceiling  was caved in, burying my sister s child and my child  as 
well.   When I saw what the blast had done to my house which  was 
far  away from Hiroshima, I thought that Hiroshima too must  have 
been  hit  very hard.  I begged my sister to let me  go  back  to 
Hiroshima  to  rescue my family.  But by that  time,  things  and 
flames were falling from the sky.  I was scared because I thought 
that  the  debris might start  fires in the  mountains.   By  the 
time, I managed to prepare lunch to take along. It has started to 
rain,  but I was glad to have some rain.  I went out to the  main 
road,  about  five  or six people were coming  the  direction  of 
Hiroshima.  And they were in a horrible condition.   They  looked 
much  worse than the actual exhibits today at the Peace  Memorial 
Museum.   They  were helping each other.  But  they  were  barely 
making  their way.  I cried, "Which part of Hiroshima  attacked?"  
Everyone  of  them was only muttering, "Hiroshima  was  attacked.  
Hiroshima  was badly hit."  I began to run towards  Hiroshima  at 
full speed.  As I was running, I saw a mad naked man running from 
the  opposite direction.  This man held a piece of iron over  his 
head as if to hide  his face since he had nothing on his body,  I 
felt  embarrassed.   And I turned my back to him.   The  man  was 
passing by me, then, I don't know why, But I ran after him and  I 
asked  him  to stop for a moment.  I asked him,  "Which  part  of 
Hiroshima was attacked?"  Then the man put down the piece of iron 
and he started at me.  He said, "You're Toshiko, aren t you?"  He 
said, "Toshiko!" 
Interviewer:Who was this man?
Saeki:Oh, I coudn t tell who he was right away.  His face was  so 
swollen  I  couldn t even tell whether his eyes  were  open.   He 
called  me,  he said, "It s me!  It s me,  Toshiko!   You  can  t 
tell?"   Then I recognized him. He was my second eldest  brother.  
He was heavily wounded.
Interviewer:His body was covered with burns?
Saeki:Yes, and he looked awful.  He told me he d been engulfed by 
flames  and  barely made his way out.  He said  that  mother  had 
woken him up in that morning, and that he was washing up when  it 
happened.  He  told me that mother was on the  third  floor,  and 
might have been blown away with the blast.  He told me he thought 
that  she  must have died.  I finally  reached  Hiroshima,  well, 
afternoon  I  supposed.  Interviewer:What was  it  like  then  in 
Hiroshima? Saeki:The whole town of Hiroshima was just in a  mess.  
People  were  trying to find shelter, shelter  elementary  school 
building, anywhere.  When I reached the local elementary  school, 
people  were even jammed in the hallways. Everywhere  was  filled 
with mourns and groans and sobs and cries.  Those of us who could 
move  around were not treated the injured, but we  were  carrying 
dead  bodies out of the building.  I couldn t identify people  by 
their  faces. Trying to find my family, I had to take a  look  at 
their  clothing, the clothes of the people who were still in  the 
building.  I couldn t find any of my family, so I went out to the 
playground.  There were four piles of bodies and I stood in front 
of  them.  I just didn t know what to do.  How could I  find  the 
bodies  of  my  beloved  ones.  When  I  was  going  through  the 
classrooms,  I could take a look at each person, but  these  were 
mounds.   If  I tried to find my beloved ones, I  would  have  to 
remove  the  bodies  one by one.  It just wasn  t   possible.   I 
really  felt sad.  There were all kinds of bodies in the  mounds.  
Not only human bodies but bodies of birds, cats and dogs and even 
that  of  a  cow.  It looked horrible.  I can  t  find  words  to 
describe  it. They were burned, just like human bodies, and  some 
of  them were half burnt. There was even a swollen  horse.   Just 
everything was there, everything.
Interviewer:Ms. Saeki, how long did you search for your kin?
Saeki:I  went to Hiroshima to search on the 6th and the 7th,  but 
on the 8th, they told me that there would be a big air-raid, so I 
didn t go on the 8th. And I didn t go on the 15th, but I went out 
almost  everyday.  I searched for mother for along time.   But  I 
couldn  t  find her.  I just couldn t find her.  And  finally  on 
September  6th,  my elder brother told us together  in  a  living 
room.   He called all the family members there together.  He  put 
something  wrapped in a cloth.  And he put it on the table  which 
we  used to take meals. My brother said, "Toshiko, unwrap  Mother 
yourself.  You ve been out there looking for her everyday."   So, 
I  did  as he told me and undid the wrapping  expecting  to  find 
pieces of her bones.  But it was the half of the burnt head of my 
mother.   No  eyes, no teeth, only a small portion of  flesh  was 
left  on  the  back  with some hair.  And  there  were  also  her 
glasses.   The glasses are exhibited near the exit of  the  Peace 
Memorial  Museum  as  if to tell something  to  the  people  now. 
Interviewer:Your  older brother, he also passed away?  Saeki:Yes, 
after  seeing  the  half burned head of our  mother,  my  brother 
started  to say funny things.  He told us to bandage him well  to 
cover the pores of his skin with white cloths.  I asked what  for 
and he said he was going to try to do some experiment to  extract 
the  radioactivity built up in his body.  He told us  to  bandage 
him  well, except for his eyes and his mouth.  So even  his  nose 
was covered.  Before he started the experiment, he drank a a  lot 
of  water.  He drank more than he could actually take, so,  water 
was  dripping from his nose and from his mouth.  Then he said  he 
was  ready.  He told us just to leave him alone and not to  enter 
the room unless he cried out for help.  He told us to go away and 
to keep away from him.  And after a while, I peeped in the  room.  
My brother was completely naked. He had stripped all the  bandage 
cloths  away.  He was just lying still in the corner.  I  didn  t 
know  what was wrong with him.  I thought he was dead.  I  banged 
at  the door and I cried, "Brother! Brother, don t die!" He  woke 
up  and  sat on the floor.  He told me that  the  experiment  had 
failed.  He cried that it was a pity. me."  He looked all  right, 
but  he was going crazy.  He said, "I ve grown bigger.   Make  an 
opening in the ceiling.  This room is too small and I can t  even 
stand  up."  After the horrible bomb hit Hiroshima, my brother  s 
mind was shattered into pieces. War does not only destroy things, 
killing people, but shatters the hearts of people as well.   This 
is war.  And during the course of my life, I learned this on many 
various occasions.  I know this now.
Interviewer:Ms.Saeki, have you experienced any trouble concerning 
your health?
Saeki:Yes, I have .  By the end of August, maybe around, oh,  the 
28th  or  so, my hair started to fall out, I vomited  blood.   My 
teeth  were  coming out. And I had a fever of about  40  degrees.  
Nuclear war has nothing good. Whether you win or lose, it  leaves 
your  feeling futile with only your rage and with fear about  the 
aftereffects of a radioactivity.  The survivors have to live with 
this fear.  At times I have thought  I should have died then,  it 
would  have  been better.  But I must live for the  sake  of  the 
people, all the people who lost their lives then.  So I relate my 
experiences  hoping  that my talk would  discourage  people  from 
making war.  Our experience must not forgotten. What we  believed 
in during the war turned out to be worth nothing.  We don't  know 
to whom we should turn our rage.  I went through hell on earth of 
Hiroshima  should  not  be repeated again.  That is  why  I  keep 
telling  the same old story over and over again.  And I  ll  keep 
repeating it. This has been testimony by Ms. Toshiko Saeki.



