Ishibumi (2015) - full transcript
Ishibumi is a film about the Hiroshima bombing. It's Hirokazu Koreeda's rework of a classic 1969 TV program produced by Hiroshima Television.
Ishibumi.
On August 6th 1945
the sun rose at 5:24 a.m
it was already a hot summer's day
the war was at its peak
and life was tough
with so little food to
eat or goods to buy
but Hiroshima was still a time-worn castle town
and the days passed quietly.
A 7th grader was running late for school
but he lingered instead of getting ready to leave
his worried mother finally got him out of the house
but he immediately turned back
savoring a drink of tap water he raced out again
that was the last time his mother saw him alive
many Hiroshima residents had previously
emigrated to Hawaii and the US mainland
and there were rumors that this was why
our city hadn't been firebombed
they also said this was why so many
students from the heavily firebomb.
Tokyo and Osaka were evacuated here
had been evacuated from Tokyo into the
Hiroshima middle school
this is the letter his father
wrote from Nagano after the war
we had been living in Tokyo after my
children lost their
mother at an early age I had lost my
older daughter to the firebombs in march
and as the air raids worsened not
wanting to lose my only son
we moved to Hiroshima
our hometown in June
on August 6th the day the atomic bomb was dropped
my son wanted to
stay home because he
had stepped on a nail
working his student labor shift and his
foot still hurt
but I scolded him and sent him out of
the house at 7:30.
To live with his uncle on the outskirts of Hiroshima
he wrote a letter to
his father in Osaka
soon after he transferred to his new school in Hiroshima
he sent it special
delivery on July 20th
not long before he died
I started my classes in Hiroshima middle school yesterday.
I already made friends and we like studying together
our teacher mr masuda is very kind
with the enemy planes attacking you I
doubt you can sleep well at night
I already ate peaches and tomatoes
and cucumbers and eggplants and beans and pumpkins.
I even ate potatoes from the nursery
they were delicious I don't have any textbooks
so today I copy Chinese characters in my notebook
I'm not the least bit lonely because I'm with my cousins
tsuyoshi and nobuko so there's no need to worry about me
because of the war there was a labor
shortage and ninth graders on up were sent to work
in the military
factories leaving only
7th and 8th graders
in school but even they had to grow
potatoes in the fields
so there were few days they actually studied
that year there was no summer vacation
that morning the 321 7th graders of
Hiroshima middle school
left their homes as early as 5:30 if
they lived far away and
7:30 if they lived nearby
at the same time the enola gay
an American b-29 bomber
carrying an atomic bomb was flying towards Hiroshima.
Who evacuated from Tokyo left his home
at 7:00. This is a passage
from his mother's letter
that day he said he wanted to stay home from school
although usually he always wanted to go to school
I told him you must
be strong you're a boy
while I washed the
dishes in the kitchen
but he had slipped out of the house.
I had told him he must take the day off
and go to the hospital for a thorough
physical examination
because he had been warned he needed one
but after I left for work
he told my wife I must
do my patriotic duty
and join the students
working to clear fire breaks
even if it's only to keep watch on their
lunch boxes I'll go to
the hospital on a day when
there's no work and headed out
meant preparing for firebombing by
dismantling buildings to
keep fires from spreading
the authorities mobilized citizens to
create open spaces
throughout the city to contain fires
and provide escape routes
the 321 7th graders
and their four teachers were told to
gather in the center of Hiroshima
on the hongkawa riverbank
the road in front of the international
conference center in the
peace memorial park today
they were told to meet at 8:10
to start work before it became too hot
students from the Hiroshima girls high
school the Hiroshima
municipal shipbuilding
technical high school
and local volunteers
had also been mobilized
and were gathered
near the 7th graders
everyone was called to assembly
from the 7th graders on up the
Hiroshima middle school students
lined up in twos in
order of ascending classes
on the eastern side of the shin ohashi
bridge renamed the west
peace bridge today
the assembled students faced east with
their backs to the hongkawa river
in a position directly facing the b-29s
approaching Hiroshima
the anola gay and its two
accompanying planes flew
over the northeastern mountains towards
their target
the motoyasu bridge in the city center
the assembled students had just finished
their roll calls
when they spied the
glitter of the b-29 wing tips
in the clear blue sky and began shouting
enemy plane, is coming
there're some students noticing the plane coming nearer..
Like Yamamoto and..
All turned around and
looked up at the sky
there had been no air
raid siren and with only
three bombers everyone assumed they were
the usual reconnaissance planes
they had no idea that a single bomb
capable of taking 200 thousand lives
had just been created
the students were all staring up at the planes
so some of them like morinaka takatoshi
clearly saw the atomic
bomb being dropped
right after the lead b-29 dropped a
black metallic drum
the other planes dropped three objects
tied to parachutes
the anola gay dropped the atomic bomb
three meters long with a diameter of 70 centimeters
at 17 seconds past 8:15
a.m the planes behind it
dropped wireless transceivers attached
to parachutes to
record the explosion
43 seconds later the atomic bomb
exploded 570 meters
above the atomic dome some
500 meters north east from the hongkawa
riverbank where the students were assembled.
Saw the force of the blast blow several
classmates into the
hongkawa river
kosen hiroyuki remembers
being surrounded by white
smoke after a sudden huge noise
and being buried with his classmates
under the wreckage of nearby buildings
and trees and bricks that flew at them
many students heard the teacher minomura
the river is your escape
route jump into the river
they leapt from the embankment three or
four meters high into
the hongkawa river
at full tide
right after the roll
call I heard someone call
retreat just when the bomb dropped
I barely heard a voice cry jump into the
river and I jumped into
the hongkawa river
as soon as the bomb
exploded I saw people
burned black
later told his mother
in that instant I glanced behind me
and saw a brick wall collapse and many
friends who couldn't escape
disappeared in the cloud of dust
okada akihisa recalls
I was buried in dirt up to my hips
but I came to and dug the burning sand
and crawled out the
heat of the atomic bomb
even burned sand
as soon as the bomb blasts
students began screaming mommy
daddy help me at the top of their lungs
among them sakurabi ichiro
calmed his classmates saying don't shout
it will tire you out
when his area caught fire
he jumped into the river
there is no way to know exactly how many
of the 321 7th grade
students survived the blast
but looking at the letters from their
surviving families
it is estimated that one-third of the
children died instantly.
