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A People's Record of Hiroshima
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| Fifty-eight years ago, on August 6, 1945, a single atomic bomb dropped by the United States utterly destroyed the city of Hiroshima. Hundreds of thousands of residents died. Those who survived endured the overwhelming grief of losing family and friends and braved bewildering post-war confusion to rebuild their city. Even so, the horror and tragedy of the bombing have never faded from their collective memory. This museum, with the help of NHK Hiroshima Broadcasting Station and the Chugoku Shimbun, conducted an A-bomb drawing campaign entitled "To Convey...the Desire for Peace Across the Centuries." The drawings we received derived from memories that remain vivid even after a half-century. Invested with still-intense grief for many who died in agony, begging for water, they also expressed the desire to somehow convey that horror, to make sure the world knows what happened. They are truly a people's record of the atomic bombing, invaluable testimony to the fate nuclear weapons hold in store. Here we display selected drawings along with rare photos from that time and A-bomb artifacts from our collection. Together, they convey with great clarity the situation in Hiroshima after the bombing. These artists support our intent to continue using these drawings to convey the A-bomb horror and appeal for genuine and lasting world peace. |
| The Mushroom Cloud The bomb detonated 600 meters above ground, and the cloud created by the rapidly expanded air blew upward fast and high, eventually reaching the stratosphere. The cap of the mushroom spread over several kilometers and was observed with fear and trepidation from distant locations in Hiroshima and even in other prefectures. |
38 A white cloud rose fast into the sky, eventually turning pitch black. Drawing / Keigo Tanaka 8:15 a.m., August 6, 1945 Approx. 32km from the hypocenter Mibu-cho, Yamagata-gun (now, Chiyoda-cho, Yamagata-gun) |
| Collapsed Houses The blast pressure was an extremely high 19 tons per square meter even 500 meters from the hypocenter. Virtually all wooden houses within a radius of 2 kilometers were toppled, their inhabitants instantly crushed or trapped underneath. 39 This young boy was standing on a pile of collapsed roof tiles crying, "My mother and father are under here! Somebody help them!" Drawing / Hiroko Onoyama Approx. 1,200m from the hypocenter Near the Takanobashi Streetcar Stop |
40 I crawled desperately and got out from under my house. Crowds of people were fleeing to the north. Some were staggering along with such terrible injuries that their skin was hanging in shreds. Others sat by the road staring vacantly into space. The sight of human beings in this state is beyond imagination. Drawing / Mitsuko Matsutomi August 6, 1945 Approx. 1,200m from the hypocenter Tera-machi |
| Fire Throughout the city, flames quickly rose from collapsed buildings, becoming a city-wide conflagration that seemed to scorch the heavens all day and into the night. Those who were able fled for their lives through the flames and black smoke. Countless people were trapped under buildings and burned alive. 41 Smoke blanketed the sky as Hiroshima City went up in flames. Photo/ Gonichi Kimura Approx. 4,200m from hypocenter Army Marine Training Division Ujima-machi |
42 When I came to, I heard houses burning. Those trapped under them were calling for help. Drawing / Yae Yamamoto August 6, 1945 Crossing Misasa Bridge carrying a boy who was injured and calling for help. Drawing / Toyohiko Katagiri Around 9:00 a.m., August 6, 1945 Approx. 1,500m from the hypocenter Misasa Bridge |
| Black Rain The city was engulfed in a great fire. Powerful fire storms and whirlwinds arose throughout. Beginning 20 to 30 minutes after the bombing, a heavy rain began falling in northwest sections of the city. This rainfall lowered temperatures dramatically. In mid-summer, people shivered from the cold. Furthermore, during the first hour or two, the huge black drops were full of dust, dirt, and soot lifted up by the explosion. The rain was radioactive. 46 White wall bearing stains of black rain Donation / Akijiro Yajima |
44 Injured people fled along the river to avoid the flames. Then, the black rain fell. Drawing / Kichinosuke Tamada August 6, 1945 Approx. 1,300m from the hypocenter Tenma-cho 45 The black rain poured. Suddenly, it was cold. We all huddled together and waited out the rain in a streetcar. Drawing / Shigeo Moritomi Around 10:00 to 10:30 a.m., August 6, 1945 Approx. 1,300m from the hypocenter Tenma-cho |
