HIBAKUSHA (A-Bomb Survivor)'s Testimony
I would like to extend a hearty welcome to
all of you, mayors from all over the world.
I am Akihiro Takahashi; it is my honor to
be introduced to you. I hope I can receive
your kind attention.
The worldfs first atomic bomb exploded over
Hiroshima at 8:15 a.m., August 06, 1945.
I was at a playground 1.4 kilometer away
from the hypocenter when the bomb exploded.
This atomic bomb had three major characteristics:
heat rays, blast and radiation. First, I
would like to talk about the heat rays. At
the instant of the explosion, a fireball
with a temperature of several million degrees
Celsius rose into the sky. This fireball
was said to be so huge as to have a diameter
between 200 and 300 meters. At the instant
the bomb exploded, the center of the explosion,
around the A-Bomb Dome, was filled with extremely
high heat of 3,000 to 4,000 degrees Celsius.
It is generally said that iron melts at a
temperature of 1,530 degrees Celsius; and
glass, including that used in bottles, melts
at a temperature of between 700 and 800 degrees
Celsius. This means that the heat rays of
the atomic bomb were far higher in temperature
than that at which iron melts inside a blast
furnace.
Such heat rays burned human bodies, clothes,
and towns in an instant. It is reported that
those who were inside the hypocenter evaporated.
The second characteristic of the A-bomb was
its blast. Blast damage extended as far as
about 16 kilometers from hypocenter. At the
instant of the explosion, a shock wave with
a pressure of several hundred thousand atmospheres
spread in all directions. Following the shock
wave was an extremely strong wind. This wind
is called the blast; its maximum instantaneous
wind velocity peaked at 440 meters per second.
I have heard that the strongest typhoon that
ever hit Japan after World War II had a maximum
instantaneous wind velocity of 85.3 meters
per second. This indicates that the intensity
of the A-bomb blast was beyond imagining.
The blast blew people away, tearing off their
skin. Eyeballs were torn away and internal
organs ruptured. Trains and buses were blown
away, and wooden houses were blown down.
Even tall buildings were destroyed.
The third characteristic was radiation, which
is exclusive to nuclear weapons. It is said
the natural radiation, which is harmless
to the human body, corresponds to one millisievert.
In the case of the Hiroshima A-bomb, it is
said that four-sievert radiation was present
within about one kilometer from the hypocenter,
and that those who were 100 to 200 meters
from the hypocenter were exposed to radiation
of 17 sieverts, which is 17,000 times as
high as one millisievert.
Two workers died the other day due to an
accident at a fuel-processing factory in
the village of Tokai. I hear that they were
exposed to 17-sievert radiation.
The compound effects of heat ray, blast,
and radiation caused A-bomb damage beyond
all imagining.
1.
Japan was at war for 15 years. On September
18, 1931, the Manchurian Incident occurred.
This incident is also known as the preliminary
skirmish of the Japanese-Chinese war, as
it led to the Japanese-Chinese war July 07,
1937. This series of wars expanded to the
Pacific War, which began with Pearl Harbor
on December 08, 1941. Japan went ahead with
wars of aggression upon Asian nations such
as China, and colonized the Korean Peninsula
for 36 years. Japan made a big mistake. gGo,
go, and go, soldiers.h This is a passage
used in a textbook when I was an elementary
schoolchild. We received militaristic education
using such a textbook during the war.
2.
Most junior high school boys then thought
they would become servicemen when they grew
up. I myself really wanted to enlist in the
boysf naval air force, headquartered in
Kasumigaura in Ibaraki Prefecture.
Our schoolteachers taught us that becoming
admirable airmen of the naval air force and
marching into the enemyfs territory to kill
as many enemy soldiers as possible were right
and necessary things for Japan to win the
war, and we believed so.
Japan, however, lost the war, and we realized
faults of militarism. Moreover, we learned
that Japan caused our Asian neighbors great
distress and sorrow. I, therefore, believe
that the basic responsibility for the war
lies with the Japanese government. At the
same time, however, I myself should deeply
repent of the war fought by Japan, as Japanese
who lived through the war, even though I
was only a boy at the time. I was taught
that killing people was the right thing to
do, and I believed it. I think having such
an idea was totally wrong even though I was
taught so, and I now deeply repent this.