The fires that raged
after the bomb blast
drove the students into the river
the 2000 school girls and volunteers jammed
the covered alley of the riverboat docks
by the shin ohashi bridge
the river was the only means of escape
the stone stairways leading down to the
river were overwhelmed
with severely burned people
and some like masaki
tadashi perished on the steps
at 8:20 a.m the tide
turned on the hongkawa river
and the current began to flow swiftly
some children were dragged
downstream by the flow
in the river severely
burned children clung
to planks and tree chunks and the piers
of the shin ohashi bridge
diving underwater to dodge the flames
billowing from the riverbanks
none of them knew the entire city
had been instantly destroyed
so they kept hoping help would arrive
a large group of us survived by clinging
to a tree that came down the river
every time flames leapt at us from the
shore we dove underwater
we thought we were
finished and sang
the national anthem
recalls those who couldn't swim
said I'm going on ahead
shouted bonsai and were swept away
they all screamed mommy
remembers we all help hands in the river
and saying if I die at sea together
was swept downstream and when his
strength failed him
he sank his body was found one kilometer
downstream by the
sumiyoshi bridge
this is how his mother imagines he died
after she found his body five days later
on August 11th and asked
his friends about him.
He was badly burned in bobbing up and
down in the river
to escape the flames
that blew from the shores
a teacher told them you are all doing
the work of soldiers
let's sing if I die at sea
the teacher and the
students all sang together
as he bobbed up and down in the river
kenji lost his sight and the tree he was
holding onto caught
fire he gave up
and sank I heard that after they sang
if I die at sea they
cheered for the emperor
on August 6th low tide on the river was
at 2:45 pm.
The children struggled up the riverbed
created by the ebbingtide
and crawled over their
dead friends bodies
to reach higher ground.
As the children reached higher ground a
teacher told them
if you can see you can go home but the
city center is burning
so you can go south towards ujina or
cross the shin ohashi bridge
and head west to escape
described what happened when he reached
higher ground.
I floated in the river
clinging to a piece of wood
when I crawled up the riverbed the city
was destroyed
and I almost gave up but I persevered
desperate to see my
mother and father again
when I crawled up to the riverbank my
teacher pulled me up
and told me your burns
aren't so serious so hang in there
and gave me strength
my teacher and I made it
up the riverbank together
and as we searched for water to drink he
said I'm not going to
make it but you must
stay strong
and clasped my hand in farewell before I
lost sight of him
shimono yoshiki's mother told us the
teacher's name was Yamamoto
asahi toshiyaki was badly injured
but started walking and was reunited
with his father who was
searching for him four
kilometers away
I made my way past fallen utility Poles
and burning buildings
to the yokogawa railway station
I was desperate for a drink of water but
when I tried to drink from a pump
an old person warned me you'll die
quickly if you drink
the water so I didn't
two days after asahi
toshiyaki made it home
his conditioned worsened he screamed all
day get me a soldier's
sword Japan will win
I'm going to beat america because they
killed all my friends
he died at 9:45 a.m
on August 9th
and another boy
was a good swimmer
he jumped into the river and was swept
downstream one kilometer
he got up to the riverbank and walked
south but there was no bridge
so we got back into the river and swam a
hundred meters across the river to reach
our house in eba
he was desperate for a drink of water
his parents recall we
nursed him through the night
but he weakened the next morning and
became unconscious
by 10 am he passed away around noon
firmly clasping our hands
home in kami ten macho was only one
kilometer from the
epicenter of the blast
and had been burned to the ground
he stopped by the burned
house and after resting
in the air raid shelter in their yard
headed to a house
in yamatecho where he and his family had
decided they would
meet in an emergency
when he reached the bridge on the yamate
river he became exhausted
and could go no further
around five o'clock he called out to a
passing friend who carried
him on his back to the
meeting place
but his face was so
bloated with burns that his
friend could only recognize
him from his name tag
after that he could barely speak
and passed away at six o'clock on the
morning of August.
I crossed three railroad Bridges and I
was so scared he remembers
in koi someone was shouting
anyone heading home to
otake from here he gave
me a ride on his truck
and I made it home in the early evening
his mother tried to cut off his white
short sleeve shirt to remove it
but he said don't waste the shirt
as the children made
their way out of the city
many children's parents came into the
burning city looking for them
it was about this time when people began
realizing that a single
bomb had demolished
the entire city.
Who had seen the atomic bomb drop
crawled up from the river
in the early afternoon and collapsed on
the riverbank his father
made his way through the
roaring flames and found
him there at 1:30.
His father recalls one of the students
who are all burned black was calling out
for his father
I was only able to recognize my own son
when I saw his laced boots crying with
happiness I carried
my son on my back
we walked two and a
half kilometers south
along the railroad tracks
for an hour and a half
in the awful heat and made it home
as the eastern sky began to lighten at
five o'clock
the next morning he took his last breath
that night between enemy plane attacks
we cremated him outdoors
Yamada tatsuji collapsed
on the riverbank
and called out to people headed west to
tell his family who lived in
furuta machi takasu when
no one came to his rescue
he could wait no longer
and started walking
but after 500 meters he collapsed
by the train station
about that time his mother a teacher
at the funairi national school who had
injured her leg in the atomic blast
had made it home during the war
elementary schools were
called national schools
she recalls around one o'clock I heard
from his classmate's father
that he was in a burned
rail car in dobashi
the city was still on
fire and it was dangerous
but there was no one to help me so I
dragged my aching leg
and reached dobashi around three o'clock
the three-wheeled cart I'd asked to
follow me never arrived
so I cradled my son
in the burned rail car all night I went
home the next morning
to get the cart and was finally able to
bring him home
he was desperate for a drink of water
and said he would eat the food I had
brought for him at home
after that he became
delirious and kept muttering
pull this push that as
though he was still working
and took his last breath
at 2:30 on August 9th.
Who later heard what happened to him
inside the truck wrote
down what she heard
my son had no idea what
had happened to the city
and in the truck he was
so thirsty he said
please buy me an ice candy
I have five cents I have 10 cents
when he reached the school he said I
only have 70 or 80
cents of my allowance
but when my mother comes
she will give me more.
Was blinded but he somehow felt his way
two kilometers to the west reaching koi
though he couldn't see when he felt
someone passing him
he shouted my home is in kusatsu
please someone take me home
later that afternoon a
teacher mr minomura
dismissed the students around him and
set off for the middle school
1.5 kilometers away with the students
who could walk
some 20 students took
off with their teacher
the soaring poplar trees in the
schoolyard had survived
but the schoolhouse had
burned down
no one knows how many reached the school
how many collapsed along the way
around 7:30 pm after reaching
a colleague's home near the school the
teacher passed away utterly.
