LIVING BENEATH THE ATOMIC CLOUD

1. LIVING BENEATH THE ATOMIC CLOUD Testimony of the Children of Nagasaki Ann Hardin EDU 535 Wilmington College

2. Excerpts from“Living Beneath the Atomic Cloud”edited by Takashi NagaiBook available at theWilmington College Peace Resource CenterThe pictures were made available at the website: Children of the Atomic Bomb http://www.aasc.ucla.edu/cab/index.html

3. I SQUAT DOWN ON THE SPOT WHERE WE CREMATED OUR MOTHER AND TOUCH THE EARTH WITH MY FATHER. By FujioTsujimoto (5 years old then).

4. When the Atomic Bomb was dropped, I was in the air raid shelter which was dug out into a cliff at the corner of the playground of Yamazoto Primary School and was not hurt. At anElementary School a moment after the blast.Year of Birth: 1938 \ Age at time of blast: 7 \ Age when image created: 37

5. Since no planes flew overhead, the all-clear was sounded. Here and there many children were playing and shouting all over the playground. Grownups and teachers came out to relax. The playground was lively with the sounds of many people. Then I heard the buzzing of a plane. “Enemy plane”, yelled the watchman on the roof of the school building as he struck the bell. “Look out!” People on the playground came running straight for the shelter. I was the first to plunge into the deepest part of the shelter. But that moment………

6. In a split second strange rings of lights spread over my head. Year of Birth: 1924 \ Age at time of blast: 20 \ Age when image created: 49 FLASH……

7. I was waiting for my parents, sitting at the entrance of the bomb-shelter. Half an hour later, my mother appeared at last. She was covered with blood. I will never forget how happy I was as I clung to my mother. We waited for Father, but he never appeared. My younger sisters died the next day. My mother---she also died the next day. And then my older brother died. I thought I would die too, because the people around me lying beside each other in the shelter were dying one by one. We had no clue as to whether Father was still alive or burnt to death, and he was nowhere to be found.

8. Night scene of cremating the dead. Year of Birth: 1913 \ Age at time of blast: 32 \ Age when image created: 62 The survivors piled up wood on the playground and began to cremate the corpses. My brother was burned. Mother was also burned and quickly turned to white bones which dropped down through the live coals. I cried as I gazed upon the scene.

9. When I play with my friends on that playground, I squat down on the spot where we cremated my mother and touch the earth with my fingers. When I dig deep in the ground several pieces of charcoal appear. Looking at the spot for a while I can dimly see my mother’s image in the earth. Whenever I go out into the playground, I remember that day. The playground is dear to me but at the same time I am very sad there.

10. I FEEL MY ELDER BROTHER LIVES SOMEWHERE AND IS WATCHING US TaekoArikawa (5 years old then)

11. My younger brother who died. Year of Birth: 1924 \ Age at time of blast: 20 \ Age when image created: 50 On the first day of August, we were threatened by air raids in Urakami. After the atomic bomb was dropped, only my elder brother didn’t return. Someone told us that he had been burnt and was taken to the hospital in Shimabara by train.

12. Soon Father and Mother went to Shimabara to take care of him. I was sure he would recover and come back soon. After a few days Father and Mother returned. They didn’t come home with my elder brother but with a white box. When I got the box and shook it, it rattled. I feel my elder brother lives somewhere and is watching us.

13. I HAVE NEVER FELT THAT THE SCARS ON MY MOTHER ARE UGLY Yasuko Kataoka (10 years old then)

14. On the morning of August 9, I was looking after my baby brother. Mother was working in the field. I took the baby in my arms and sat on the veranda facing the field where Mother was working. ---Just then, a light bright enough to pierce my eyes flashed in the sky. I lay my face down on the ground holding my baby brother. Something like dust closed in around me. I breathed with difficulty and at last I couldn’t breathe. When I recovered consciousness my brother wasn’t with me. I tried desperately for him, but I couldn’t move my body. I struggled with all my might, but in vain. It was dark as midnight around me.

15. Year of Birth: 1925 \ Age at time of blast: 20 \ Age when image created: 49 I was caught under my house. I made desperate efforts to creep out from under the pillars. Finally I got my hands and legs out from under a wide board and I could move my body easily. I tried and tried to get out of the dark place toward the sunlight coming through the crevices.

16. Year of Birth: 1931 \ Age at time of blast: 14 \ Age when image created: 42 I crawled out! My elder sister crawled out, too. I was afraid so much that I ran to the air raid shelter to my surprise my mother and my younger brother were there.

17. A severely burned mother and child. Year of Birth: 1930 \ Age at time of blast: 15 \ Age when image created: 45 I could not believe they had gotten burnt in the field. I threw myself into Mother’s arms and said to her, “It’s okay, Mother. Please it’s okay!” In my heart I was afraid that Mother would die soon.

18. The brother with whom I played this morning was about to die. My heart choked with sorrow. Father came to the shelter in the evening. When I looked at my father, I felt relieved. He was not wounded at all. My brother became silent after dark. I touched him on the chest, and I found he had died. I cannot forget him. Fortunately my mother recovered. She works hard in the field every day though she is disabled with scars. I have never felt that the scars on my mother are ugly.