3.
During the war, junior high school student
and girls in girlsf school, rather than
studying, were mobilized to perform demolition
work for houses of ordinary citizens, by
order of the government. This demolition
work was continued to prepare vacant lots
as evacuation areas in anticipation of future
air raids by the United States.
Residents of the demolished houses had no
choice but to give up their houses and evacuate
to the country where relatives or acquaintances
lived. In those days, people absolutely had
to follow government orders.
4.
Just before the A-bomb was dropped on August
06, an air-raid warning and a precautionary
warning had been cleared earlier. Feeling
safe, we went out onto the playground, and
waited for morning assembly to begin. There
were about 150 students on the playground,
including about 60 classmates of mine. We
then saw the U.S. model B29 airplane approaching,
even though the warnings had cleared: we
never dreamed that this airplane was carrying
the A-bomb.
5.
In Hiroshima, the sky is always clear in
the morning. The B29 airplane approached
just above us, leaving a beautiful jet stream.
Believing we were secure, we looked up at
the flying airplane while pointing at the
sky. Then our teachers came out of the staff
room, and a class president called out, gGather
around! Fall in!h At that instant, the tragedy
happened.
6.
With an incredible noise, complete darkness
covered my eyes for a second. Without being
able to see an inch ahead of me, I had no
idea what had happened. Actually, however,
there was a flash at that moment, although
I canft remember ? I donft know why ? any
flash. Then the blast suddenly came with
the sound, gbang!h
7.
We were blown away without the least resistance.
Please remember my earlier explanation about
the blast.
8.
After a while, I recovered consciousness
when the smoke that had covered the playground
disappeared and it became light. I had been
blown about ten meters away from where I
had been before the explosion, and had fallen
hard on the ground. The blast had thrown
me there.
9.
I then found that some 150 students had also
been blown in all directions and lay everywhere
on the playground. The schoolhouse was flattened
to the ground, as it was built of wood. Every
house and building that had once stood around
the school had been collapsed by the blast.
10.
I gazed into the distance, but saw no houses.
All had disappeared except for a few buildings.
gHiroshima has disappeared!h I thought
for a moment. Then, I looked at my own body.
My school uniform had been burned and torn
to tatters by the heat rays. At the moment
of the A-bomb flash in the sky, my uniform
had spontaneously caught fire and burned
down to tatters. My skin was peeling off
from the back of my head to my back, arms,
hands, legs, and other parts. I could see
my own red flesh, exposed between tattered
skin and burned by heat rays. Please remember
my earlier description of the heat rays.
Recognizing that 150 other students were
in a similar state, I was seized with panic
for a moment.
11.
gFlee to a river at the time of an air raid,h
I remembered what we had always been told
during evacuation drills. I promptly left
the playground to flee to the river.
12.
On my way to the river, I heard somebody
calling my name from behind.
gTakahashi, Takahashi! Wait for me! Wait
for me! I turned around and saw my friend,
Yamamoto, calling me. He was my classmate;
I used to go school with him every day.
13.
gMom, help me. Help!h he kept crying. gDonft
cry any more! Crying is no use! Get moving
instead of crying, or we may be in great
trouble. We must leave here now!h I scolded
at him one time, and encouraged him another
time. I fled with him while pulling him.
During the war, we wore a cap called a gcombat
cap.h My hair remains in the part covered
by the cap, but the heat rays burned away
the hair that was not covered with the cap;
bald spots were left on these parts. The
cap was of course blown off.
14.
A great number of bombed people were fleeing
in procession. Everyone held out their arms,
with tattered skin dangling from the fingertips.
Their clothes were tattered; some were almost
naked. Their skin peeled off, and red flesh
was exposed.
Everyone was fleeing, dragging their feet
and staggering barefoot. The sight looked
as if ghosts were walking in procession.
15.
I saw many people in the procession who had
been hideously damaged. One was covered with
broken pieces of glass from the waist up.
