August 6, 1945
8:15 AM
"Humanity and nuclear weapons cannot coexist."
- Daisaku Ikeda
On August 6, 1945 at 8:15 AM, the all-clear had just sounded minutes earlier. Hiroshima residents were relieved, enjoying their distorted sense of comfort and security and completely unaware of what destruction awaited them.
30,000 feet is the approximate altitude of the American bomber Enola Gay when it released its bomb nicknamed "Little Boy" containing 141 pounds of radioactive Uranium-235. The bomb fell for 44 seconds then exploded just under 2,000 feet above the city.
2,000 meters is gauged as the distance from the center of the blast for mortality caused by initial impact, radiation effects, and debris. Those who survived within 2,000 meters of the blast recall a bright flash of light, sudden heat, and unconsciousness, while others recall being violently thrown and pinned under debris by the force of the impact.
30,000 feet is the approximate altitude of the American bomber Enola Gay when it released its bomb nicknamed "Little Boy" containing 141 pounds of radioactive Uranium-235. The bomb fell for 44 seconds then exploded just under 2,000 feet above the city.
2,000 meters is gauged as the distance from the center of the blast for mortality caused by initial impact, radiation effects, and debris. Those who survived within 2,000 meters of the blast recall a bright flash of light, sudden heat, and unconsciousness, while others recall being violently thrown and pinned under debris by the force of the impact.
Tsunematsu Tamiko was 14 years old at the time of the blast. At age 69, the Peace Database collected by the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum records her recount of the events on August 6, 1945.
Hiroshima (1946)
John Hersey, The New Yorker
Published in 1946, Hiroshima follows the stories of six hibakusha right before, during, and after the blast.
Kiyoshi Tanimoto
Reverend Tanimoto was 3,500 yards from the center of the blast. Chairman of the Neighborhood Association, Tanimoto is described as "small man, quick to talk, laugh, and cry." A graduate of Emory University in Altalanta, Georgia, Tanimoto spoke English very well and dressed himself in Western-style clothing. In the weeks before the blast, Tanimoto experienced sleepless, turbulent nights, obsessively worrying over his family's well-being, and was burdened by an unbalanced and sporadic diet. Tanimoto describes the blast as a "tremendous flash of light cut across the sky....[it] travelled from east to west, from the city toward the hills. It seemed a sheet of sun." Tanimoto was terrified, throwing himself between two large rocks in the garden. He buried his face against one of the stones, unable to see the chaos around him. Feeling unanticipated pressure, splinters and fragments consisting of board and fragments of tile toppled around him. Tanimoto was not prepared for the destruction that lay ahead of him.
Mrs. Hatsuyo Nakamura
Mrs. Hatsuyo Nakamura was 1,350 yards away from the center of the blast. The recent widow of a tailor and mother to 10 year old Toshio, 8 year old Yaeko, and 5 year old Myeko, Nakamura rose at 7 in the morning of August 6, 1945. The night before, she and her children traveled to a designated "safe area" after there were threats of B-29s flying over southern Honshu. At the time of the blast, Nakamura was cooking rice and watching her neighbor who was out on his front porch. All of a sudden, Nakamura recalls that "everything flashed whiter than any white she had ever seen." Immediately, Nakamura's instincts took over to protect her children. The impact of the explosion threw her into the next room, where she soon became buried under timbers and tiles. After freeing herself, Nakamura set off on a frantic mission to save her children.
Dr. Masakazu Fujii
Dr. Masakazu Fujii was 1,550 yards away from the center of the blast. The proprietor of a private hospital, Fujii is described as "prosperous, hedonistic, and at the time, not too busy," as well as "healthy, convivial, and calm" at the age of 50. He would enjoyed spending his evenings in leisure, drinking and casually conversing with friends. On the morning of August 6, 1945, Fujii rose at 6 in the morning to guide a house guest who was visiting to the train. After getting back to his house around 7, Fujii ate breakfast and read the paper on his front porch. While reading the Osaka Asahi, Fujii recalls a brilliant yellow flash of light. Frightened, he began to rise to his feet to see his hospital collapse into the Kyo River. Fujii was aggressively thrown forward, being "buffeted and gripped." Fujii lost his sense of surroundings. He "lost track of everything, because things were so speeded up." The blast caused Fujii to become pinned by two long timbers across his chest. He injured his shoulder badly, and his glasses had fallen off.