                                                                          
Ms.Akiko  Takakura was 20 years old when the bomb fell.  She  was 
in  the bank of Hiroshima, 300 meters away from  the  hypocenter.  
Ms.Takakura  miraculously  escaped death despite  over  100  last 
rated  wounds on her back.  She is one of the few  survivors  who 
was  within  300  meters  of the  hypocenter.   She  now  runs  a 
kindergarten and she relates her experience of the atomic bombing 
to children.  
Takakura:After  the air-raid alarm was called off, I walked  from 
Hatchobori to the bank of Hiroshima in Kamiya-cho.  I arrived  at 
the bank some time around 8:15 or so, and  signed my name in  the 
attendance  book.  When I was doing my morning  routine,  dusting 
the  desks and things like that, the A-bomb was dropped.   All  I 
remember was that I saw something flash suddenly.
Interviewer:Can you explain the flash?
Takakura:Well,  it  was  like a white magnesium  flash.   I  lost 
consciousness  right after or almost at the same time I  saw  the 
flash.   When  I regained consciousness, I found  myself  in  the 
dark.  I heard my friends, Ms.Asami, crying for her mother.  Soon 
after, I found out that we actually had been attacked.  Afraid of 
being  caught  by  a fire, I told Ms.Asami to  run  out  of   the 
building.   Ms. asami, however, just told me to leave her and  to 
try  to  escape by myself because she thought that  she  couldn't 
make it anywhere. She said she couldn't move.  I said to her that 
I  couldn't leave her, but she said that she couldn't even  stand 
up.   While  we were talking, the sky started  to  grow  lighter.  
Then, I heard water running in the lavatory. Apparently the water 
pipes had exploded.  So I drew water with my helmet to pour  over 
Ms.Asami`s   head   again  and  again.   She   finally   regained 
consciousness  fully  and went out of the building with  me.   We 
first  thought to escape to the parade grounds, but  we  couldn't 
because  there  was  a huge sheet of fire in  front  of  us.   So 
instead, we squatted down in the street next to a big water  pool 
for  fighting  fires,  which was about the size  of  this  table.  
Since  Hiroshima  was  completely enveloped in  flames,  we  felt 
terribly hot land could not breathe well at all.  After a  while, 
a whirlpool of fire approached us from the south.  It was like  a 
big tornado of fire spreading over the full width of the  street.  
Whenever the fire touched, wherever the fire touched, it  burned.  
It  burned  my ear and leg, I didn't realize that  I  had  burned 
myself at that moment, but I noticed it later.  
Interviewer:So the fire came towards you?
Takakur:Yes, it did.  The whirlpool of fire that was covering the 
entire  street  approached us from Ote-machi.   So,everyone  just 
tried  so  hard to keep away from the fire.  It was just  like  a 
living hell.  After a while, it began to rain.  The fire and  the 
smoke  made  us  so thirsty and there was nothing  to  drink,  no 
water,  and  the smoke even disturbed our eyes.  As it  began  to 
rain,  people opened their mouths and turned their faces  towards 
the  sky and try to drink the rain,  but it wasn't easy to  catch 
the  rain  drops  in our mouths.  It was a black  rain  with  big 
drops.
Interviewer:How big were the rain drops?
Takakura:They  were  so  big that we even  felt  pain  when  they 
dropped onto us. We opened our mouths just like this, as wide  as 
possible  in an effort to quench our thirst.  Everybody  did  the 
same thing.  But it just wasn't enough. Someone, someone found an 
empty can and held it to catch the rain.
Interviewer:I  see.   Did  the black rain  actually  quench  your 
thirst?
Takakura:No,no it didn't.  Maybe I didn't catch enough rain,  but 
I still felt very thirsty and there was nothing I could do  about 
it.   What I felt at that moment was that Hiroshima was  entirely 
covered with only three colors.  I remember red, black and brown, 
but,  but, nothing else.  Many people on the street  were  killed 
almost  instantly.   The fingertips of those dead  bodies  caught 
fire and the fire gradually spread over their entire bodies  from 
their  fingers.   A light gray liquid dripped down  their  hands, 
scorching  their  fingers.   I, I was so  shocked  to  know  that 
fingers  and  bodies could be burned and deformed like  that.   I 
just couldn't believe it.  It was horrible. And looking at it, it 
was  more  than  painful for me to think  how  the  fingers  were 
burned,  hands and fingers that would hold babies or turn  pages, 
they  just, they just burned away.  For a few years after the  A-
bomb  was dropped, I was terribly afraid of fire.  I wasn't  even 
able  to get close to fire because all my senses  remembered  how 
fearful and horrible the fire was, how hot the blaze was, and how 
hard  it  was  to breathe the hot air.  It  was  really  hard  to 
breathe.   Maybe because the fire burned all the oxygen, I  don't 
know.   I  could not open my eyes enough because  of  the  smoke, 
which  was everywhere.  Not only me but everyone felt  the  same.  
And my parts were covered with holes.




