Radioactive Fallout...
The only way to measure how much radiation
you're being exposed to, after a nuclear attack...
is to have immediate access, to instruments like these.
I only have one of these units available, at this time...(6:51pm, 3 Nov. 2008)
You CAN survive a nuclear war!
You just have to know how...these free downloads can help.
How To Survive Radioactive Fallout From A Nuclear Explosion
What To Do If A Nuclear Disaster is Imminent
11 Steps To Surviving a Nuclear War
Fallout Protection, What To Know & Do About Nuclear Attack
Nuclear War Survival Skills by Cresson Kearney
How to use radiological instruments - (Survey Meters/Dosimeters)
Vulnerability Of Populations And The Urban Health Care Systems To Nuclear Weapon Attack
Handbook for Radiological Monitors
Report to Congress on the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack
Acute Radiation Syndrome - A Fact Sheet For Physicians
The Medical Implications of Nuclear War
FEMA - The Effects of Nuclear War
FEMA - Radiological Emergency Response
Treatment of Nuclear Warfare Casualties
Medical Consequences of Nuclear Warfare
These thickness of material will stop 99% of radiation...
(Meaning, you have to put this much 'mass or weight' between you and the fallout)
* 16 inches of solid brick.
* 16 inches of hollow concrete blocks filled with mortar or sand.
* 2 ft. of packed dirt.
* 3 ft. of loose dirt.
* 5 inches of steel.
* 3 inches of lead.
* 3 ft. of water.
11 Steps to Survival - Canada Emergency Measures Organization
http://www.webpal.org/webpal/d_resources/survival/books/11steps/
- - - -
* In a nuclear war, up to 90 percent of the land area of the 48 states of the
United States could be covered with radioactive fallout that would deliver
hazardous nuclear radiation to an unprotected person over a period of several days
before decaying to much less hazardous levels. On the other hand, about 10-15 percent
of the land area could be affected by primary nuclear weapons effects that would pose
additional hazards to the population remaining there...
Radiation Safety In Shelters - FEMA
(1) Level I, 50-200 R Exposure...
Less than half of the people exposed to this much radiation experience nausea and vomiting within 24 hours. Afterwards some people might tire easily, but otherwise there are no further symptoms. Less than five percent (one out of 20) need medical care. Any deaths that occur after radiation exposure are probably due to additional medical problems (complications) a person might have at the same time, such as infections and diseases, injuries from blast, or burns from the nuclear explosion.
(2) Level II, 200-450 R Exposure...
More than half of the people exposed to 200-450 R experience nausea and vomiting and are ill for a few days. This illness is followed by a period of one to three weeks when there are few if any symptoms (a latent period). At the end of this latent period more than half of those exposed experience loss of hair. A moderately severe illness develops which is often characterized by sore throat. Radiation damage to the blood-forming organs results in a loss of white blood cells, increasing the chance of illness from infections. Most of the people in this group need medical care, but more than half will survive without treatment. The chances of living are better for those with smaller doses and those who get medical care. More than half are sick the first few days, but less than half die.
(3) Level III, 450-600 R Exposure...
Most of the people exposed to 450-600 R experience severe nausea and vomiting and are very ill for several days. The latent period is shortened to one or two weeks. The main episode of illness which follows is characterized by much bleeding from the mouth, throat, and skin, as well as loss of hair. Infections such as sore throat, pneumonia, and enteritis (inflammation of the small intestine) are common. People in this group need intensive medical care and hospitalization to survive. Fewer than half will survive in spite of the best care, the chances of survival being poorest for those who received the largest exposures.
(4) Level IV, 600 to over 1000 R Exposure...
This level produces an accelerated version of the illness described for Level III. All the people in this group begin to experience severe nausea and vomiting. Without medication, this condition can continue for several days or until death. Death can happen in less than two weeks, without the appearance of bleeding or loss of hair. It is unlikely, even with extensive medical care, that many can survive.
(5) Level V, Several Thousand Roentgens Exposure...
Symptoms of rapidly progressing shock come on almost as soon as the dose has been received. Death occurs in a period from a few hours to a few days. It is highly unlikely that exposures of this magnitude will be experienced in fallout shelters.
- - - - - - - - -
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material in this post is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes…
The following stories are told...
by the survivors of Hiroshima & Nagasaki.
To gain a clearer understanding, of what nuclear war really is...
We must hear it from the mouths of people, who actually experienced it.
Photos taken from Hiroshima and Nagasaki
- - - - - - - - -
http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Japan/Testimon
“…(snip)…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 frames 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 wood 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 also. 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 staff 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 on 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
truck 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
Corporation, 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 truck.
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 truck. 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 shovels
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 we looking at now is very clean
and clear, 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,
great uncle and great aunt, coming toward us. That was quite a 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 couldn’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 shocked 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 wounds were on my face, so 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. I 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.</
