From: [email protected] (Gary S. Trujillo)
Newsgroups: alt.activism,soc.culture.japan
Subject: Hiroshima Survivors' Accounts (6 of 16) [was Re: Universal Peace Day]
Date: 4 Aug 90 21:01:13 GMT
Organization: gst's 3B1 - Somerville, Massachusetts

90/07/30 10:40:38 SYSOP    HIROSHIMA_WITNESS_No.2-2


    Ms.  Hiroko  Fukada  was  18 years old  when  the  bomb  was
dropped.  She was inside the Bureau of Post Communications,  then
it  located in Hakushima 1 km away from the center of  explosion.
She  lost  her  parents and one sister and never  since  the  war
ended.   She  has  been working taking care of  her  two  younger
brothers who survived.

MS.  FUKADA :  This is my first time to come back this place  you
know in 41 years since the A-bomb was dropped.  I don't know what
to  say  really.  The memory of that day seems  to  be  gradually
coming  back to be though.  At the moment when I sat down  at  my
desk  and took out my notebooks and pens, I suddenly saw  a  very
strong  flash  of  light.  Then it was  tremendous  impact.   The
atomic bomb is often described as Pika-don or spark and bang  and
that's a very good description, I think.

INTERVIEWER :  What was the color of the light?

ANSWER  :  I remember it was yellow.  I clearly remember  it  now
and  despite the shower of glass, fortunately I didn't  have  any
major injuries.  I thought it was hopeless because I thought  the
buildings directly head and I went out of the building because  I
thought  it  would  be dangerous to stay inside.   Soon  I  found
soldiers walking in this direction.  I was with my friends and we
thought  it  would be safe to go with soldiers, and  so  we  came
here.

INTERVIEWER :  What were the conditions outside the building?

ANSWER   :   Everybody  was  terribly  injured.   We  were   even
embarrassed  because  we were not injured.  I have  no  words  to
describe the scene.  A flood of people went down this cliff  just
like dominoes down.

INTERVIEWER :  So you were also pushed forward, weren't you?

ANSWER :  Yes, Yes.  I was almost crashed and it was very hard to
stay  on  this  side.   And the other  side  was  burning  and  a
tremendous heat attached us on this side, too.  And more and more
people  came  from behind me crashing us and  crashing  us.   And
since  it  was so hot, I dipped my face under the water  so  many
times.

INTERVIEWER :  So you jumped into the river right here?

ANSWER  :   Yeah.  I was pushed into the river  with  many  other
people.   And  since I thought it would be dangerous to  stay  on
this side, I swam over to the other side.  It was so frightening.

INTERVIEWER  :  What happened when you were swimming  across  the
river?

ANSWER  :  Well an awful thing happened when I reached the  other
side,  and  was  relieved.  I was suddenly  spun  around  by  the
current.  And then large pieces of hail begin to fall and my face
started  hurting.  So to avoid that I again plunged my face  into
the water time and time again.  And then I spun around again  and
again.  It just didn't stop.

INTERVIEWER :  What actually happened in the water?

ANSWER  :  The water was swirling around me and later  I  learned
that  was a tornado.  And my friends somehow managed  to  survive
it.

INTERVIEWER :  Did you think you were going to die?

ANSWER :  Yes.  The faces of my family came to my mind one  after
another.  And I really thought I was dying because I drank a  lot
of water, too.

INTERVIEWER  :  This is a picture which you drew  describing  the
moment, isn't it?  Would you explain this again?  Do you remember
this picture?  How many years ago did you last see this picture?

ANSWER  :   Well, I'm not really sure.  I really  thought  I  was
dying because I drank so much water, too.  I don't know how  many
minutes have passed but anyway I found something like a piece  of
wood  which is very soft and sticky and I touched it.   That  was
actually my friend's leg.  And she was alive and we were so  glad
to  see each other.  Then I began to wonder what my  family  were
doing.   Since we lived in Takaramachi, I thought that they  went
to Ujina rather than in this direction.  And I also thought  they
might  have already been killed by the bomb.  I just didn't  know
what was going on.

INTERVIEWER :  How your mother and brothers?

ANSWER  :   Well,  my  mother was at  the  first  aid  center  in
Ninoshima.  And she died on August 10.

INTERVIEWER :  How about your brothers?

ANSWER  :   Although the small one was together  with  my  mother
since  they  had been mobilized to do tear down  houses  to  make
streets wider for the military purposes.  He survived because  he
happened  to  be standing just by chance under the eaves  of  the
building  and the younger brother was at his  elementary  school.
He  was stuck under the collapsed school building but he  managed
to get out.  He escaped to Hijiyama Bridge and survived.

INTERVIEWER :  How was your younger sister?

ANSWER  :  She was in Zakoba-cho and she had also been  mobilized
to  pull  down houses.  We never found her.  At that time  I  was
only  18 years old and have lost my parents all of a  sudden.   I
didn't know what to do.  But I had two small brothers that I  had
to  take care of and support.  So I could not afford to  bend  my
self to grief.  I was very hard to raise my brothers and try  not
to depend on others.  I went frantically day after day.  Well, it
was so cruel.  It is hard to talk about it.  I can't.
--
Gary S. Trujillo                              [email protected]
Somerville, Massachusetts                     {wjh12,spdcc,ima,cdp}!gnosys!gst