These glass pieces were window glass, for
instance, that had been broken to fragments
and scattered by the blast, piercing human
bodies. I could see such glass fragments
had stuck my own body in several places,
such as my waist and both arms.
16.
One woman was covered with blood, with on
of her eyeballs hanging out. This had been
caused by the blast. A man on my left had
been so badly burned above the waist that
his skin was peeling from his entire back,
and burned red flesh was exposed.
17.
There were several dead bodies. Among them,
I saw a hideously damaged womanfs dead body.
Her ruptured internal organs were bulging
out onto the ground. This had also been caused
by the blast.
18.
I also saw a baby lying beside a woman who
was apparently the babyfs mother. Both were
severely burned, almost their entire skins
peeling off and red flesh exposed. The baby
was shrieking: he was still alive. However,
we couldnft do anything for the baby, as
we were just boys.
19.
A horse was dead, with his neck in a trough
and his skin peeling from his entire body,
exposing red flesh. The entire scene was
horrible. Words can never describe such a
horrible sight.
20.
With such a dreadful sight in front of us,
we ran for our lives toward the river. Wrecks
of houses destroyed by the blast, however,
blocked every lane from the main street to
the riverbank. It was impossible to walk
there. We therefore desperately climbed over
the wrecks of the houses on all fours, and
finally reached the riverside.
21.
As soon as we reached the riverside, fire
suddenly broke out all at once in the wrecks
of houses. The fire was spreading rapidly;
a tall column of fire rose to the sky with
a loud sound and force, just as a volcano
erupts. Even now, I can clearly remember
how frightened I was. It was very fortunate
that we were barely able to escape the fire.
The fire was caused when wrecks of houses
destroyed by the blast spontaneously caught
fire due to the heat rays that flashed for
a second up in the sky. Fires used for cooking
breakfast earlier also combined with this
fire. Such fire is called gsuper-high-temperature
fire.h Many were trapped beneath the destroyed
houses, with no help reaching them. Since
only one or two people could not do anything
to save those people. Shortly, the spreading
fire reached them. Many people had no choice
but to leave beloved family members beneath
the wrecks to flee the fire. Within two kilometers
from the hypocenter, the fire burned everything
combustible, including wooden houses.
22.
When crawling out to the riverside, we saw
a small bridge that had miraculously remained
intact after the blast. This bridge saved
our lives.
23.
I crossed the bridge to the other side, and
found that my friend, Yamamoto, was not with
me. Later, after I recovered, I heard from
his mother that he had been taken to his
home by a kind stranger, but died six weeks
later from acute radioactive disorder. With
this disease, the hair falls out, and blood
and pus come out of nostrils, mouth, and
ears. Purple spots appear on the skin all
over the body, and the stomach swells as
blood and pus accumulate there. Blood is
found in stool and urine, and bones decompose.
24.
The opposite bank was three kilometers away
from the nearest fire, so luckily there was
no fire there. gAh, Ifm alive!h I thought
to myself, and then for the first time I
felt relived. Tears sprang to my eyes, and
I could not hold them back. At the same time,
I felt that my body was getting very hot.
As it felt unbearably hot, I entered the
river and soaked in the water. The cold river
water felt so good to my burning hot body
that it was like a treasure. In reality,
however, dead bodies were floating on the
river, and it looked as if it were hell on
the earth.
25.
Shortly after, I came out of the river and
went to a makeshift relief station built
of bamboo taken from a mountain. I received
simple treatment and rested there. A great
number of bombed people were waiting in line
for treatment. Suddenly, large black drops
of rain began falling. This is what is called
gblack rainh.
26.
Black rain is formed when dust sent to the
sky by the blast mixes with rain. As this
black rain contains radiation, some people
directly exposed to the rain later suffered
from radiation sickness. Luckily, I was in
a tent at the time, and so was not exposed
to the rain. Looking at the black rain for
the first time in my life, I felt so strange.
I gazed at the rain for a moment, wondering
if black rain had ever before existed in
the world.
27.