Mr.Mamoru  Yukihiro was 36 years old when the bomb fell.  He  was 
at the agricultural office of Hiroshima prefecture, one kilometer 
away from the general affairs section at that time, rescued  many 
people who were caught under the crumbled buildings.  He lost two 
of his children because of the A-bomb.
Yukihiro:  When  the bomb struck, we were all in  the  big  room.  
We've just finished the morning gathering of all the employees at 
around 8:05 a.m.  And while we were putting the papers in   order 
and  cleaning up, we saw a yellow ray of light from the north  of 
the  city  hall and we heard a big noise. The  next  moment,  our 
office was totally destroyed.  I was standing when the blast hit.  
Right  away, I was thrown about 3 yards together with the  desks, 
the  chairs, and even parts of the ceiling.  The next moment,  it 
was pitch black.  I couldn't see anything.
Interviewer: Uh....how was it when you saw the ray?
Yukihiro:  Immediately  after I saw the strange yellow  ray,  the 
office  was  totally  destroyed  almost  instantly,  without  any 
warning.  It was as if a box of matches has suddenly been  struck 
by a hammer and crushed to pieces. I didn't even hear any  sound.  
I  sat  still for a while, and then, I saw the sun  ray  come  in 
above me.  So I managed to get up, but I couldn't find any of the 
200 employees.  Even though I myself had 3 wounds on my head  and 
one  on my back, I was so surprised that I walked out, I  walked 
out onto the street with the blood running down my body.  In  the 
street, all I found were wounded people and destroyed houses.  My 
house was located about one kilometer away from there, I  thought 
that if I had  rushed back to my home, I might have been able  to 
rescue  my own family, who were caught under the crumbled  house, 
by myself.  But I just couldn't do it, I couldn't leave those 200 
people  who  had  all worked so hard at the  bank.   I  convinced 
myself somehow that if I had helped those people, God would  help 
my  family.   So I went back to the office to try and  rescue  my 
colleagues.   It  took  me about an hour to  break  through  a  7 
centimeter  thick  board under which some of my  colleagues  were 
trapped.   I  hammered  at the board with a piece  of  stone  and 
finally  broke through.  Finally I pulled out  Officer  Takashina 
and  then  one  woman,and then after  that  Mr.Yamamura,  another 
section  chief.  Seventy-four of the employees of the  bank  died 
including  those who were on their way to the office.  Some  died 
in  trains,  some  died in the street.  It was  such  a  terrible 
tragedy.   For  one some after the A-bomb fell,  I  was  terrible  
busy.   I had to settle all the business of the bank since I  was 
the  only one with the authority to draw up the papers, on  which 
all  the  renewed  credit agreements were based.   Just  a  month 
later, I found many red spots all over my body.  My friend  said, 
my friends told me that there must be something wrong with me.  I 
checked these red spots with my fingers.  I thought they might be 
mosquito  bites, but they weren't.  So, I went to see the  doctor 
at  the  social welfare hospital in Ujina.  This doctor  was  the 
director  of the internal medicine department and he used  to  be 
our  company doctor.  He told me I should take a white  corpuscle 
examination  because I was not in good shape.  He found out  that 
my white corpuscle account was only 1200, compared to account  of 
6000  for a healthy man.  Then, I went to Yoshida Hospital and  I 
recovered.   But  my  wife got uterine cancer  in  1949.  It  was 
detected  early and so she underwent an operation.   My  daughter 
who  was  bombed when she was four years old lived  in  Hiroshima 
with  us  for a long time after the A-bomb fell.  She went  to  a 
local elementary school attached to the university.  When she was 
in  the  fourth grade, she began to lose weight.  By  the  second 
term of her sixth grade year, she became very skinny.. She had to 
stay in bed and she couldn't go to school.   I was afraid that my 
daughter  had some illness caused by the A-bomb radiation.    But 
the local doctor said that she just caught a cold, then I went to 
another doctor at Mizuno Clinic, west of the Kokusai Hotel.  This 
doctor said that she was suffering from a serious case of anemia, 
not just a cold, and that she needed to be hospitalized.  So  she 
was  hospitalized.   When she was given a blood transfusion,  she 
felt  relief immediately.   Her pillow was covered with three  or 
four  towels  each  night and these  towels  became  bloody  each 
morning because she was bleeding from her gums during the  night.   
But  she washed the towels by herself each morning to  hide  them 
from  me.  I think she was embarrassed. Since she  was  suffering 
from  an illness caused by the atomic bomb radiation,  the  media 
including   the   television,  the   newspapers,   NHK,   Chugoku 
Broadcasting and many others came to interview her.  At first she 
refused to meet the press because she didn't want other people to 
see her miserable condition. I told her that she was the first A-
bomb survivor who suffered from an internal disease caused by the 
A-bomb radiation.  Many other survivors had already died,  hiding 
themselves  from the public.  I also said that she was  the  only 
person  who could show the disease and help the other victims  in 
the  future. She understood what I'm at and she decided  to  talk 
and  to  let them take pictures.  Finally, at  the  beginning  of 
February of 1954, she died.  If one country drops a nuclear bomb, 
the other ones would do the same for sure. This is the fact.   It 
will  eventually  destroy  the entire world.   I  hope  that  the 
nations  of the world stop nuclear war now and forever. This  has 
been testimony by Mr. Mamoru Yukihiro.