Nightfall on August 6th by 8:30
kodama yasunori's father made his way to
the western riverbank
from his evacuation
site in hatskai chichou
I was calling out my son's name near the
shin ohashi bridge
when he raised his hand I left the other
thirsty students in the care of the
soldiers and carried
him on my back to the
Hiroshima red cross hospital
we were told they could transport him to
the first aid station
on ninoshima island if
we waited two hours
but the doctor said
it's only a matter of time
stay by his side I carried him back to
ujina on my back
around nine o'clock
that night tashima noriaki
guided by strangers made his way back
to his home in the eastern suburbs
I don't know how I made my way
but I got past the fires raging in the
center of the city
and collapsed by the tsurumibashi bridge
at the foot of mount hiji
people from kaitaichi rescued him
and drove him home on a truck but he
passed away the next day at noon
as he lay dying he
called his friends names
murmuring follow me and I'll help you
follow me
made it back to his home which was 24
kilometers away
his parents recall he was soaking wet
from the river and the rain
and burned so badly we couldn't take off
his clothes we cut them
away with scissors
as soon as he got home he said I lost my
commuter train pass
and then I think our
teacher was crushed to death
shimono lay on the riverbank
hanging on to life desperate to see his
father and mother at 9:40
that night he heard
his father's voice
I was screaming my son's name when he
raised his hand calling
daddy joyously
after I walked him home two kilometers
to minami kannan he.
He also said I'm just
one of the soldiers
and begged us to sing his favorite song
that night someone brought home gendo
yoshiaki who also lived
in minami kannon
the soldiers who found him offered
repeatedly to take him to the rescue
station on ninoshima island
but he refused saying I have to get home
to my mother
he cheerily told me that a kind woman
he didn't know had put ointment on the
burns on his
chest and back and fed
him canned oranges
he passed away on August 7th at 11 am
made it home badly burned and heard that
his younger brother
hadn't made it home yet
he rushed right back out again
his mother followed and they raced along
the train tracks to the
hongkawa riverbank
the middle school students
were laid out in a row
not moving we found him by screaming his name
and peering at their faces
his whole body was severely burned
your mother came for you, see?
Your brother came for you, too.
Let's go home now.
All he could do was murmuring,
he brother carried him on his back.
Maybe he dreamed he was still on the
student labor crew.
he murmured the next morning he barely hummed the
words to if I die at sea
as his 12 year old life came to an end
in all that chaos we cremated him in our
garden it was well past
midnight when wakisaka
kunio's father
made it to the eastern
end of shinohashi bridge
when I called out his
name he responded daddy
but his face was so disfigured by burns
I couldn't recognize him I always knew
you'd come for me daddy he said.
I loaded him onto my bicycle cart and
made our way home
16 kilometers through the dark night
he died at 2:30 the next afternoon
father heard that something terrible had
happened to Hiroshima
and left his house at noon after walking
10 kilometers he entered the city which
was still roaring with flames.
I found my son where he'd been working
his face was so swollen with burns that
I only recognized him
from the name tag on his chest
the skin on his arms and
legs was hanging off him
so I wrapped his gators behind his legs
and carried him on my back to the edge
of the city we got a ride
home on a passing truck
but he died at four in
the morning on August 7th
some students immobilized
by their wounds
or whose homes were located in still
burning flames huddled
on the riverbanks
many of them went missing as they
collapsed on their way home
military trucks carried others to first
aid stations around the city
one first aid station was set up in the
xinji temple the priest's
son was a 7th grader
so many of his fellow students made
their way to the temple
had his burns treated with a white
ointment and reached his nearby home
at six o'clock that evening
he said.
For he called out his
friends names saying
hold on and I want a
huge drink of water
to bear the pain he counted out numbers
and called out his friends names
and passed away at 7:30 that night
he never complained about his agony
the other seven students
who made it to the temple
were kept there after
receiving first aid
but none of them were reunited with
their parents before they passed away
their parents heard their
stories from the priest
and other caretakers when they finally
located their bodies
reached the temple first with three
other students who came
to tell the priest
that his son had collapsed along the way
died at 9:30 that night
but by the time his mother
finally found him on August 15th he had
been cremated.
I was told that the people at the temple
gave him water
that night lying with
his fellow students
he sang the national anthem saluted
bonsai to the emperor then.
I saw his name posted on the temple gate
and collected his remains
two hours later Japan
announced it had lost
and the war was over
nakagawa who had left his home
on the morning of August 6th after
enjoying a drink of water
straggled to the temple
with his classmate
his mother visited the
temple the next afternoon
but masashi had already
passed away that morning
they told me he kept
going to the temple well
to drink water but his hands were burned
so badly he couldn't
hold the bucket
someone from the temple gave him water
from a bottle and he passed away
reached the temple on the morning of
August 8th he had already died
his mother wrote we heard that among the
many students
crying out their parents names our son
said I'll see my father
and mother in my dreams
his father came home after hearing this
and spent the night
weeping for his beloved son
who had resigned himself to his fate
when we received his remains the school
book my son had carried in a satchel
wrapped around his waist
was still wet from being in the river
his father's hair fell out from the
radiation sickness and
he died on August 27th
there was a dormitory for students from
the suburbs near the
Hiroshima middle school house
where only the two poplar trees
had survived the bomb the
school house was damaged
but was spared the fires and a rescue
center was set up inside
on the evening of August 6th the
dormitory Dean found
three 7th graders collapsed
on the school grounds
one of them nakaishi yoshiharu
was barely breathing and passed away
after being given a drink of water
after his classmates were carried into
the dormitory he was
cremated in the shade of the
poplar tree he had played beside
his father who reached
the school on August 9th
from the island where they lived took
home his remains
after matsui noboru climbed out of the
river a passerby
informed the school
and an older student rode his bike to
bring him to the dormitory
after he came home that afternoon his
elementary school classmates came to his
bedside they talked
among themselves eating
oranges
when his friends left
around three o'clock
he called out.
He waved his arms calling out
advance advance attack
and then calling mother
and aunt with his last breath.
Was able to see his older brother a
student at a nearby school who came to
the dormitory to find him
before he was taken to hedda village
seeing his brother's grievous condition
his older brother walked 50 kilometers
through the night
to tell their mother learning of his condition
his mother and older sister walked back
to heda village
on the morning of August 9th but he had
died the previous morning.
I heard that he was in
agony for three days
shouting shoot down the
b-29s victory to Japan
and finally "mother"
before he passed away
the last time I saw my healthy son was
when he came home once
after moving into the dormitory.