I waited until is stopped raining, and started
walking back home by myself. I was anxious,
however, about whether I could walk the six
kilometers to my house by myself, after suffering
such severe burns.
28.
After walking for a while, I heard somebody
calling my name again. gTakahashi, Takahashi.
Take me home with youch It was a moan asking
for help. I looked in the direction of the
moan, and found my classmate, Hatta, crouching
by the wayside. We were from the same town
and went to the same school together everyday.
I looked at his body. The skins had been
peeled from the soles of both his feet, and
red flesh inside was burned and exposed.
It was impossible for him to walk. I said,
gHow did you set here? gHe said that a
stranger had carried him on a bicycle, and
left him here. I was worried about whether
I could find a way to help him. He was my
classmate and from the same town, and so
I didnft want to go home by myself and leave
him behind. I wanted to help him somehow
or other but couldnft find any means. Fortunately,
except for the soles of his feet, his body
had suffered no severe gashes or burns, so
I finally thought of two ideas.
29.
One was for him to crawl on his hands and
knees. This way, his feet did not touch the
ground.
30.
The other idea was for him to walk on his
heels, with me supporting his body. By traveling
in these two ways alternately, we moved toward
home very slowly, much slower than a snailfs
pace, while helping each other. It now comes
as a surprise that I could think of such
ideas.
31.
Walking in such unique manners soon made
us exhausted, and so we rested by the wayside.
When I happened to turn around, I saw my
granduncle and grandaunt approaching. I was
overjoyed to see them, and called to them
at the top of my voice. They were also very
surprised: they never had the slightest idea
of meeting us in such a place. They were
on their way home from the country, where
they had attended a memorial service for
their relative. It was very fortunate that
I saw them there by chance.
32.
My granduncle and grandaunt carried my friend
and me on their backs. Without their help,
both of us would have died along the way,
and I would have had no chance of talking,
like I am now, before all of you, mayors
of different countries.
33.
My friend and I finally reached home on a
stretcher that my grandfather brought from
home.
34.
After I got home, my mother cut off my clothes
with scissors in order to undress me without
the pain I would have experienced if my clothes
had brushed against my hands and legs where
red flesh was exposed. She dressed me in
a new yukata, or summer light cotton kimono.
I later heard that my friend Hachida died
also from acute radiation disorder on August
08, two days after the bombing.
35.
For one and a half years after that, I received
treatments for my burns. Fortunately, one
of our acquaintances was a doctor, and he
visited my house twice a day in the morning
and evening. This doctor, however, was an
otolaryngologist, although a surgeon or a
dermatologist should of course treat burns.
However, we couldnft ask too much because
at the time we had neither enough doctors,
nor nurses, nor medicines, nor food, with
the city area almost utterly destroyed. I
was very lucky that I could receive treatment
from someone who was a doctor, regardless
of his specialty, because a great number
of victims never got any treatment. In this
way, I managed to survive.
36.
Although I have survived, since 1971 I have
suffered from chronic hepatitis thought to
be caused by radiation. I have been hospitalized
13 times, and currently receive shots three
or four times a week. I also suffer from
many other diseases. I now receive every
kind of treatment except for that related
to the obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics
and psychiatry. Every day Ifm anxious and
painfully aware of difficulties and pains
involved in living. In despair, I sometimes
wonder why I have to continue to live while
suffering this much. Whenever I yield to
despair, however, I encourage myself, saying,
gI have managed to survive, and so should
liveh. And so I have lived thus far.
37.
Scars from burns received at the time still
remain on many parts of my body. Among them,
burns on my right hand and arm were the most
severe. From the right elbow to the right
fingertips, the skin peeled off, and red
flesh inside was exposed and burned. My right
elbow has been locked at an angle of 120
degree since then, and I canft move it.
All the fingers except for the thumb remain
bent, and I canft move them either. Ifve
led very hard life because of this.
38.
I have keloids on my wrist. Usually, a burn
is healed in a month at the earliest. After
this, large lump of flesh swells on the healed
part. This is called a keloid.
39.