Father Wilhelm Kleinsorge
Father Wilhelm Kleinsorge was 1,400 yards away from the center of the blast. Father Kleinsorge was a German priest for the Society of Jesus. At 38, Kleinsorge is described to have had the appearance of "a boy growing too fast-thin in the face, with a prominent Adam's apple, a hollow chest, dangling hands, big feet." As a foreigner in Japan, Father Kleinsorge felt especially ostracized as an outsider by the Japanese. On the morning of August 6, 1945, he is described to have been in "rather frail condition" due to the Japanese wartime diet. He rose at 6 in the morning, and held Mass in the mission chapel in the Nobori-cho section. After the all-clear alarms sounded that morning, Father Kleinsorge stepped outside and was relieved that, to his knowledge, no immediate danger threatened Hiroshima. He had breakfast with fellow priests, and afterwards went upstairs to read the Stimmen der Zeit when the blast occurred. The terrible blast reminded Father Kleinsorge of "a large meteor colliding with the earth," something he had read as a child. Father Kleinsorge recalls having one distinct thought: "A bomb has fallen directly on us." Following the impact, Father Kleinsorge "went out of his mind." He does not remember how he got out of the house, only recalling wandering around a vegetable garden and hearing the housekeeper repeatedly yelling out "Shu Jesusu, awaremi tamai!" ("Our Lord Jesus, have pity on us!")
Dr. Terufumi Sasaki
Dr. Terufumi Sasaki was 1,650 yards away from the center of the blast. A Red Cross Hospital surgeon at the age of 25, Sasaki felt "sluggish and slightly feverish" on the morning of August 6, 1945. Traveling on a train from the country to Hiroshima, Sasaki debated over going to work that day following a nightmare the night before. He took an earlier train than usual that day. Once at the hospital he worked at and after taking a blood sample from a patient, Sasaki was walking through a hospital corridor when the blast occurred. Being reflected in a window, the light of the blast appeared "like a gigantic photographic flash" in the hospital corridor. Sasaki immediately plopped down onto one knee and said to himself, "Sasaki, gambare!" ("Be brave!"). By a miracle, however, Sasaki remained unmarked. Following the blast, Sasaki recalls that "The hospital was in horrible confusion: heavy partitions and ceilings had fallen on patients, beds had overturned, windows had blown in and cut people, blood was spattered on the walls and floors, instruments were everywhere, many of the patients were running about screaming, many more lay dead." He was the only doctor in the hospital was was not in any way injured. Looking back on that fateful day, Sasaki recalls that if he had taken a train during his usual commute time, he most definitely would have died instantly from the impact of the blast.
Toshiko Sasaki
Toshiko Sasaki was 1,600 yards away from the center of the blast. An East Asia Tin Works clerk, Sasaki rose at 3 on the morning of August 6, 1945 to complete housework in her family's household. At the age of 20, Sasaki cooked breakfast for her family, and was tasked with preparing meals for her mother and 11-month old brother, who were both at the Tamara Pediatric Hospital after her brother had come down with severe stomach pains. Sasaki finished cleaning and cooking by 7 that morning. She left her home in Koi at 7 to commute to her job at East Asia Tin Works in Kannon-machi. Sasaki sat at her desk at Tin Works, and turned her head away from the windows to briefly talk to the girl siting next to her. Right as she turned her head, a blinding light permeated all throughout the office. Sasaki was "paralyzed by fear," and she soon lost consciousness. The ceiling above Sasaki came crashing down into splinters, and the roof above gave out. Sasaki was pinned down to the ground by the large bookcases right behind her, causing her left leg to become horrendously twisted and broken. Sasaki was hopelessly compressed.
Kiyoshi Tanimoto
Reverend Tanimoto was 3,500 yards from the center of the blast. Chairman of the Neighborhood Association, Tanimoto is described as "small man, quick to talk, laugh, and cry." A graduate of Emory University in Altalanta, Georgia, Tanimoto spoke English very well and dressed himself in Western-style clothing. In the weeks before the blast, Tanimoto experienced sleepless, turbulent nights, obsessively worrying over his family's well-being, and was burdened by an unbalanced and sporadic diet. Tanimoto describes the blast as a "tremendous flash of light cut across the sky....[it] travelled from east to west, from the city toward the hills. It seemed a sheet of sun." Tanimoto was terrified, throwing himself between two large rocks in the garden. He buried his face against one of the stones, unable to see the chaos around him. Feeling unanticipated pressure, splinters and fragments consisting of board and fragments of tile toppled around him. Tanimoto was not prepared for the destruction that lay ahead of him.
Mrs. Hatsuyo Nakamura
Mrs. Hatsuyo Nakamura was 1,350 yards away from the center of the blast. The recent widow of a tailor and mother to 10 year old Toshio, 8 year old Yaeko, and 5 year old Myeko, Nakamura rose at 7 in the morning of August 6, 1945. The night before, she and her children traveled to a designated "safe area" after there were threats of B-29s flying over southern Honshu. At the time of the blast, Nakamura was cooking rice and watching her neighbor who was out on his front porch. All of a sudden, Nakamura recalls that "everything flashed whiter than any white she had ever seen." Immediately, Nakamura's instincts took over to protect her children. The impact of the explosion threw her into the next room, where she soon became buried under timbers and tiles. After freeing herself, Nakamura set off on a frantic mission to save her children.