Ms.  Taeko  Teramae was 15 years old when the bomb  was  dropped.   
She was in the central telephone office, 0.5 kilometers away from 
the  hypocenter.  Many  mobilized students were  working  in  the 
central  telephone center that day. Some 7000 mobilized  students 
were killed by the A-bomb in the city of Hiroshima. Teramae  When 
the bomb  fell, I was 15 years old.   I was a third grader at the 
girls' junior high school.  I saw something shining in the  clear 
blue  sky. I wondered what it was, so I stared at it.     As  the 
light grew bigger, the shining thing got bigger as well.   And at 
the  moment  when  I spoke to my friend,there was  a  flash,  far 
brighter than one used for a camera.  It exploded right in  front 
of  my  eyes.     There  was a  tremendous  noise  when  all  the 
buildings around me collapsed.    I also heard people crying  for 
help and for their mothers.   I was caught under something  which 
prevented me from moving freely. I was so sìked that I couldn't 
believe  what  had happened.  I thought maybe I was  having  some 
kind  of nightmare, but of course, I wasn't.  I felt pain when  I 
pinched  myself to see if it was real.   I thought the  bomb  had 
been  dropped   on the central telephone office.   The  dust  was 
rising  and  something  sandy and slimy  entered  my  mouth.    I 
couldn't figure out what it was since I couldn't move or see.   I 
couldn't  see  anything in the dark.   A little  later,  I  smelt 
something like sulfur.   It smelt like the volcano, Mt. Aso and I 
threw  up.   I heard more voices calling "Mother!  Mother!"   But 
when  our class teacher, Mr.Wakita, told us to behave  like  good  
students  and stop crying, all the cries for help and for  Mother 
stopped  all  of  a sudden.   We began to calm down  and  try  to 
behave  as Mr. Wakita told us to.   I tried very hard to move  my 
arms and my legs and finally I was able to move a little.   I was 
so surprised to see the dark sky with all the red flames  through 
the window  because it was only a few minutes before when the sky 
was blue and clear.   It was all quiet and the city was  wrapped, 
enveloped  in  red flames.   Mr. Wakita came to  help  me.     He 
asked me if I wanted to swim across the river.    The bridge  was  
burning and the river was very high.   I had no choice.   I could 
barely  see  by then, though.   And Mr. wakita took my  arms  and 
told  me to swim across the river together with him, so  together 
we  went  into the river and began to swim. When we  reached  the 
middle  of  the river, I could no longer see anything and  I  was  
starting  to feel faint.   And as I began to feel faint,  I  also 
began  to lose control.   Mr. Wakita encouraged me and helped  me 
to  reach the other side of the river.   Finally, we reached  the 
other  side.    What surprised me so much was that all the  cries 
of  the students for help and for their mothers. It  just  didn't  
stop.    I couldn't see anything.   All I could do was listen  to 
their  cries.    I asked my teacher, I asked him what  was  going 
on. Mr. Wakita explained to me how the high school students  were 
burnt  and  crouching in pain in the streets.    I  couldn't  see 
anything.    There  were  many students  who  were  mobilized  to 
destroy  buildings to widen the streets and the area  of  Tsurumi 
Bridge,  City  Hall and the Chugoku Newspaper on  that  day.  And 
since they were outside, they were directly exposed to the  bomb.   
Many  of  them  died, many of them died  right  there.    Someone 
called for help in vain, and some jumped into the river and drown 
to death.   If my teacher, Mr. Wakita had not come to help me,  I 
would have died in the river. 
Interviewer:How were your wounds?
Teramae:   If my wounds had been on my arms or my legs,  I  would 
have  known  it was, but my wo]°‚s were on`­y`¦acel ³o`I  had  no 
idea  for some time.   I just didn't  know.   I asked my  parents 
how  I looked, but they just said that I had only  minor  wounds.   
They  didn't  tell me the truth.   After I got better, I found  a 
piece of mirror and looked into it.   I was so surprised I  found 
my left eye looked just like a pomegranate, and I also found cuts 
on  my  right eye and on my nose and on my lower jaw.     It  was 
horrible.    I  was very shocked to find myself  looking  like  a 
monster.   I even wished I had died with my sisters.   I was just 
overcome with apprehension when I thought about it.
Interviewer   :  What is your biggest hope or dream now that  you 
want to realize?
Teramae   :  Well, my hope is to have a comprehensive meeting  of 
A-bomb survivors.    That's  what I want.   We had such a meeting 
the  other day and in that meeting, both male and  female  A-bomb 
survivors  repeatedly  said that they wanted  their  health  back 
again,  even for just one day.   They said they can't  even  wear 
short sleeve shirts because of the scars on their arms left  from 
the bomb.   Lonely A-bomb survivors include those who lost  their 
families and also the mobilized students who have remained single 
because  of the wounds caused by the A-bomb.    There  are  great 
many  of them.   So, I do hope to do something to support  always 
lonely people. This has been testimony by Ms. Taeko Teramae. 