I have a peculiar, black-brown fingernail
on my right index finger. A glass fragment
propelled by the blast pierced the root of
this nail. According to a dermatologist,
the glass fragment destroyed the cells that
grow the nail. They say this fingernail will
not heal as a normal fingernail.
40.
Naturally, the fingernail is growing. As
it grows so thick and hard that it canft
be cut with ordinary nail clippers, I leave
it for two to three years.
41.
Then, a crack appears at the root of the
nail, and the nail falls off naturally. I
have donated these nails to the Hiroshima
Peace Memorial Museum, where two of my nails
are exhibited in a showcase in the section
of the blast.
42.
Both my ears were crushed, Blood and pus
accumulated in both ears, which then swelled
large, with a purple color. The doctor squeezed
the blood and pus out of my ears. The rotten
cartilage was crushed when the blood and
pus were squeezed out, so that my ears were
damaged in this way.
Out of about 60 classmates of mine at the
time, 14 are still alive. Ifm one of the
few survivors. Nearly 50 of my classmates
were cruelly killed by the A-bomb. I donft
particularly say that they were killed by
the United States, but the A-bomb killed
them cruelly. Ifve lived thus far, pledging
that I should never waste their cruel deaths.
Since the war, Ifve lived while telling
myself it is the duty and responsibility
of those who have survived to convey the
unheard voice and will of a great number
of the dead. I believe it is clear that the
A-bomb was dropped for experimental purposes.
There are three reasons that support this
view. First, the United States manufactured
two different types of atomic bombs. One
was Little Boy, of uranium type, which was
dropped on Hiroshima. The other is Fat Man,
of plutonium type, dropped on Nagasaki. These
two A-bombs are different models of different
nuclear substances. Secondly, the industrial
area and the center of the city ? that is,
an area where houses are clustered ? were
targeted for the bombing. In order to overthrow
militarism, the killing of a great number
of Japanese citizens was necessary. Thirdly,
they selected then ? intact cities that had
not been damaged by incendiary bombs of air
raids. These three reasons prove that the
A-bomb was used to experiment with its power
and destructive energy.
The U.S. takes the view that dropping the
A-bomb was the right thing, because it saved
one million U.S. officers and men, and Japanese
citizens. I want to call to the U.S. to stop
and think. This gone million livesh is
only an assumption. The A-bombs dropped on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki killed three hundred
and several ten thousand people. How does
the U.S. regard this number of lost lives?
Donft we always say that a life of a single
person weights more than the earth?
A-bomb victims like us lived with hatred
toward militarists in the U.S. and Japan
for a long time. gIf the war had not occurred,
if that A-bomb had not been droppedch I
strongly wished so. However, as have I met
many Americans who were considerate, tenderhearted,
and compassionate, Ifve overcome my own
hatred toward the U.S. Hatred never wipes
away hatred. There is no peace where hatred
is. A nuclear weapon is an absolute evil.
We, victims of the A-bomb, object to all
war and appeal to the world for prompt total
abolition of nuclear weapons, while overcoming
all the pains, grief, and hatred we feel
as A-bomb victims. Currently, there are as
many as 20,000 to 30,000 nuclear weapons
on earth. The terrible mistake of use of
a nuclear weapon must not be repeated for
any country or any people in any position.
Recently, however, I heard in the news that
the U.S. has renounced the Comprehensive
Test Ban Treaty. When I also heard news of
the U.S. rejecting the Kyoto Protocol on
curbing the global warning, I wondered if
the U.S. isnft out of its mind.
The U.S. has no right to destroy the framework
built through the steady efforts of various
countries around the globe. I cannot help
feeling deep despair and resentment toward
a U.S. that values its own interests over
all other things.
Currently on earth, the gnegative inheritanceh
of the 20th century remains, including wars, nuclear
weapons, global warming, famine, refugees,
violence, and suppression of human rights.
If people living in the 21st century donft correctly deal with this
negative inheritance, the present century
may become the last century of humans on
the earth. I myself now strengthen my determination
to live my remaining life in full awareness
of my responsibility as a crewmember of Spaceship
Earth. I would like you to convey my view
and wish to all citizens of all parts of
the world.