| Victims Fleeing The horror of the A-bombing was city-wide. Injured victims fled blindly through flame and smoke seeking a safe refuge. Nearly all were naked and in terrible pain, their clothes and skin burned to shreds. Many fell exhausted as they fled, breathing their last on a road or in a river. 47 The city was a sea of flame. The people fleeing out of it were burned too badly to be recognized even as men or women. Drawing / Terumasa Hirata Around 8:45 a.m., August 6, 1945 Approx. 2,200m from the hypocenter Ushita-machi (now, Ushita-minami 1-chome) |
48 A friend carrying his badly injured daughter Drawing / Yasuko Kajino Afternoon, August 6, 1945 Approx. 1,100m from the hypocenter Funairi-machi |
| Hiroshima at Night The city was destroyed. Transportation and communication were paralyzed. Those who managed to survive received inadequate treatment and little or no food, passing the night in fiery thirst and pain. Many died before morning. The fire continued. From the outskirts of town, people watched in horror as the sky over Hiroshima turned bright red. Full-scale relief activities began the following day. We slept out on the riverbank. Here and there corpses were being cremated. We could hear the groans of burned people Drawing / Takako Yoshioka Around 10:00 p.m., August 6, 1945 Approx. 3,500m from the hypocenter Near Ujina-machi |
50 All night until dawn I spent shivering in a bamboo grove with my mother, brother and sister. I saw bright red flames in the city. Drawing / Harumi Watanabe Night, August 6, 1945 Approx. 3,500m from the hypocenter Near Mitaki-machi |
| Transporting the Injured The first to begin relief activities were the soldiers of the Army Marine Headquarters (known as the Akatsuki Corps) stationed in Ujina. They carried the injured to relief stations and outlying towns in trucks, trains, and ships. Those who took the victims in were horrified by their gruesome appearance, the terrible burns covering their bodies, but they cared for them in every way they could. 51 Rescuers lifted the injured onto trucks and carried them to safety in the suburbs. Photo / Mitsuo Matsushige August 6, 1945 Approx. 8km from the hypocenter Yasufuruichi-cho, Asa-gun (now, Furuichi, Asaminami-ku) |
52 Many injured victims were carried in hospital by trucks. Drawing / Hatsue Miyoshi Around 11:50 a.m., August 6, 1945 Approx. 26km from the hypocenter Saijo-cho, Kamo-gun (now, Higashi Hiroshima City) |
| Begging for Water The powerful heat rays from the atomic bomb caused severe burns. Barely covered by tattered clothing, the victims held their peeling arms forward as they wandered in blind confusion. Their burns, the fire, and the mid-August heat made the victims terribly thirsty. Many died without receiving even a final drink. 54 Injured victims gathered seeking water and stared resentfully at the dry water pipe. Drawing / Shinakichi Suekuni |
53 People burned begged continually for water. Drawing / Yoshihisa Harada Around 4:00 p.m., August 6, 1945 Approx. 1,750m from the hypocenter Minami-ohashi Bridge |
| Corpses in Cisterns Fire cisterns were placed throughout the city to provide water for fighting fires in the event of an air raid. The fire ignited by the A-bomb, however, vastly exceeded Hiroshima's fire-fighting capacity. The population was helpless in the face of the ferocious conflagration. Surrounded by fire, many sought safety in the fire cisterns, where they died. 56 Dead with heads thrust into a fire cistern Drawing / Takami Aoki |
55 People seeking water piled up on each other in the fire cistern. Drawing / Yozo Tanaka Around 1:00 p.m., August 7, 1945 Approx. 1,000m from the hypocenter Teppo-cho |
| Corpses Floating in the River Hiroshima is built on the Otagawa River delta, and the seven rivers running through it were vital to its growth. They provided a convenient network for the transportation of cargo and served as children's playgrounds as well. After the bombing, burned victims went to the rivers for water. Some jumped in or swam across to escape the fire, but many died in the water, floating down with the current or hung up on the pilings. The Otagawa River was completely full of corpses. 57 Thousands of bloated corpses drift on the water surface. Drawing / Shunsaburo Tanabe August 7, 1945 Motoyasugawa River |
58 Its leg caught on a bridge beam, a completely naked corpse was being tossed by the waves. Drawing / Kiyomi Kono August 7, 1945 Approx. 2,250m from the hypocenter Miyuki Bridge |
| Corpses in the Ruins When everything combustible had burned, the fire died down. In the burned ruins lay the charred corpses of those who were trapped under buildings and burned alive. Countless people-adults, children, men and women-suffered this terrifying fate. 60 Human bones and pieces of metal Donation / Junichi Yoshizawa Approx. 200m from the hypocenter Nakajima-hon-machi (now, Nakajima-cho) |
59 The blackened corpses of a woman and the child at her feet appeared to have been trying to get off the streetcar. Drawing / Miyoshi Kokubo 61 The ruins were strewn with corpses, burned black and thoroughly bloated. Drawing / Michie Matsushima Around 10:00 a.m., August 7, 1945 Approx. 450m from the hypocenter Ko-machi (now, Naka-machi) |
