From: gst@gnosys.svle.ma.us (Gary S. Trujillo)

From: [email protected] (Gary S. Trujillo)
Newsgroups: alt.activism,soc.culture.japan
Subject: Hiroshima Survivors' Accounts (8 of 16) [was Re: Universal Peace Day]
Date: 4 Aug 90 21:03:18 GMT
Organization: gst's 3B1 - Somerville, Massachusetts

90/07/30 11:15:57 SYSOP HIROSHIMA_WITNESS_No.3-1

HIROSHIMA WITNESS
Hibakusha Testimonies

The first atomic bomb actually used in war time was dropped on
Hiroshima on August 6th, 1945, killing 130,000 to 150,000 people
by the end of the year. Those who survived the bombing are
rapidly aging now after struggling for many years. The Hiroshima
Peace and Culture Foundation has decided to newly videotape the
testimony of 100 A-bomb victims to commemorate the International
Year of Peace 1986 to record the precious experiences of these
survivors to be handed down to future generations. This tape
includes portions of the testimonies of Ms. Kinue Tomoyasu, Mr.
Yoshitaka Kawamoto and Ms. Toshiko Saeki.

Ms. Kinue Tomoyasu was 44 years old at the time of the A-bomb
attack. She was at home, 5 kilometers from the hypocenter. She
then entered Hiroshima City to search for her daughter.
Previously her husband had died of illness and her only son was
sent to a battle field. She was living with her only daughter.
Ms. Tomoyasu was admitted to the Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Victims
Nursing Home thirteen years ago.
Tomoyasu: That morning I left home with my daughter. She was
working at the industrial Research Institute. Then an air-raid
warning was issued. I went back home, but my daughter insisted,
"I'm going to the office." even though the air-raid warning had
been issued. She reached the train station. The trains were
always late in the morning, but they were on time that day. She
took the train and when she got off at the station, she was hit
by the A-bomb. I went inside my home since the warning was still
on. I tucked myself in bed and waited for the warning to be
lifted.
After the warning was lifted, I got up and folded the bedding,
put it back into the closet, and opened the window. As I opened
the window, there came the flash. it was so bright, a ten or
hundred or thousand times brighter than a camera flash bulb. The
flash was piercing my eyes and my mind went blank. The glass
>from the windows was shattered all over the floor. I was lying
on the floor, too. When I came to, I was anxious to know what
happened to my daughter, Yatchan. I looked outside the window
and saw one of my neighbors. He was standing out there. I
called, "Mr. Okamoto, what was that flash?" He said, "That was a
killer beam." I became more anxious. I thought, "I must go, I
must go and find her." I swept up the pieces of glass, put my
shoes on, and took my air-raid hood with me. I made my way to a
train station near Hiroshima. I saw a young girl coming my way.
Her skin was dangling all ever and she was naked. She was
muttering, "Mother, water,mother,water." I took a look at her.
I thought she might be my daughter, but she wasn't. I didn't
give her any water. I am sorry that I didn't. Bat my mind was
full, worrying about my daughter. I ran all the way to Hiroshima
Station. Hiroshima Station was full of people. Some of them
were dead, and many of them were lying on the ground, calling for
their mothers and asking for water. I went to Tokiwa Bridge. I
had to cross the bridge to get to my daughter's office. But
there was a rope for tote across the bridge. And the people
there told me, "You can't go beyond here today." I protested,
"My daughter's office is over there. Please let me go through."
They told me, "No." Some men were daring to make the way
through, but I couldn't go beyond it. I thought she might be on a
way back home. I returned home, but my daughter was not back
yet.
Interviewer: Did you see the large cloud?
Tomoyasu: No, I didn't see the cloud.
Interviewer: You didn't see the mushroom cloud?
Tomoyasu: I didn't see the Mushroom cloud. I was trying to find
my daughter. They told me I couldn't go beyond the bridge. I
thought she might be back home, so I went back as far as Nikitsu
Shrine. Then, the black rain started falling from the sky. And
I wondered what it was. And it was what's called the black rain.
Interviewer: Can you tell us what was the black rain like?
Tomoyasu: It was like a heavy rain. And I had my air-raid hood
on, so I didn't get it on my head fortunately, but it fell on my