I will always remember
him as he left home
looking gallant in his military issue
cap and gators
carrying a bottle of pickled plums to
take to the dormitory
smiling as he called out off I go
inside his children's
desk in the dormitory
I found an envelope he
had addressed to me
containing his report card.
Hiroshima burned
the father of kubota hideki the transfer
student from Tokyo
reached the shin ohashi bridge around
seven o'clock
that night he searched the area for his
only remaining child [music]
All of the students in the burned out
rubble were severely injured
when I asked one of them who was leaning
against a smoldering telephone pole
if he had seen my son
he told me I think I saw him at the back
when we were all lined up but I fell
during the air raid
so I don't know what happened after that.
I kept searching the city every day
but I never found him
later I came across a
work crew clearing the shin
ohashi bridge and found his bloodied
wrapping cloth
for his lunchbox I've always cherished
it to remember him by
I searched for my son in so many refugee
areas where I saw so
many helpless children
calling out their parents names and
crying out to the soldiers to help them
I have lived all these
years consoling myself
that I never found his remains because
he's still alive somewhere
that night around eight o'clock
taniguchi isao's father walked
in the pitch dark from koi to the shin
ohashi bridge screaming
his son's name,
isaw's older brother was with him too.
- You found your brother around here.
- Yes, just over there, I think.
- Let's walk on then.
- Please tell me what happened.
- You and your father searched far and wide.
- Yes, that's right.
The day after Hiroshima was destroyed
there were still many Hiroshima middle
school 7th graders on
the hongkawa riverbank
but very few of them were still alive
the records tell us that after the
morning of August 7th
only two students who
made it to the riverbank
saw their parents before they died
one of them
his father set off by
boat from his island home
on the morning of August
7th up the honkawa river.
I was able to find him
by the shin ohashi bridge
because I had always told him to wait
for me at school
or his work area in case he was injured
in an air raid
he was so horribly
burned that I could only
recognize him from his name tag.
It was so cold at night
I drink water from the river but this
salt water tastes much better
he died at one o'clock in the morning.
At the time his father
was an officer in the army
as chief of staff in the army marine
corps I worked without rest or sleep to
rescue others and despite
my concern for my
child my search for him
was delayed he had
been abandoned
for two days and nights when one of my
men finally found him
and brought him home
he died at noon on August 10th
seeing his things would have tormented me so much.
Who walked the 26 kilometers from
neighboring kude city through the night
found her son on the riverbank at 5 am
just after he had passed away
when I found him dead
my eldest son's face
was burned red and swollen his fingers
hideously burned he
must have passed away
just before I arrived
the tears on his cheeks were still wet
and glinting in the morning sun
when I reached the riverbank five
students were still alive
but four students died before my eyes
a soldier loaded one other student onto
a stretcher and took him away
the riverbank was filled
with the ceaseless
sobbing of parents searching for their
children's remains.
Father arrived around
8 o'clock that morning.
And I had reached the middle of the shin
ohashi bridge
when I looked back and
saw four or five mothers
huddled together talking I got worried
and turned back
the mothers were staring
at one student among
many badly burned students whose clothes
were charred and ripped to shreds
he was a 7th grader lying face down
dead in the shallows
his military cap and uniform intact
his face resting on a clog
his shoes looked just like my sons
and I made my way through the corpses
apologizing to each of them
when I lifted him up I saw the name tag
taita and realized it was my son
he probably intended
to jump into the river
right after the explosion but by then
there were so many
people on the riverbank
he must have laid down in the shallows
to wait for help.
Were found at ten o'clock that morning
they were cremated on the riverbank
that day the Hiroshima
air defense headquarters
had ordered the soldiers and volunteers
searching for people to rescue
to cremate all the bodies of the dead by August 9th
Many bodies were also gathered near the
shin ohashi bridge and
cremated together
the families of 13 students collected
their remains there
the remains of nakagawa masahiro
who had evacuated from
Kobe were also never found
his father was severely injured so only
his mother could search for him
although she cared for many students on
the Hong kawa riverbanks
she was never able to locate her own son
the parents of the 7th graders who
could not find their children
searched among the shoes and lunch boxes
and burned caps and clothes left behind
on the riverbank and took home their
children's belongings
although many of the students who died
were identified
approximately half of the 321 middle
school 7th graders
were never found
in other words they remained missing
although it was believed that none of
the 7th graders had survived
but later discovered that several did survived.
The students' fathers and mothers search
for them desperately
in first aid stations
and temporary morgues
all over the city and
atomic bomb had suspended life but the war continued
people said that white clothes warded
off the rays of the new bomb
so many people dressed in white
whenever an enemy plane presumably for
reconnaissance
flew overhead people
raced to bomb shelters
and hid behind anything they could find
meanwhile the students who had made it
home alive were gradually dying
died in his home in hatsukaichi
his mother by his side at 7:25
on the morning of August 7th
he was still conscious calling out to
his grandmother talking
to his uncle and aunt and
clasping his little sister's hand
everyone crowded around his bed.
I tried to calm him saying you can tell
us more tomorrow sleep
well tonight but he said
I slept plenty in the river this
afternoon so I'm fine
I was grateful that he didn't seem to be
in much pain
if we had known he would die so soon we
would have stayed up all night
listening to his story.
Had been taken to the
hot skyichi national school
his family found him on August 7th and
crossed Hiroshima bay by boat
to take him home in the aki district
we finally found a boat
and brought him on board
but he took his last breath around noon
just offshore from kudai city
he said when I get better I'll get my revenge
and passed away
who was distressed at
having lost his train pass
also passed away by his mother's side
in those days people believed it wasn't
good to let injured people drink
water but he was so badly wounded
that I knew he couldn't survive so I
gave him as much water as he wanted
he finally died on the
night of August 8th
while the eastern city of fukuyama was
being firebombed the
light was dim because of the
mandatory blackout
when he cried out
mother mother and took.
Who didn't want his mother to waste his
white shirt by cutting it off
died at dawn on August
9th cared for by his mother
as meiji lay dying he said his farewells
to his younger brother
and his younger sister when I asked him
what shall I tell your grandfather in kagoshima
he said to tell him I was brave
but he said to me no you should join me
later at the time I was
beside myself with
grief but thinking
back on what he said I
realize that what he
said was profound
father and mother brought him home from
the first aid station
he died at 8:10 on the morning of August 11th.
After living 13 years and 5 days
he asked his father to sing his favorite
military song and died
listening to the song
August 6th had been his birthday.
If you ever visit Hiroshima
please stop by the Hiroshima middle school memorial
on the hongkawa riverbank in the peace memorial park
the names of all the students from
Hiroshima middle school
are carved in stone on the memorial that gazes out
over the unchanging flow of the hangkawa river.