| The Burned Plain Within two kilometers of the hypocenter, buildings burned to the ground, leaving nothing but scorched earth. With nothing standing but a few ferro-concrete buildings, the view from Hiroshima Station to Ninoshima Island in Hiroshima Bay was unobstructed. Survivors gathered unburned wood and scorched tin roofing to build shacks in the rubble. 62 Formerly crammed with houses, the neighborhood was reduced to a burned plain. Photo / Shigeo Hayashi Courtesy / Tsuneko Hayashi Approx. 80m from the hypocenter Saiku-machi (now, Ote-machi 1-chome) |
63 I rode my bicycle through the ruined city, my nostrils assaulted by peculiar smells. Drawing / Yoshio Kawata Around 9:00 a.m., August 7, 1945 Approx. 2,250m from the hypocenter Near Miyuki Bridge 64 We built a hut in the ruins for our family of four. Drawing / Sumie Sasaki Night, August 20, 1945 Approx. 1,700m from the hypocenter Nishi-kan-on-machi |
| Mobilized Students In 1945, schools at the junior high level and above had nearly abandoned schooling. Instead, students were mobilized to work in military factories or demolish buildings for fire lanes. Of the approximately 8,400 students mobilized, 6,300 were killed. The first- and second-year junior high students and girls who were out in the open demolishing buildings in the city center were hardest hit. 67 Lunch box Donation / Shigeru Watanabe Approx. 500m from the hypocenter Zaimoku-cho (now, Nakajima-cho) |
65 Mobilized students lying on each other on the riverbank passed away. Drawing / Misae Kinoshita Early morning, August 7, 1945 Honkawa River 66 Mothers moved among the wounded mobilized students who had been laid out. When one found her child, she would burst into tears and embrace her or him. Drawing / Anonymous August 7, 1945 Approx. 1,700m from the hypocenter Outside Yokogawa Station, Yokogawa-cho 3-chome |
| Bridges With everything destroyed by fire, bridges were precious landmarks for orientation. Many of the fleeing victims rested on or below bridges, often breathing their last there. Seven bridges collapsed or were burned due to the A-bomb, but another 20 were washed away in the typhoon and flooding that struck the city that September and October. These subsequent losses, too, were largely attributable to A-bomb damage. A cart driver and his horse died together on the approach to the bridge. Drawing / Masahiko Nakata Approx. 1,250m from the hypocenter Yokogawa-shin Bridge |
69 Dazed people crouched on the riverbank path at the foot of a bridge. Drawing / Shizuko Matsunaga Around 9:00 a.m., August 6, 1945 Approx. 1,750m from the hypocenter Near Minami-ohashi Bridge 70 Near the approach to the bridge lay girls whose clothes had totally burned off. Drawing / Kazuaki Kui Approx. 300m from the hypocenter Aioi Bridge |
| Mothers and Children
Most victims were ordinary citizens, and the corpses of women and children were found in the burned ruins. The sight of mothers who obviously died trying to protect their babies provoked great sorrow and rage against war. Utterly alone, a little girl watches over her dead mother. Drawing / Toshio Ushio Before noon, August 7, 1945 Approx. 2,100m from the hypocenter Eastern Drill Ground Onaga-machi |
72 A mother with child had collapsed and died but still looked alive. Drawing / Yuko Narahara August 9, 1945 |
| Relief Stations Relief stations were hastily established in still-standing schools throughout the city and in outlying communities. However, the enormous number of injured soon exhausted medical supplies. There was also a shortage of doctors and nurses, and the victims in relief stations continued to groan and cry in agony. 73 Injured persons were laid out on straw mats spread on classroom floors in the school. Photo / Army Marine Headquarters Courtesy / Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Casualty Council Approx. 3,100m from the hypocenter Oko Elementary School Asahi-machi 77 Medicines Donation / Anonymous |
74 The injured lined up at a relief station set up on the riverbed. Drawing /Shichi Tsukamoto Around 2:00 to 3:00 p.m., August 6,1945 75 A classroom at Elementary School. People with burned skin peeling, burned all over their bodies, chunks of flesh dangling, begging for water, trying to get help. Drawing / Takayoshi Yamaoka August 7, 1945 Approx. 8km from the hypocenter Kaitaichi-cho, Aki-gun (now, Kaita-cho, Aki-gun) 76 A woman fanning away the flies swarming over injured bodies swathed in bandages Drawing / Takeshi Watanabe Around August 8 to 10, 1945 Approx. 7km from the hypocenter Kaitaichi-cho, Aki-gun (now, Kaita-cho, Aki-gun) |