hands. And I ran and ran. I waited for her with the windows
open. I stayed awake all night waiting and waiting for her, but
she didn't come back. About six thirty on the morning of the
7th, Mr. Ishido, whose daughter was working at the same office
with my daughter, came around. He called out asking for the
Tomoyasu's house. I went outside calling to him, "It's here,
over here!" Mr.Ishido came up to me and said, "Quick! Get some
clothes and go for her. Your daughter is at the bank of the Ota
River." I said, "Thank you, thank you very much. Is she still
alive?" He said, "She is alive," and added, "I'll show you the
way." I took a yukata with me. My neighbors offered me a
stretcher. And I started running at full speed. People followed
me and said, "Slow down! Be careful not to hurt yourself!" But
still, I hurried as fast as I could. When I reached the Tokiwa
Bridge, there were soldiers lying on the ground. Around
Hiroshima Station, I saw more people lying dead, more on the
morning of the 7th than on the 6th. When I reached the river
bank, I couldn't tell who was who. I kept wondering where my
daughter was. But then, she cried for me, "Mother!" I recognized
her voice. I found her in a horrible condition. Her face
looked terrible. And she still appears in my dreams like that
sometimes. When I met her, she said, "There shouldn't be any
war." The first thing she said to me was "Mother, it took you so
long to get here." And then she said to me again, "There
shouldn't send for a doctor. I couldn't do anything for her. My
neighbors went back home. They had wounded family members as
well. I was all by myself, and I didn't know what to do. There
were maggots in her wounds and a sticky yellowish pus, a white
watery liquid coming out her wounds and a sticky yellowish
liquid. I didn't know what was going on.
Interviewer: So you tried to remove the maggots from your
daughter's body?
Tomoyasu: Yes. But her skin was just peeling right off. The
maggots were coming out all over. I couldn't wipe them off. I
thought it would be too painful. I picked off some maggots,
though. She asked me what I was doing and I told her, "Oh, it's
nothing." She nodded at my words. And nine hours later, she
died. Interviewer: You were holding her in your arms all that
time? Tomoyasu: Yes, on my lap. I had had bedding and folded on
the floor, but I held her in my arms. when I held her on my lap,
she said, "I don't want to die." I told her, "Hang on Hang
on." She said, "I won't die before my brother comes home." But
she was in pain and she kept crying, "Brother. Mother." On
August 15th, I held her funeral. And around early October, my
hair started to come out. I wondered what was happening to me,
but all my hair was disappearing. In November, I become bald.
Then, purple spots started to appear around my neck, my body and
my arms, and on the inner parts of my thighs, a lot of them, all
over, the purple spots all over my body. I had a high fever of
forty degrees. I was shivering and I couldn't consult the
doctor. I still had a fever when I was admitted here for a
while, but now I don't have a fever so often.

Interviewer : After your son returned home from the war, what did
he do?

Tomoyasu : He came back in February of 1946, and he took care of
me. When he heard how his sister died, he said he felt so sorry
for her. He told me he hated war. I understand. Many of his
friends had died in the war. He told me he felt sorry that he
survived. He was just filled with regret. My son got malaria
during the war, also. He suffered a lot. I don't know why, but
he became neurotic and killed himself, finally, by jumping in
front of a train in October. I was left alone. I had to go
through hardships, living alone. I have no family. I joined the
white chrysanthemum organization at Hiroshima University,
pledging to donate my body upon death for medical education and
research. My registration number is number 1200 I'm ready. I'm
ready now to be summoned by God at any moment. But God doesn't
allow me to come his side yet. If it were not for the war, my
two children would not have died. If it were not for the war, I
wouldn't have to stay at an institution like this. I suppose the
three of us would have been living together in happiness. Ah, it
is so hard on me. This has been testimony by Ms.Kinue Tomoyasu.
--
Gary S. Trujillo [email protected]
Somerville, Massachusetts {wjh12,spdcc,ima,cdp}!gnosys!gst