The Last Tomato - Hiroshima Told in His Own Words (by Dango)

　
Mr. Shigenori Takemoto strongly thinks that "his atomic bomb experience in Hiroshima" must be handed down from generation to generation with his own words. He published the memoir on Aug 6 in 1997, and continues his lectures.

The subtitle of the memoir is--"that day" which must be handed down to Japanese mothers and Japanese children--.
I listend to his lecture and read his memoir and appreciated him very much.

I asked him to write them to "The Mellow Denshoukan". He was moved very much deeply to hear it. I got his permission and write this memoir in his substitution.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　Dango posts this in his substitution 　　　　

Prologue

8:15 a.m. 17 seconds on August 6, in 1945 --

By dropping of only one atomic bomb, the town of Hiroshima turned into ruins in an instant. At that time, I were in the thicket of the west side of the building of the Hiroshima city office which located 1km far from the center of the explosion. After the terrible light and noise, "flash and boom", the surroundings became dark as pitch in a moment.

Although many men have been writing or telling about Hiroshima until now, it is not known unexpectedly that the bottom of that "mushroom cloud" becomes so pitch-dark that the point where they are cannot be recognized.

I ran about trying to escape from the inside of the pitch-black darkness for many hours. On the way I saw numerous dead persons and seriously burnt people.

The groan under rubble was also heard. Also now, their voices sometimes revive in the inner part of my ear still now. There are many records on Hiroshima as are well known. However, it cannot be said that all were told in them.

I think that I have to talk further more. It is because I have thought that I have to tell my Hiroshima in my own "words", that is to say by my own "heart". This is a talk cencerning on my real experience on the August 6th.

(To be continued)

　
(1)

I was born on August 22, in 1931 in Kusatsu-cho in the west area of Hiroshima city (now Nishi-ku, Hiroshima). Though my birth town is really inside Hiroshima city now, it is at the west end of Hiroshima and its neighbor is a county area (Saeki-gun). Hiroshima merged surrounding towns and villages and becomes a large area now.

Kusatsu-cho is at the seashore of the Inland Sea (Seto-Naikai) and mountains of its back approach the shore. The San'yo Line of Japan Railway (JR) runs close to the shore.
We could see the mild Hiroshima bay just in front, and went out of our house and were able to go to the sea directly for swimming.

The sound of a steamship could be heard from early every morning.
From the second floor of my house, Miyajima (one of the three most famous views in Japan) could be seen in the distance on fine days.

There was a central fish market of Hiroshima since the ancient times, though Kusatsu-cho was a small town of agriculture and fishing.
Fishes caught in the Hiroshima bay or in the Iyo strait were transported to the central fish market.
Just the Hiroshima bay was a famous place also as a large culture farm of Hiroshima oysters.

Since the sea was shallow to a distance, a culture of laver was possible in winter. We were also able to catch littleneck clams and hard clams.
In those days there were about 130 boiled-fish-paste factories, including small or large ones.

There was only my house in the field.
We kept hens. We wrote the date on laid eggs, left them in chaff and were waiting for eggs to become chickens.
I was able to see the inside of an egg, when I held it up to the sun.
[Oh, blood has not been made yet. I wonder-- when it will become a baby --.]
It was one of my pleasure at that time.

Surroundings of our house were rice fields and farms. While I took a nap during the summer vacation, I could hear grasshoppers crying all over the place.
After I took a nap I used to go to dragonfly fishing or to play for catching frogs.

There were a lot of fun of nature in which rabbits, guinea pigs, dogs, and cats were all kept in our house.
There were also about 30 carrier pigeons. I was absorbed in them with my elder brother, just older, and were often scolded from our mother, saying, "Both you study!."
Our town was blessed with rich nature and was really a calm and peaceful town.

However, in 1931 when I was born, Manchurian Incident broke out in China.
The first Shanghai Incident occurred in the next year, and Manchukuo was founded. Thus the continental invasion of Japan started.
Sino-Japanese War started in the summer of the year 1937 when I entered the elementary school.

In that year my elder brother went to war to China, and was marching for the place called Changsha which was 600km or more deep from the coastline.
I remember I sent a letter and a comfort bag to him there.
The Pacific War started at last on December 8 in 1941 when I was a fourth grader of the elementary school.

I remember I heard the news bulletin on the Pearl Harbor attack in the classroom of the elementary school, and was excited very much though I was still a child.

And August 6, 1945 comes on.
When an atomic bomb was dropped in Hiroshima, I was a second grader of the Hiroshima Shudo middle school.

(To be continued)

　
(2) Hiroshima, an important military city since Meiji Era.

On August 6, in the Hiroshima district it was very fine and a truly blue sky was seen from the morning. Our class was due to be mobilized and to act as workers of collapsed houses on that day. In order to gather in the Hiroshima city office at 7:50 a.m., I had lunch and came out of my house. I wore a white short-sleeve undershirt , khaki-color trousers, a coat, and gaiters (they were wound around my legs). I could not get shoes, so my footwear were straw slippers.