| Flies and Maggots Sanitation and hygiene deteriorated rapidly. Hiroshima was soon infested by flies. In the absence of medicine and bandages, flies swarmed open wounds, which were soon crawling with maggots. These emitted a terrible stench and added to the victims・torment. A man complained that his head was so itchy he couldn't sleep. When the swollen wound was opened with pincettes, dozens, hundreds of maggots dropped out. Drawing / Kyoko Masaki Around August 8, 1945 Approx. 30km from the hypocenter Otake-cho, Saeki-gun (now, Otake City) |
79 Injured people with faces so charred and peeling they were unrecognizable. Flies swarmed around them and bred maggots. They died begging for water. Drawing / Chieno Yamamoto Within two weeks of August 8, 1945 80 The maggots that bred in the burns on his back were picked off with chopsticks and put into an empty can. Drawing / Michiko Yamamura August 16, 1945 Approx. 23km from the hypocenter Suzuhari-mura, Asa-gun (now, Suzuhari, Asa-cho, Asakita-ku) |
| Gathering and Cremating Corpses The vast numbers of corpses filling the burned ruins and the rivers were gathered by military and civil defense teams. In the mid-August heat, corpses immediately began to decompose and smell, so they were cremated one after the next without even confirming their identities. All around the city, smoke rose from cremation fires day and night. |
81 Cremating on the riverbank bodies gathered in trucks Drawing / Shigeo Fujii August 17, 1945 Approx. 2,000m from the hypocenter Fukushima-cho 82 Countless blistered, gray, unrecognizable corpses Drawing / Anonymous 3:00 to 4:00 p.m., August 8, 1945 Approx. 250m from the hypocenter Moto-machi |
| Searching for Family People walked through the burned ruins to relief stations searching for family members who had left home that morning and failed to return. With transportation and communication paralyzed and the city in turmoil, this was no easy task. Eyes, noses and other features in burned, swollen faces were unrecognizable. Those searching had to listen for familiar voices and look carefully at victims' belongings. Many simply vanished without a trace. |
83 Among victims burned beyond recognition, I found my uncle calling for my aunt in a weak voice. He breathed his last four hours later. Drawing / Yukiko Migitani Approx. 1,700m from the hypocenter Yokogawa-cho 3-chome 84 Myself, six years old, searching for my missing mother. A corpse with its entire face burned copper and swollen, only the area around its eyes still white. Under the mid-summer sun, the stench was unbearable. Drawing / Katsuko Kuwamoto August 8, 1945 |
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The Deaths of Loved One 85 |
86 My younger sister waiting for our father to return. Every time she saw a man, she would follow him calling, "Daddy's home!" She waited for him day after day. Drawing / Hisako Aobara Approx. 4.4km from the hypocenter Gion-cho, Asa-gun (now, Gion, Asaminami-ku) |
| Acute Effects
Symptoms appearing within a short time of the bombing were called acute effects. The distinctive characteristic of the A-bomb was its massive emission of radiation. Radiation destroys cells, bone marrow and other blood-forming functions, causing serious damage to human bodies. Many survivors with no external injuries whatsoever suddenly lost their hair, vomited blood, became covered with purple spots and died. 87 People went completely bald, bled from their skin and gums, and later died. Drawing / Fumie Munakata |
88 Me holding my hair that had just fallen out. Beginning about September, I developed a fever and lost my hair, even my eyebrows. I was as bald as a monk. Drawing / Midori Harada September 1945 |
| Recovery
Even under the hellish conditions after the bombing, the people had to find a way to live. They built shacks in the burned ruins, reopened schools, and taught their children in open air classrooms. And new life was born. 89 Survivors worked together to gather materials and build shacks Courtesy / Mainichi Shimbun September 12, 1945 Approx. 1,250m from the hypocenter Shimo-yanagi-cho (now, Kanayama-cho) 92 Flag with ﾒReconstructionﾓ written in charcoal ink Donation / Taiji Obara |
90 School reopens at Koi Elementary School. However, the crematory site in the playground was still piled with cremated human ash and bone. Drawing / Takashi Nagara September 18, 1945 Approx. 2,900m from the hypocenter Koi-machi 91 With people dying one after the next and my mother herself hovering on the brink of death, she miraculously survived and gave birth. Drawing / Shoji Yamaguchi Approx. 70km from the hypocenter Yamanouchi-nishi-son, Hiba-gun (now, Shobara City) |
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A-bomb Drawings
-A People's Record of Hiroshima A-bomb Drawing Campaign Hiroshima A-bomb Survivors Vanished Scenes of Hiroshima A People's Record of Hiroshima Individuals and Group Contributors to This Exhibition Return to the Special Exhibit TOP |