On August 6th 1945
the sun rose at 5:24 a.m
it was already a hot summer's day
the war was at its peak
and life was tough
with so little food to
eat or goods to buy
but Hiroshima was still a time-worn castle town
and the days passed quietly.
A 7th grader was running late for school
but he lingered instead of getting ready to leave
his worried mother finally got him out of the house
but he immediately turned back
savoring a drink of tap water he raced out again
that was the last time his mother saw him alive
many Hiroshima residents had previously
emigrated to Hawaii and the US mainland
and there were rumors that this was why
our city hadn't been firebombed
they also said this was why so many
students from the heavily firebomb.
Tokyo and Osaka were evacuated here
had been evacuated from Tokyo into the
Hiroshima middle school
this is the letter his father
wrote from Nagano after the war
we had been living in Tokyo after my
children lost their
mother at an early age I had lost my
older daughter to the firebombs in march
and as the air raids worsened not
wanting to lose my only son
we moved to Hiroshima
our hometown in June
on August 6th the day the atomic bomb was dropped
my son wanted to
stay home because he
had stepped on a nail
working his student labor shift and his
foot still hurt
but I scolded him and sent him out of
the house at 7:30.
To live with his uncle on the outskirts of Hiroshima
he wrote a letter to
his father in Osaka
soon after he transferred to his new school in Hiroshima
he sent it special
delivery on July 20th
not long before he died
I started my classes in Hiroshima middle school yesterday.
I already made friends and we like studying together
our teacher mr masuda is very kind
with the enemy planes attacking you I
doubt you can sleep well at night
I already ate peaches and tomatoes
and cucumbers and eggplants and beans and pumpkins.
I even ate potatoes from the nursery
they were delicious I don't have any textbooks
so today I copy Chinese characters in my notebook
I'm not the least bit lonely because I'm with my cousins
tsuyoshi and nobuko so there's no need to worry about me
because of the war there was a labor
shortage and ninth graders on up were sent to work
in the military
factories leaving only
7th and 8th graders
in school but even they had to grow
potatoes in the fields
so there were few days they actually studied
that year there was no summer vacation
that morning the 321 7th graders of
Hiroshima middle school
left their homes as early as 5:30 if
they lived far away and
7:30 if they lived nearby
at the same time the enola gay
an American b-29 bomber
carrying an atomic bomb was flying towards Hiroshima.
Who evacuated from Tokyo left his home
at 7:00. This is a passage
from his mother's letter
that day he said he wanted to stay home from school
although usually he always wanted to go to school
I told him you must
be strong you're a boy
while I washed the
dishes in the kitchen
but he had slipped out of the house.
I had told him he must take the day off
and go to the hospital for a thorough
physical examination
because he had been warned he needed one
but after I left for work
he told my wife I must
do my patriotic duty
and join the students
working to clear fire breaks
even if it's only to keep watch on their
lunch boxes I'll go to
the hospital on a day when
there's no work and headed out
meant preparing for firebombing by
dismantling buildings to
keep fires from spreading
the authorities mobilized citizens to
create open spaces
throughout the city to contain fires
and provide escape routes
the 321 7th graders
and their four teachers were told to
gather in the center of Hiroshima
on the hongkawa riverbank
the road in front of the international
conference center in the
peace memorial park today
they were told to meet at 8:10
to start work before it became too hot
students from the Hiroshima girls high
school the Hiroshima
municipal shipbuilding
technical high school
and local volunteers
had also been mobilized
and were gathered
near the 7th graders
everyone was called to assembly
from the 7th graders on up the
Hiroshima middle school students
lined up in twos in
order of ascending classes
on the eastern side of the shin ohashi
bridge renamed the west
peace bridge today
the assembled students faced east with
their backs to the hongkawa river
in a position directly facing the b-29s
approaching Hiroshima
the anola gay and its two
accompanying planes flew
over the northeastern mountains towards
their target
the motoyasu bridge in the city center
the assembled students had just finished
their roll calls
when they spied the
glitter of the b-29 wing tips
in the clear blue sky and began shouting
enemy plane, is coming
there're some students noticing the plane coming nearer..
Like Yamamoto and..
All turned around and
looked up at the sky
there had been no air
raid siren and with only
three bombers everyone assumed they were
the usual reconnaissance planes
they had no idea that a single bomb
capable of taking 200 thousand lives
had just been created
the students were all staring up at the planes
so some of them like morinaka takatoshi
clearly saw the atomic
bomb being dropped
right after the lead b-29 dropped a
black metallic drum
the other planes dropped three objects
tied to parachutes
the anola gay dropped the atomic bomb
three meters long with a diameter of 70 centimeters
at 17 seconds past 8:15
a.m the planes behind it
dropped wireless transceivers attached
to parachutes to
record the explosion
43 seconds later the atomic bomb
exploded 570 meters
above the atomic dome some
500 meters north east from the hongkawa
riverbank where the students were assembled.
Saw the force of the blast blow several
classmates into the
hongkawa river
kosen hiroyuki remembers
being surrounded by white
smoke after a sudden huge noise
and being buried with his classmates
under the wreckage of nearby buildings
and trees and bricks that flew at them
many students heard the teacher minomura
the river is your escape
route jump into the river
they leapt from the embankment three or
four meters high into
the hongkawa river
at full tide
right after the roll
call I heard someone call
retreat just when the bomb dropped
I barely heard a voice cry jump into the
river and I jumped into
the hongkawa river
as soon as the bomb
exploded I saw people
burned black
later told his mother
in that instant I glanced behind me
and saw a brick wall collapse and many
friends who couldn't escape
disappeared in the cloud of dust
okada akihisa recalls
I was buried in dirt up to my hips
but I came to and dug the burning sand
and crawled out the
heat of the atomic bomb
even burned sand
as soon as the bomb blasts
students began screaming mommy
daddy help me at the top of their lungs
among them sakurabi ichiro
calmed his classmates saying don't shout
it will tire you out
when his area caught fire
he jumped into the river
there is no way to know exactly how many
of the 321 7th grade
students survived the blast
but looking at the letters from their
surviving families
it is estimated that one-third of the
children died instantly.