Mr.  Takehiko Sakai, 21 years old at that time, was at  the  west 
drill  ground when the atomic bomb was dropped. He did  not  lose 
consciousness  and remembers his military uniform catching  fire. 
The  bomb fell two days after Mr. Sakai had arrived in  Hiroshima 
from his regiment in Yamaguchi.

Sakai:Around  the time of the bombing I heard a voice  shout,  "A 
parachute  is coming down." I was coming out of the  passage  way 
from  the  lavatory and looked for the parachute, but  could  not 
find it. Putting it out of mind, I turned back when there was  an 
intense flash like the magnesium light used for photographing. By 
reflex,  I crouched or rather, I felt down. And that was  when  I 
was jolted and knocked down by an immense force. The force and my 
fall all took place at the same time, all in one moment. When the 
blow  came, I closed my eyes but I could still feel  the  extreme 
heat.  To  say the least, it was like being  roasted  alive  many 
times  over. It was terribly hot, much worse than the pain  which 
one  must endure when an incision is made during  surgery.  While 
trying to withstand the terrible heat, I moved my hand,but  there 
was  no  feeling  in  it. I also tried to move  my  feet,  but  I 
couldn't tell whether they were still connected to my body. I was 
completely numb from my knees down to my feet and from my  elbows 
to  my  shoulders. I looked out and it was pitch  black.  It  was 
stifling.  The heat was terrible. I took a deep breath  and  then 
mud and sand was sucked into my mouth. Thinking again, I held  my 
breath  for a few seconds. A little while later, I  noticed  that 
the side of my body was very hot. It was on fire. And I tried  to 
put it out. But it wouldn't go out so easily. Here are the scars, 
these  are my burns. I threw away my shirt and I sat down  cross-
legged, and glanced in front of me. I could see people running in 
the  dark. Some of them were on fire, and some of them were  just 
rolling  around on the ground. Gradually it became  lighter.  And 
just  then,  the  sun ray broke through  the  clouds.  The  light 
appeared  to be in many different colors, red and yellow,  purple 
and also white. At that time, I was a cadet in active service. So 
I couldn't just run away. My institution told me that the bridges 
in the city would all be destroyed in an attack of this magnitude 
and  that  therefore would be impossible to get away.  I  thought 
that  surely  something  could  be done  since  the  entire  army 
couldn't  have  all been wiped out completely.  Besides,  running 
away  seemed like a cowardly thing to do and that's why I  stayed 
put and persevered. After a while, perhaps an hour or so later, I 
realized  that  my  face had become  swollen.  You  could  hardly 
recognize  me, my lips and my face were all popped up  like  this 
and my eyes, I had to force my eyes open with my fingers in order 
to  see. It must have been a little after nine when the fire  got 
bigger,  in the beginning it hadn't been so bad, but later  after 
the fire started. We wanted to rescue the people who were trapped 
inside.  But most of the people who actually escaped  managed  to 
get  up  by themselves. Though we could hear  their  voices  from 
inside,  we were too weak to lift up a big house with  its  tiled 
roof because of our injuries. Really, there was nothing much that 
we  could do. Then, after some time, it started to  rain  heavily 
like the sudden storm. I suppose that's what's known as the black 
rain. It was about ten o'clock and I thought where it lasted, the 
the  rain  would extinguish the fire. Actually, though,  it  made 
very  little  difference and the fire raged on. Later on  in  the 
evening  when we were sitting around without having much  to  do, 
most  of  the  people had already fled and  the  city  was  still 
burning. We could hear voices calling "Help!" or "It's , it's  so 
hot.  Help us!" The voices, they weren't from nearby but  from  a 
far  away. We didn't know just where those voices came from,  but 
it  became quiet by midnight. The bomb fell on the the sixth  and 