My left leg was bandaged since I stepped on the nail accidentally and my leg was injured last evening, I went out in order to collect scrap woods of a collapsed house for heating our bath, with pulling Daihachi-Kuruma (the large two-wheeled hand-drawn cart) together with my elder sister and I carelessly trampled the nail.

Although it was not a great injury, I was afraid that a bacillus might came into my leg, and I bandaged in front of my house when I went out. My middle school was of the old system and then of a five-year system.

Although under the school rule I was permitted to go to school by taking train from the station near my house to the station called Koi, we walked from the Koi station to our school for 45 minutes of one-way in a group, together with from first to fifth graders.

During the war, we walked for training our body. On that day, one class of five classes of our grade had a plan to dig holes in the mountain and another class had a plan to study at school. The rest three class, total 150 pupils, were mobilized to work as collapse workers.

A collapse work means the evacuation of houses. The house evacuation was to destroy houses with width of 80m in a fixed zone of a town, to carry out woods, and to make a vacant lot. If there are many houses when we receive the attack by a firebomb, we have danger that fire may spread one after another. We made a firebreak, a vacant lot where nothing to burn exists, and then even if any fire broke out, we had no fear of spreading of it. In this way, some fire prevention divisions were made in the east, west, north and south areas of the town.

It was not only we that were mobilized. The pupils of other middle schools or a girls' high school, the elderly men, the mothers whose children were in their belly, grandmothers, etc., that is to say, all the people that could not perform heavy works but could do light ones were mobilized to work.

Some person came here in one hour or more of trip from a distant place, and the city was more crowded in people than usual. Besides, there were persons who came out in daily work as usual and persons who finished breakfast and were relaxing at home, etc. Therefore it is guessed that there would have been probably 270,000 to 280,000 persons in Hiroshima as of 8:15.

(To be continued)

　
(3)

From around spring, the number of airplanes which came flying over Hiroshima increased gradually. When the day broke, the radio said "Western army area headquarters announcement ...... Now, enemy aircraft carriers are present , on the ocean far from the Tosa bay."

If enemy planes approached over the Tosa bay as it is, they said, "enemy planes are now flying on the sky of the Tosa bay, to Shikoku now." and then an air defense alarm was announced.

Enemy planes came across Shikoku and were north to the Iyo-Nada in the In-Land sea between Ehime Prefecture, Hiroshima Prefecture, and Yamaguchi Prefecture. Then, an air-raid alarm came out to Hiroshima. The siren of all elementary schools in the city resounded to all over city.

Furthermore, when the radio announced "Eenemy planes invaded over the Hiroshima bay", we could see the formation of several tens of ship airplanes like deep-black cloud, which were coming to fly over the far distant islands.

Most formation consisted of from ten to twelve or thirteen ship planes. They came repeatedly, carried out nose diving toward Etajima and the Kure naval port on the other side of Ninoshima just visible in our view , dropped bombs and depth charges, and then returned back.

Since Hiroshima was a military city where western army area headquarters were placed during the war, it was also a fort base. In order to meet enemy planes, many anti-aircraft gun and machine gun were arranged at the islands inside the bay.
On the othe side, since Kure very close to Hiroshima was the greatest naval port in Japan, the main warships of the Japan navy had almost entered the port. If a formation came, an artillery shell would be showered all at once from warships and also from the ground.

Airplanes flying at high speed were not hit easily. However, some airplanes were occasionally hit and crashed. They could be seen dropping down with all the fire. Although it was usual that we had air raids almost every day, I felt why there was no large-scale air raid in Hiroshima, which some other cities suffered very much.

The air raids to the Japan mainland by the U.S. Forces started in 1944. In 1945, in March, there was the big air raid to Tokyo by the large formation of 334 planes of B29. And then all the big cities such as Nagoya and Osaka became exposed to air raids.

Near Hiroshima, Kure, Iwakuni and Tokuyama, etc had suffered air raids with large-scale. Hiroshima was a town which had the history. The Imperial Headquarters were placed not only during the Pacific War but also in the Meiji era when already Nissin and the Russo-Japanese War occurred. It was also a very important city for military use and had many military men.

The horse was also one of the important arms in those days. Hiroshima was also one of large military bases from which they carried out military men, horses, arms and foods. The harbor called Ujina is located in present Minami-ku. And in the evening every day, military ships went out emitting smoke from this harbor, cruising from Hiroshima to Yamaguchi, crossing the Bungo channel toward China and the south direction, and across the Kanmon strait,to the Korean Peninsula or old Manchuria. The military ships which were running in the Hiroshima bay could be seen also from my house.

Etajima with the old famous Naval Academy can be seen over the Hiroshima bay just opened in front, and on the opposite side is Kure, where the base of the Maritime Self Defense Force is located still now.

Since Hiroshima was such an important military city, I felt that it was a city exposed to bombing more easily than any other cities. I wondered that there was no large-scale air raid. The reason was clarified after the War.

In order to clarify the effect of an atomic bomb, the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States had forbidden bombing with iron bombs or firebombs to four cities, Hiroshima, Kyoto, Kokura and Niigata, which would be atomic bombing targets later.