The fires that raged
after the bomb blast
drove the students into the river
the 2000 school girls and volunteers jammed
the covered alley of the riverboat docks
by the shin ohashi bridge
the river was the only means of escape
the stone stairways leading down to the
river were overwhelmed
with severely burned people
and some like masaki
tadashi perished on the steps
at 8:20 a.m the tide
turned on the hongkawa river
and the current began to flow swiftly
some children were dragged
downstream by the flow
in the river severely
burned children clung
to planks and tree chunks and the piers
of the shin ohashi bridge
diving underwater to dodge the flames
billowing from the riverbanks
none of them knew the entire city
had been instantly destroyed
so they kept hoping help would arrive
a large group of us survived by clinging
to a tree that came down the river
every time flames leapt at us from the
shore we dove underwater
we thought we were
finished and sang
the national anthem
recalls those who couldn't swim
said I'm going on ahead
shouted bonsai and were swept away
they all screamed mommy
remembers we all help hands in the river
and saying if I die at sea together
was swept downstream and when his
strength failed him
he sank his body was found one kilometer
downstream by the
sumiyoshi bridge
this is how his mother imagines he died
after she found his body five days later
on August 11th and asked
his friends about him.
He was badly burned in bobbing up and
down in the river
to escape the flames
that blew from the shores
a teacher told them you are all doing
the work of soldiers
let's sing if I die at sea
the teacher and the
students all sang together
as he bobbed up and down in the river
kenji lost his sight and the tree he was
holding onto caught
fire he gave up
and sank I heard that after they sang
if I die at sea they
cheered for the emperor
on August 6th low tide on the river was
at 2:45 pm.
The children struggled up the riverbed
created by the ebbingtide
and crawled over their
dead friends bodies
to reach higher ground.
As the children reached higher ground a
teacher told them
if you can see you can go home but the
city center is burning
so you can go south towards ujina or
cross the shin ohashi bridge
and head west to escape
described what happened when he reached
higher ground.
I floated in the river
clinging to a piece of wood
when I crawled up the riverbed the city
was destroyed
and I almost gave up but I persevered
desperate to see my
mother and father again
when I crawled up to the riverbank my
teacher pulled me up
and told me your burns
aren't so serious so hang in there
and gave me strength
my teacher and I made it
up the riverbank together
and as we searched for water to drink he
said I'm not going to
make it but you must
stay strong
and clasped my hand in farewell before I
lost sight of him
shimono yoshiki's mother told us the
teacher's name was Yamamoto
asahi toshiyaki was badly injured
but started walking and was reunited
with his father who was
searching for him four
kilometers away
I made my way past fallen utility Poles
and burning buildings
to the yokogawa railway station
I was desperate for a drink of water but
when I tried to drink from a pump
an old person warned me you'll die
quickly if you drink
the water so I didn't
two days after asahi
toshiyaki made it home
his conditioned worsened he screamed all
day get me a soldier's
sword Japan will win
I'm going to beat america because they
killed all my friends
he died at 9:45 a.m
on August 9th
and another boy
was a good swimmer
he jumped into the river and was swept
downstream one kilometer
he got up to the riverbank and walked
south but there was no bridge
so we got back into the river and swam a
hundred meters across the river to reach
our house in eba
he was desperate for a drink of water
his parents recall we
nursed him through the night
but he weakened the next morning and
became unconscious
by 10 am he passed away around noon
firmly clasping our hands
home in kami ten macho was only one
kilometer from the
epicenter of the blast
and had been burned to the ground
he stopped by the burned
house and after resting
in the air raid shelter in their yard
headed to a house
in yamatecho where he and his family had
decided they would
meet in an emergency
when he reached the bridge on the yamate
river he became exhausted
and could go no further
around five o'clock he called out to a
passing friend who carried
him on his back to the
meeting place
but his face was so
bloated with burns that his
friend could only recognize
him from his name tag
after that he could barely speak
and passed away at six o'clock on the
morning of August.
I crossed three railroad Bridges and I
was so scared he remembers
in koi someone was shouting
anyone heading home to
otake from here he gave
me a ride on his truck
and I made it home in the early evening
his mother tried to cut off his white
short sleeve shirt to remove it
but he said don't waste the shirt
as the children made
their way out of the city
many children's parents came into the
burning city looking for them
it was about this time when people began
realizing that a single
bomb had demolished
the entire city.
Who had seen the atomic bomb drop
crawled up from the river
in the early afternoon and collapsed on
the riverbank his father
made his way through the
roaring flames and found
him there at 1:30.
His father recalls one of the students
who are all burned black was calling out
for his father
I was only able to recognize my own son
when I saw his laced boots crying with
happiness I carried
my son on my back
we walked two and a
half kilometers south
along the railroad tracks
for an hour and a half
in the awful heat and made it home
as the eastern sky began to lighten at
five o'clock
the next morning he took his last breath
that night between enemy plane attacks
we cremated him outdoors
Yamada tatsuji collapsed
on the riverbank
and called out to people headed west to
tell his family who lived in
furuta machi takasu when
no one came to his rescue
he could wait no longer
and started walking
but after 500 meters he collapsed
by the train station
about that time his mother a teacher
at the funairi national school who had
injured her leg in the atomic blast
had made it home during the war
elementary schools were
called national schools
she recalls around one o'clock I heard
from his classmate's father
that he was in a burned
rail car in dobashi
the city was still on
fire and it was dangerous
but there was no one to help me so I
dragged my aching leg
and reached dobashi around three o'clock
the three-wheeled cart I'd asked to
follow me never arrived
so I cradled my son
in the burned rail car all night I went
home the next morning
to get the cart and was finally able to
bring him home
he was desperate for a drink of water
and said he would eat the food I had
brought for him at home
after that he became
delirious and kept muttering
pull this push that as
though he was still working
and took his last breath
at 2:30 on August 9th.
Who later heard what happened to him
inside the truck wrote
down what she heard
my son had no idea what
had happened to the city
and in the truck he was
so thirsty he said
please buy me an ice candy
I have five cents I have 10 cents
when he reached the school he said I
only have 70 or 80
cents of my allowance
but when my mother comes
she will give me more.
Was blinded but he somehow felt his way
two kilometers to the west reaching koi
though he couldn't see when he felt
someone passing him
he shouted my home is in kusatsu
please someone take me home
later that afternoon a
teacher mr minomura
dismissed the students around him and
set off for the middle school
1.5 kilometers away with the students
who could walk
some 20 students took
off with their teacher
the soaring poplar trees in the
schoolyard had survived
but the schoolhouse had
burned down
no one knows how many reached the school
how many collapsed along the way
around 7:30 pm after reaching
a colleague's home near the school the
teacher passed away utterly.