we  remained here until about 3 o'clock in the afternoon  of  the 
tenth.  Then, on the evening of August 15, we heard that the  war 
was over. I was happy, I was really happy that the war had ended. 
But  I  was also worried, I was worried about what  would  happen 
next. I didn't know if I could be useful to society or not, but I 
wanted to do something constructive and so I decided to become  a 
teacher.  The situation in Japan those days quite pitiful.  There 
was very little to eat. Everyone was very poor. During the period 
immediately after the bombing, because of my injuries, people had 
to look after me and it was through their care that I was able to 
get  better.  So  I  tried to repay this  dept.  by  teaching  my 
students  to  be  kind  and  consider  it  whenever  I  had   the 
opportunity  to do so. Consequently, I think it was a good  thing 
that  I  became  a teacher and in this way to  somehow  pay  back 
society  for  what  had  happened. This  has  been  testimony  by 
Takehiko Sakai.

Seven  hundred and fifty meters from ground zero, these  are  the 
testimonies of the passengers who were on the same streetcar in a 
Hatchobori  area when the atomic bomb fell. A little after  eight 
in the morning on August 6, the streetcar for Koi left  Hiroshima 
Station. And at 8:15 it approached Hatchobori Station, 780 meters 
from  the hypocenter and an intense flash and blast engulfed  the 
car,  instantly setting it on fire. It is said that seventy  cars 
were running in the city at the same time. They were an important 
means of transportation for the citizens, and all the trains were 
packed with people since it was the morning rush hour. Nearly 100 
passengers are said to have been on board on the streetcar  which 
0was  near  Hatchobori. But the survivors of only  ten  have  been 
confirmed  to  date.  Seven  out  of  ten  have  recorded   their 
testimonies on this video tape.

Tomiko  Sasaki,  17 on that day, was on her way to  her  friend's 
house in Funairi with two classmates as it was their holiday from 
student  mobilization  labor. Approximately two weeks  after  the 
bombing, her two classmates died.

Interviewer: Were three of you on the same part of the car?
Sasaki:  Yes.  I was standing in front here and the  others  were 
next  to  me.  There was the flash and darkness. I  think  I  was 
unconscious  for  a  while. We came to and  called  each  other's 
names. My friends complained of the heat and terrible pain. I saw 
that  one  side of her body had been badly burned.  There  was  a 
water tank for fire prevention, but the water wasn't clear due to 
all  the  dust. I put my handkerchief in the water and I  put  it 
over  her  burns,  but she went on crying in  pain.  Both  of  my 
friends  were  burned. As for myself, flesh was hanging  from  my 
whole face was bloody. Fortunately I escaped from burnt. I  think 
it made a big difference that I was not burned. In fact, I  think 
that saved my life.




Eiko  Taoka, then 21, was heading for Funairi with her  one  year 
old  son to secure wagon in preparation for her move out  of  the 
building  which  was to be evacuated. Her son died  of  radiation 
sickness on August 28.

Taoka:  When  we  were near in Hatchobori and since  I  had  been 
holding  my son in my arms, the young woman in front of me  said, 
"I  will  be getting off here. Please take  this seat."  We  were 
just changing places when there was a strange smell and sound. It 
suddenly became dark and before I knew it, I had jumped outside.
Interviewer: What about your son?
Taoka:  I  held him firmly and looked down on him.  He  had  been 
standing by the window and I think fragments of glass had pierced 
his  head. His face was a mess because of the blood flowing  from 
his  head.  But he looked at my face and smiled.  His  smile  has 
remained  glued  in  my memory. He did not  comprehend  what  had 
happened. And so he looked at me and smiled at my face which  was 
all  bloody. I had plenty of milk which he drank  all  throughout 
that  day.  I think my child sucked the poison right  out  of  my 
body. And soon after that he died. Yes, I think that he died  for 
me.