Dr. Masakazu Fujii
Dr. Masakazu Fujii was 1,550 yards away from the center of the blast. The proprietor of a private hospital, Fujii is described as "prosperous, hedonistic, and at the time, not too busy," as well as "healthy, convivial, and calm" at the age of 50. He would enjoyed spending his evenings in leisure, drinking and casually conversing with friends. On the morning of August 6, 1945, Fujii rose at 6 in the morning to guide a house guest who was visiting to the train. After getting back to his house around 7, Fujii ate breakfast and read the paper on his front porch. While reading the Osaka Asahi, Fujii recalls a brilliant yellow flash of light. Frightened, he began to rise to his feet to see his hospital collapse into the Kyo River. Fujii was aggressively thrown forward, being "buffeted and gripped." Fujii lost his sense of surroundings. He "lost track of everything, because things were so speeded up." The blast caused Fujii to become pinned by two long timbers across his chest. He injured his shoulder badly, and his glasses had fallen off.
Father Wilhelm Kleinsorge
Father Wilhelm Kleinsorge was 1,400 yards away from the center of the blast. Father Kleinsorge was a German priest for the Society of Jesus. At 38, Kleinsorge is described to have had the appearance of "a boy growing too fast-thin in the face, with a prominent Adam's apple, a hollow chest, dangling hands, big feet." As a foreigner in Japan, Father Kleinsorge felt especially ostracized as an outsider by the Japanese. On the morning of August 6, 1945, he is described to have been in "rather frail condition" due to the Japanese wartime diet. He rose at 6 in the morning, and held Mass in the mission chapel in the Nobori-cho section. After the all-clear alarms sounded that morning, Father Kleinsorge stepped outside and was relieved that, to his knowledge, no immediate danger threatened Hiroshima. He had breakfast with fellow priests, and afterwards went upstairs to read the Stimmen der Zeit when the blast occurred. The terrible blast reminded Father Kleinsorge of "a large meteor colliding with the earth," something he had read as a child. Father Kleinsorge recalls having one distinct thought: "A bomb has fallen directly on us." Following the impact, Father Kleinsorge "went out of his mind." He does not remember how he got out of the house, only recalling wandering around a vegetable garden and hearing the housekeeper repeatedly yelling out "Shu Jesusu, awaremi tamai!" ("Our Lord Jesus, have pity on us!")
Dr. Terufumi Sasaki
Dr. Terufumi Sasaki was 1,650 yards away from the center of the blast. A Red Cross Hospital surgeon at the age of 25, Sasaki felt "sluggish and slightly feverish" on the morning of August 6, 1945. Traveling on a train from the country to Hiroshima, Sasaki debated over going to work that day following a nightmare the night before. He took an earlier train than usual that day. Once at the hospital he worked at and after taking a blood sample from a patient, Sasaki was walking through a hospital corridor when the blast occurred. Being reflected in a window, the light of the blast appeared "like a gigantic photographic flash" in the hospital corridor. Sasaki immediately plopped down onto one knee and said to himself, "Sasaki, gambare!" ("Be brave!"). By a miracle, however, Sasaki remained unmarked. Following the blast, Sasaki recalls that "The hospital was in horrible confusion: heavy partitions and ceilings had fallen on patients, beds had overturned, windows had blown in and cut people, blood was spattered on the walls and floors, instruments were everywhere, many of the patients were running about screaming, many more lay dead." He was the only doctor in the hospital was was not in any way injured. Looking back on that fateful day, Sasaki recalls that if he had taken a train during his usual commute time, he most definitely would have died instantly from the impact of the blast.
Toshiko Sasaki
Toshiko Sasaki was 1,600 yards away from the center of the blast. An East Asia Tin Works clerk, Sasaki rose at 3 on the morning of August 6, 1945 to complete housework in her family's household. At the age of 20, Sasaki cooked breakfast for her family, and was tasked with preparing meals for her mother and 11-month old brother, who were both at the Tamara Pediatric Hospital after her brother had come down with severe stomach pains. Sasaki finished cleaning and cooking by 7 that morning. She left her home in Koi at 7 to commute to her job at East Asia Tin Works in Kannon-machi. Sasaki sat at her desk at Tin Works, and turned her head away from the windows to briefly talk to the girl siting next to her. Right as she turned her head, a blinding light permeated all throughout the office. Sasaki was "paralyzed by fear," and she soon lost consciousness. The ceiling above Sasaki came crashing down into splinters, and the roof above gave out. Sasaki was pinned down to the ground by the large bookcases right behind her, causing her left leg to become horrendously twisted and broken. Sasaki was hopelessly compressed.