This is the exhibit I have been wanting to see. And so far, the experience at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum has been informative, insightful and heartbreaking.
While the stories of the survivors was heartbreaking, this part of the exhibit is not about the survivors but those who passed.
Before I go on, for those who can not look at images of the deceased, you will not want to proceed and you may want to close this page. But for those who are willing to learn the stories of those who passed, this is part 1 of the heartbreaking images.
Takagi Toshiko experienced the atomic bombing during her labor service. Her entire body was exposed to heat rays, her face was so charred that even her family could not easily identify her.
Her husband Takayuki ran around the city to obtain medicine and took care of her body in every possible way. However, Toshiko developed a high fever and burn wounds over her body. Her condition continued to deteriorate.
At 10:50 a.m., on August 10, after suffering a long and agonizing pain, she died leaving her husband and three children behind.
These work gloves and towel are the items Toshiko was using at the time of the bombing.
The following photo is of the Takagi family with Toshiko on the left and Takayuki on the right. Takayuki donated his wife’s towel and gloves to the museum.
The next story is regarding the Ishii Family. During this time I hesitated taking photos because I felt these were the deceased, I probably shouldn’t. But the museum wants the voices of the deceased heard and knowing that many people who know me or visit my blog will never be able to go to Hiroshima or the museum, this will be a way that I can share their voices to the world.
The family members of the Ishii are Itsu and Shigeru (mother and father), oldest brother Shigetoshi and Michiko.
When Ishii Shigeru and Shigetoshi were trapped under their collapsed home after the bombing, Shigetonish managed to escape but couldn’t pull his father out of the rubble. Shigetoshi discovered his mother Itsu with severe burns in a river while he was fleeing.
Soaked in black rain, he tried to swim across the river carrying his mother on his back but before reaching the opposite side, she died while on his back.
Michiko was exposed to the bombing while working as a mobilized student and suffered severe burns on her face and both arms. Shigetoshi and Michiko reunited at an evacuation site, but Shigetoshi didn’ tell her that their parents were dead, despite her asking “Where is mom and dad?”. Everyday, he went to the center telling her he would search for their parents but then he started developing diarrhea and hairloss.
On August 24th, he started to shake saying he felt cold and shortly after that, he said goodbye to Michiko and took his last breath.
Michiko donated her mother’s wristwatch to the museum.
The next family featured is the Nakamura Family, focusing on mother Kikue and Keiji who was 8-years-old at the time.
Kikue was a pharmacist and lived alone with her only son Keiji. She ran a pharmacy after the loss of her husband and as the war situation got worst, she decided to evacuate Keiji to their rural relatives home and promised that she would follow him soon after.
But she was not permitted to leave the city because of her job as a pharmacist. It is assumed she was killed by the atomic bombing at her work location, a clothing store where she happened to be working at the time which was 700 m away from the hypocenter. Her relatives searched for her throughout the city on August 7 and 8th but her body was never found.
The following weight set was discovered at the fire devastated site of her home.
The weights were donated by Omae Shigeki which was the weights that were used for work.
The next family story is the Miyamoto Family featuring Chiyoko, youngest son, Takaaki, father Senatro and Kazuko.
Kazuko wrote what she saw around her after the bombing. Bodies lying scattered all over the broad streetcar street. A baby’s body half burned and swollen. A horse staring off into space with its eyes popping out and a great number of people who would be walking along the street, were lying dead.
The following scissors were donated by Wakui Kazuko which was her mother’s favorite scissors. Miyamoto Chiyoko was exposed to the atomic bombing at home near the hypocenter. The fire instantly consumed the house and burned her to death. Her son Takaaki in his first year of junior high school was also exposed to the bombing while working as a mobilized student and died on the same day. Her husband Sentaro was exposed to the bombing at his building demolition site and suffered severe burns, but narrowly escaped death.
Her daughter Kazuko was exposed to the bombing inside her school and managed to crawl out from the collapsed building. On August 7, the following day, she reached her maternal parents home approximately 17km (10 miles) away from the school.
Kazuko walked without eating or drinking anything since 5:00 a.m. in hope that her parents, younger brother, uncle and aunt would be waiting for her.
What she found was her mother’s ashes and her body was completely skeletonized. Beside her was her pair of scissors which she may be using to sew at the moment of the bombing.
It was said that nothing would grow in the scorched earth for 75-years but that autumn, new buds sprouted and green came back to life in the charred ruins.
One of the effects from the bombing is many people lost their hair.
Many suffered from acute effects as their mucous membranes were damaged, and so diarrhea, bleeding from the gums and blood-forming functions were impacted.
The effects subsided by the end of December, many months after the bombing.
Due to the large number of deaths, many had to be cremated.
In tomorrow’s post, we will talk about Sasaki Sadako.