Nightfall on August 6th by 8:30
kodama yasunori's father made his way to
the western riverbank
from his evacuation
site in hatskai chichou
I was calling out my son's name near the
shin ohashi bridge
when he raised his hand I left the other
thirsty students in the care of the
soldiers and carried
him on my back to the
Hiroshima red cross hospital
we were told they could transport him to
the first aid station
on ninoshima island if
we waited two hours
but the doctor said
it's only a matter of time
stay by his side I carried him back to
ujina on my back
around nine o'clock
that night tashima noriaki
guided by strangers made his way back
to his home in the eastern suburbs
I don't know how I made my way
but I got past the fires raging in the
center of the city
and collapsed by the tsurumibashi bridge
at the foot of mount hiji
people from kaitaichi rescued him
and drove him home on a truck but he
passed away the next day at noon
as he lay dying he
called his friends names
murmuring follow me and I'll help you
follow me
made it back to his home which was 24
kilometers away
his parents recall he was soaking wet
from the river and the rain
and burned so badly we couldn't take off
his clothes we cut them
away with scissors
as soon as he got home he said I lost my
commuter train pass
and then I think our
teacher was crushed to death
shimono lay on the riverbank
hanging on to life desperate to see his
father and mother at 9:40
that night he heard
his father's voice
I was screaming my son's name when he
raised his hand calling
daddy joyously
after I walked him home two kilometers
to minami kannan he.
He also said I'm just
one of the soldiers
and begged us to sing his favorite song
that night someone brought home gendo
yoshiaki who also lived
in minami kannon
the soldiers who found him offered
repeatedly to take him to the rescue
station on ninoshima island
but he refused saying I have to get home
to my mother
he cheerily told me that a kind woman
he didn't know had put ointment on the
burns on his
chest and back and fed
him canned oranges
he passed away on August 7th at 11 am
made it home badly burned and heard that
his younger brother
hadn't made it home yet
he rushed right back out again
his mother followed and they raced along
the train tracks to the
hongkawa riverbank
the middle school students
were laid out in a row
not moving we found him by screaming his name
and peering at their faces
his whole body was severely burned
your mother came for you, see?
Your brother came for you, too.
Let's go home now.
All he could do was murmuring,
he brother carried him on his back.
Maybe he dreamed he was still on the
student labor crew.
he murmured the next morning he barely hummed the
words to if I die at sea
as his 12 year old life came to an end
in all that chaos we cremated him in our
garden it was well past
midnight when wakisaka
kunio's father
made it to the eastern
end of shinohashi bridge
when I called out his
name he responded daddy
but his face was so disfigured by burns
I couldn't recognize him I always knew
you'd come for me daddy he said.
I loaded him onto my bicycle cart and
made our way home
16 kilometers through the dark night
he died at 2:30 the next afternoon
father heard that something terrible had
happened to Hiroshima
and left his house at noon after walking
10 kilometers he entered the city which
was still roaring with flames.
I found my son where he'd been working
his face was so swollen with burns that
I only recognized him
from the name tag on his chest
the skin on his arms and
legs was hanging off him
so I wrapped his gators behind his legs
and carried him on my back to the edge
of the city we got a ride
home on a passing truck
but he died at four in
the morning on August 7th
some students immobilized
by their wounds
or whose homes were located in still
burning flames huddled
on the riverbanks
many of them went missing as they
collapsed on their way home
military trucks carried others to first
aid stations around the city
one first aid station was set up in the
xinji temple the priest's
son was a 7th grader
so many of his fellow students made
their way to the temple
had his burns treated with a white
ointment and reached his nearby home
at six o'clock that evening
he said.
For he called out his
friends names saying
hold on and I want a
huge drink of water
to bear the pain he counted out numbers
and called out his friends names
and passed away at 7:30 that night
he never complained about his agony
the other seven students
who made it to the temple
were kept there after
receiving first aid
but none of them were reunited with
their parents before they passed away
their parents heard their
stories from the priest
and other caretakers when they finally
located their bodies
reached the temple first with three
other students who came
to tell the priest
that his son had collapsed along the way
died at 9:30 that night
but by the time his mother
finally found him on August 15th he had
been cremated.
I was told that the people at the temple
gave him water
that night lying with
his fellow students
he sang the national anthem saluted
bonsai to the emperor then.
I saw his name posted on the temple gate
and collected his remains
two hours later Japan
announced it had lost
and the war was over
nakagawa who had left his home
on the morning of August 6th after
enjoying a drink of water
straggled to the temple
with his classmate
his mother visited the
temple the next afternoon
but masashi had already
passed away that morning
they told me he kept
going to the temple well
to drink water but his hands were burned
so badly he couldn't
hold the bucket
someone from the temple gave him water
from a bottle and he passed away
reached the temple on the morning of
August 8th he had already died
his mother wrote we heard that among the
many students
crying out their parents names our son
said I'll see my father
and mother in my dreams
his father came home after hearing this
and spent the night
weeping for his beloved son
who had resigned himself to his fate
when we received his remains the school
book my son had carried in a satchel
wrapped around his waist
was still wet from being in the river
his father's hair fell out from the
radiation sickness and
he died on August 27th
there was a dormitory for students from
the suburbs near the
Hiroshima middle school house
where only the two poplar trees
had survived the bomb the
school house was damaged
but was spared the fires and a rescue
center was set up inside
on the evening of August 6th the
dormitory Dean found
three 7th graders collapsed
on the school grounds
one of them nakaishi yoshiharu
was barely breathing and passed away
after being given a drink of water
after his classmates were carried into
the dormitory he was
cremated in the shade of the
poplar tree he had played beside
his father who reached
the school on August 9th
from the island where they lived took
home his remains
after matsui noboru climbed out of the
river a passerby
informed the school
and an older student rode his bike to
bring him to the dormitory
after he came home that afternoon his
elementary school classmates came to his
bedside they talked
among themselves eating
oranges
when his friends left
around three o'clock
he called out.
He waved his arms calling out
advance advance attack
and then calling mother
and aunt with his last breath.
Was able to see his older brother a
student at a nearby school who came to
the dormitory to find him
before he was taken to hedda village
seeing his brother's grievous condition
his older brother walked 50 kilometers
through the night
to tell their mother learning of his condition
his mother and older sister walked back
to heda village
on the morning of August 9th but he had
died the previous morning.
I heard that he was in
agony for three days
shouting shoot down the
b-29s victory to Japan
and finally "mother"
before he passed away
the last time I saw my healthy son was
when he came home once
after moving into the dormitory.
I will always remember
him as he left home
looking gallant in his military issue
cap and gators
carrying a bottle of pickled plums to
take to the dormitory
smiling as he called out off I go
inside his children's
desk in the dormitory
I found an envelope he
had addressed to me
containing his report card.