Tsutaichi  Matsuzaka,  then  a 37 years  old  factory  worker  in 
Mukaihara,  was on his way to the main office of his  company  in 
Hatsukaichi   to  get  woodwork  materials  with  three  of   his 
coworkers. His three coworkers died one after another within  two 
or three weeks after the bombing.

Matsuzaka: My hair fell off. I had a fever and spots appeared  on 
my  body. I heard all kinds of talk in those days, for  instance, 
that  the  one was doomed if these spots appeared. So  I  was  in 
constant fear for my life.
Interviewer: Two out of your three coworkers died?
Matsuzaka: No, No. three.
Interviewer: All three?
Matsuzaka:  Yes,  Hayashi died the following week. The  next  man 
died  two weeks later and the third, a little after that. I  pray 
that  there  never  be another nuclear war like that.  It  was  a 
living hell.

Shizuno Tochiki, 23 at that time, was on her way to her office in 
Kogo.  Immediately after the bombing, she had a high fever  which 
lasted  for  ten days. She's suffered the symptoms  of  radiation 
sickness,  the  purple spots appeared all over her body  and  her 
hair  fell out. It was only after one month that she was  finally 
able to get up.

Tochiki: I think the air-raid warning had been lifted, so I  left 
for  Hatchobori without worrying. Then, there was a flash  and  a 
big  sound which is known as "Pika-don". The train shock  and  it 
seemed  to me as if a flash had directly entered my eyes. It  was 
extremely  hot. Because of the jolt, people fell right on top  of 
each other. I think I was at a very bottom. I thought I would  be 
crashed to death in a little while because I was so small and had 
the  weight  of  all those people on top of me. But  one  by  the 
people on top finally left the car. They ran with all their might 
along  the railroad tracks. I could hear someone shout,  "Another 
hit and we're finished."  But I could only see people's  shadows. 
When I gained consciousness, I was in a bed. I don't remember how 
many days it took until I could walk again. One day I asked for a 
cane, but I couldn't walk straight since my legs were so thin and 
so  shaky.  I  staggered towards a mirror  and  I  fell  utterly, 
completely miserable as I had no hair, all my hair was gone.  But 
just being able to walk to the next room made me so happy.

Keiko  Matsuda, then 14, on her way to Miyajima with two  friends 
since they had no mobilized labor on that day. One of her friends 
who  had been closest to the front and received the  worst  burns 
died in firs-aid station in Nukushina.

Matsuda:  It  was very, very hot. I touched my skin and  it  just 
peeled right off. The driver of the streetcar was not in sight. I 
thought he had been quick to run away but now I think that he was 
probably  hurled  outside in the blast. It was around  August  25 
that  a pile of my hair just fell off all at once. I had  a  high 
fever and maggots infested in my eyes.
Interviewer: In your eyes?
Matsuda: Yes. I was afflicted with erysipelas as well. I had  two 
children,  but I had not told them about this experience.  And  I 
don't  want  to  talk about it. But this  time  many  people  are 
testifying together and since I've been asked, I will talk. But I 
have tried to avoid it until now.

Takeo  Watanabe,  16  at that time, was working  in  a  telephone 
office and he was heading toward the Chugoku Newspaper Office. He 
has  speech  difficulties since he has cerebral  thrombosis.  His 
wife is together with him today.

Watanabe: How, how can I say it? Well, I, I don't know just  what 
to  say.  I got off the car and, and then, (His wife  speaks  for 
him.) it was dark so he groped his way toward an air-raid shelter 
he  knew nearby. You know when I married him, I didn't know  that 
my  husband was a victim of A-bomb until I read a diary  that  he 
had  kept  at that time. He would not tell  me  about  experience 
himself.  He just didn't want to talk about it. Every  year  from 
the end of July to the beginning of August, he would have a fever 
or become ill. Interviewer: So you do not want to talk about your 
experience?  Watanabe: Hmm...Those day, it was, it was a  burden, 
it was tough,but I guess now I just, I just have no more choice.
Interviewer: And you finally decided to speak out?
Watanabe: Year.

Akira Ishida, then a 17 year old junior air man in the army,  had 
the  day off and was going to Miyajima with his elder brother  to 
pray  for  good  luck  in the war.  His  elder  brother  died  in 
September 1945 of radiation sickness.

Ishida:  Several months later, I can remember, I remember a  cold 
morning, I don't know why but my mother always kept a round  hand 
mirror by my pillow, which I picked up without thinking. I looked 
at my face and I saw something so shiny on the corner of my head. 
Using  all  my energy, I called out to my mother who was  in  the 
kitchen, and I said, "Mother! My hair is growing back!". She  was 
so  happy that she held me and she cried. I'll never forget  that 
day  and the feel of the tears that my mother shed for  me  while 
she  held me in her arms. It still comes back to me  even  though 
the  people  here are of different ages, we are also all  of  the 
same  age. On August 6th, 1945, all of us died once and then,  we 
were  brought back to life. We were all born again. And we're  in 
our second life now. Everyone gathered here today is now 41 years 
old if you count the number the years from the bombing. It's like 
a class reunion. I feel that we must testify in the hope that our 
experience will help to keep mankind from perishing.

These  have been testimonies by a group of survivors who were  in 
the same streetcar when the atomic bomb was dropped.




Yoshito  Matsushige was a 32 year old cameraman for  the  Chugoku 
Newspaper  at  that  time.  He was at  his  home  in  Midori-cho, 
2.7kilometers from the hypocenter when the A-bomb was dropped. He 
walked  around  the city right after the bombing  and  took  five 
photographs which have become important historical documents.

Matsushige: I had finished breakfast and was getting ready to  go 
to  the  newspaper when it happened. There was a flash  from  the 
indoor  wires  as  if lightening had struck. I  didn't  hear  any 
sound, how shall I say, the world around me turned bright  white. 
And I was momentarily blinded as if a magnesium light had lit  up 
in  front of my eyes. Immediately after that, the blast  came.  I 
was bare from the waist up, and the blast was so intense, it felt 
like hundreds of needles were stabling me all at once. The  blast 
grew  large holes in the walls of the first and second  floor.  I 
could  barely see the room because of all the dirt. I  pulled  my 
camera  and the clothes issued by the military  headquarters  out 
from under the mound of the debris, and I got dressed. I  thought 
I   would   go  to  either  either  the  newspaper  or   to   the  
headquarters. That was about 40 minutes after the blast. Near the 
Miyuki  Bridge, there was a police box. Most of the  victims  who 
had  gathered  there  were  junior high  school  girls  from  the 
Hiroshima  Girls  Business School and the Hiroshima  Junior  High 
School  No.1. they had been mobilized to evacuate  buildings  and 
they  were  outside  when the bomb  fell.  Having  been  directly 
exposed  to the heat rays, they were covered with  blisters,  the 
size  of balls, on their backs, their faces, their shoulders  and 
their  arms. The blisters were starting to burst open  and  their 
skin hung down like rugs. Some of the children even have burns on 
the soles of their feet. They'd lost their shoes and run barefoot 
through the burning fire. When I saw this, I thought I would take 
a  picture  and I picked up my camera. But I  couldn't  push  the 
shutter because the sight was so pathetic. Even though I too  was 
a  victim of the same bomb, I only had minor injuries from  glass 
fragments,  whereas these people were dying. It was such a  cruel 
sight that I couldn't bring myself to press the shutter.  Perhaps 
I hesitated there for about 20 minutes, but I finally summoned up 
the  courage  to take one picture. Then, I moved 4  or  5  meters 
forward  to  take  the  second picture.  Even  today,  I  clearly 
remember  how the view finder was clouded over with my  tears.  I 
felt  that everyone was looking at me and thinking  angrily,"He's 
taking our picture and will bring us no help at all." Still,I had 
to press the shutter, so I harden my heart and finally I took the 
second shot. Those people must have thought me duly cold-hearted. 
Then, I saw a burnt streetcar which had just turned the corner at 
Kamiya-cho. There were passengers still in the car. I put my foot 
onto the steps of the car and I looked inside. There were perhaps 
15 or 16 people in front of the car. They laid dead one on top of 
another.  Kamiya-cho was very close to the hypocenW– 
)öbout  200 
meters  away.  The  passengers had stripped  them  of  all  their 
clothes.  They say that when you are terrified, you  tremble  and 
your  hair  stands on end. And I felt just this term when  I  saw 
this scene. I stepped down to take a picture and I put my hand on 
my  camera. But I felt so sorry for these dead and  naked  people 
whose  photo would be left to posterity that I couldn't take  the 
shot.  Also,  in  those days we weren't allowed  to  publish  the 
photographs  of corpses in the newspapers. After that,  I  walked 
around,  I walked through the section of town which had been  hit 
hardest.  I walked for close to three hours. But I couldn't  take 
even one picture of that central area. There were other cameramen 
in the army shipping group and also at the newspaper as well. But 
the fact that not a single one of them was able to take  pictures 
seems  to  indicate just how brutal the bombing actually  was.  I 
don't pride myself on it, but it's a small consolation that I was 
able  to take at least five pictures. During the  war,  air-raids 
took  place  practically every night. And after  the  war  began, 
there were many foods shortages. Those of us who experienced  all 
these  hardships,  we  hope that such  suffering  will  never  be 
experienced again by our children and our grandchildren. Not only 
our children and grandchildren, but all future generations should 
not  have  to go through this tragedy. That is why I  want  young 
people to listen to our testimonies and to choose the right path, 
the path which leads to peace.