Hiroshima burned
the father of kubota hideki the transfer
student from Tokyo
reached the shin ohashi bridge around
seven o'clock
that night he searched the area for his
only remaining child [music]
All of the students in the burned out
rubble were severely injured
when I asked one of them who was leaning
against a smoldering telephone pole
if he had seen my son
he told me I think I saw him at the back
when we were all lined up but I fell
during the air raid
so I don't know what happened after that.
I kept searching the city every day
but I never found him
later I came across a
work crew clearing the shin
ohashi bridge and found his bloodied
wrapping cloth
for his lunchbox I've always cherished
it to remember him by
I searched for my son in so many refugee
areas where I saw so
many helpless children
calling out their parents names and
crying out to the soldiers to help them
I have lived all these
years consoling myself
that I never found his remains because
he's still alive somewhere
that night around eight o'clock
taniguchi isao's father walked
in the pitch dark from koi to the shin
ohashi bridge screaming
his son's name,
isaw's older brother was with him too.
- You found your brother around here.
- Yes, just over there, I think.
- Let's walk on then.
- Please tell me what happened.
- You and your father searched far and wide.
- Yes, that's right.
The day after Hiroshima was destroyed
there were still many Hiroshima middle
school 7th graders on
the hongkawa riverbank
but very few of them were still alive
the records tell us that after the
morning of August 7th
only two students who
made it to the riverbank
saw their parents before they died
one of them
his father set off by
boat from his island home
on the morning of August
7th up the honkawa river.
I was able to find him
by the shin ohashi bridge
because I had always told him to wait
for me at school
or his work area in case he was injured
in an air raid
he was so horribly
burned that I could only
recognize him from his name tag.
It was so cold at night
I drink water from the river but this
salt water tastes much better
he died at one o'clock in the morning.
At the time his father
was an officer in the army
as chief of staff in the army marine
corps I worked without rest or sleep to
rescue others and despite
my concern for my
child my search for him
was delayed he had
been abandoned
for two days and nights when one of my
men finally found him
and brought him home
he died at noon on August 10th
seeing his things would have tormented me so much.
Who walked the 26 kilometers from
neighboring kude city through the night
found her son on the riverbank at 5 am
just after he had passed away
when I found him dead
my eldest son's face
was burned red and swollen his fingers
hideously burned he
must have passed away
just before I arrived
the tears on his cheeks were still wet
and glinting in the morning sun
when I reached the riverbank five
students were still alive
but four students died before my eyes
a soldier loaded one other student onto
a stretcher and took him away
the riverbank was filled
with the ceaseless
sobbing of parents searching for their
children's remains.
Father arrived around
8 o'clock that morning.
And I had reached the middle of the shin
ohashi bridge
when I looked back and
saw four or five mothers
huddled together talking I got worried
and turned back
the mothers were staring
at one student among
many badly burned students whose clothes
were charred and ripped to shreds
he was a 7th grader lying face down
dead in the shallows
his military cap and uniform intact
his face resting on a clog
his shoes looked just like my sons
and I made my way through the corpses
apologizing to each of them
when I lifted him up I saw the name tag
taita and realized it was my son
he probably intended
to jump into the river
right after the explosion but by then
there were so many
people on the riverbank
he must have laid down in the shallows
to wait for help.
Were found at ten o'clock that morning
they were cremated on the riverbank
that day the Hiroshima
air defense headquarters
had ordered the soldiers and volunteers
searching for people to rescue
to cremate all the bodies of the dead by August 9th
Many bodies were also gathered near the
shin ohashi bridge and
cremated together
the families of 13 students collected
their remains there
the remains of nakagawa masahiro
who had evacuated from
Kobe were also never found
his father was severely injured so only
his mother could search for him
although she cared for many students on
the Hong kawa riverbanks
she was never able to locate her own son
the parents of the 7th graders who
could not find their children
searched among the shoes and lunch boxes
and burned caps and clothes left behind
on the riverbank and took home their
children's belongings
although many of the students who died
were identified
approximately half of the 321 middle
school 7th graders
were never found
in other words they remained missing
although it was believed that none of
the 7th graders had survived
but later discovered that several did survived.
The students' fathers and mothers search
for them desperately
in first aid stations
and temporary morgues
all over the city and
atomic bomb had suspended life but the war continued
people said that white clothes warded
off the rays of the new bomb
so many people dressed in white
whenever an enemy plane presumably for
reconnaissance
flew overhead people
raced to bomb shelters
and hid behind anything they could find
meanwhile the students who had made it
home alive were gradually dying
died in his home in hatsukaichi
his mother by his side at 7:25
on the morning of August 7th
he was still conscious calling out to
his grandmother talking
to his uncle and aunt and
clasping his little sister's hand
everyone crowded around his bed.
I tried to calm him saying you can tell
us more tomorrow sleep
well tonight but he said
I slept plenty in the river this
afternoon so I'm fine
I was grateful that he didn't seem to be
in much pain
if we had known he would die so soon we
would have stayed up all night
listening to his story.
Had been taken to the
hot skyichi national school
his family found him on August 7th and
crossed Hiroshima bay by boat
to take him home in the aki district
we finally found a boat
and brought him on board
but he took his last breath around noon
just offshore from kudai city
he said when I get better I'll get my revenge
and passed away
who was distressed at
having lost his train pass
also passed away by his mother's side
in those days people believed it wasn't
good to let injured people drink
water but he was so badly wounded
that I knew he couldn't survive so I
gave him as much water as he wanted
he finally died on the
night of August 8th
while the eastern city of fukuyama was
being firebombed the
light was dim because of the
mandatory blackout
when he cried out
mother mother and took.
Who didn't want his mother to waste his
white shirt by cutting it off
died at dawn on August
9th cared for by his mother
as meiji lay dying he said his farewells
to his younger brother
and his younger sister when I asked him
what shall I tell your grandfather in kagoshima
he said to tell him I was brave
but he said to me no you should join me
later at the time I was
beside myself with
grief but thinking
back on what he said I
realize that what he
said was profound
father and mother brought him home from
the first aid station
he died at 8:10 on the morning of August 11th.
After living 13 years and 5 days
he asked his father to sing his favorite
military song and died
listening to the song
August 6th had been his birthday.
If you ever visit Hiroshima
please stop by the Hiroshima middle school memorial
on the hongkawa riverbank in the peace memorial park
the names of all the students from
Hiroshima middle school
are carved in stone on the memorial that gazes out
over the unchanging flow of the hangkawa river.