I had another thing which I understood later. I had collected a leaflet for U.S. Armys propaganda before atomic bombing. When I went to sea near my house to get short-necked clams, then I got the leaflet which included a map of Japan having the mark of "?" around Hiroshima. I felt something strange and it has worried me ever since then. However, I have never imagined that "?" meant an atomic bomb.

(To be continued)

　
(4)　Flash! Boom!, Terrible light and noise

After roll call finished, we, all pupils of 150 became a four-row length party, and began to walk to the place of house evacuation. Since I was comparatively tall, I was walking along the second row from the top.

In 200m or 300m walking, Mr. Iwasaki, a teacher of charge, called me to stop. "Takemoto , you, return from here to the watch of lunch", he said. I thought, "The watch of lunch is not interesting. It is more interesting to work going together with everybody". However, since it was a command, I had to return.

Although everybody was walking to the working place, I returned back alone to the city office with my disappointment. I did not understand why my teacher said to me "return". He might have thought that he saw the bandage in my leg and my working would be impossible.

I regretted that I had rolled the bandage exaggeratedly, though it was not a great injury. There was another reason which was known for me later. Other classes left two pupils for watching their lunches, but our class left only one. The teacher was maybe noticed of it on the way to work.

When we gathered, the sun of summer was already scorching. Our lunches and coats which they took off were placed in the thicket of the west side of the building of the city office which was protected from the sunshine.

When I returned, Mr. Yoji Saito, one of my classmates was watching lunches there. "Oh, Takemoto. Did you come back?" "Oh Saito. I came back. Let's watch our lunched by us two." I sat down beside him. We had nothing special to do, as watch of lunch was only to keep looking at lunches.

We had too much time till our classmates would come back to eat lunches here. We had to find something to spend our time. We decided to compare each other for our memory of the textbook of military training in which the imperial message was written at first. The textbook of the drill had to be surely mastered during the first two years of the middle school.

At any rate, since we thought that we would become a military man in the future, therefore, we had many things to be kept in mind. When I said, "now let's begin", terrible light and noise came with flash and boom.

It was terrible light. And,
It was terrible noise.
Furthermore, it was terrible heat.

When we had a photograph taken in a photograph store in old days, magnesium was burnt instead of the stroboscope. Even if we recognized it would shine soon from the cameraman s signal, we were surprised at flashing.

However, the strong light of 1000 times, or 10,000 times, or 100 million times shined just in front of us. At the same time, we heard terrible noise. We were wrapped by terrible hot air as soon as we felt our body swung unsteadily.

We had enough training of how to do when we suffered an air raid. The training taught us that we should thrust thumbs of the hand into our ears so that the eardrums might not be damaged, and press our eyes by the rest fingers so that our balls of eyes might not come out, and then we should lie down.

We covered our ears and eyes instinctively and threw down our body on the shade of the thicket. Though we did not know yet whether the air raid was received at that time, our body reacted against a terrible light and terrible noise reflectively.

8:15:17 a.m. It was an occurrence of an instant.

(To be continued)

　
(5) Dark as pitch in an instant

I did not know how much time I spent. I fell down in the thicket without consciousness for a while. My surrounding was dark as pitch when I was noticed. I remember it was a deep-blue sky without any cloud till then. It became pitch-dark in an instant. I thought that I might see a dream at first. In darkness, I looked around my own body confusedly. The figure of Mr. Saito who must have been next to me was not in my sight. It seemed not to be a dream somehow. I came out of the thicket and jumped down on the ground.

I did not know what happened and what I should do. However, I began to walk forward the direction of the house evacuation to meet with my classmates in any way. Then I just found Mr. Saito, who was beside me a while ago, was coming in this direction. I went close to him and said, "Hey! Saito.", but I could not speak anything. My throat seemed to be stuck and the voice did not come out from me.
Mr. Saito did not notice me since it was dark as pitch. I saw him disappearing into the darkness without meeting each other.

I had no memory where and how I walked along. In a while, I returned back again in front of the door of the city office. The surrounding was still darkness. There was a large porch in front of the city office, and in front of the porch there was a street for the city street car. However, all the wires and telegraph poles of the street car felt down and blocked the road , and then I could not walk. Of course, the street cars had stopped. When I went to the porch of the door, I met many people running and coming out of the city office, raising screams, "Uhoh, Uhoh", which I could not recognize.

I looked around the surroundings. Many people were coming and gathering to the city office from all the directions. I also heard voices, "Damaged Ah and damaged Ah". At that time, for the first time I understood I was damaged by the air raid. However, the siren of the air-raid alarm, which should resound far and wide to the whole city if it was normal, did not sound only on this day. It was natural that I did not know the reason why, since we were suddenly bombed.

Two young women came to me, shook my shoulder and asked, "Are we injured?" I saw that fragments of glass were pierced everywhere of them and their blood was flowing down through their faces and bodies in drops. However, since it was dark, red blood did not look red. "You are seriously injured" I answered. They disappeared into the crowded, saying, "We are already hopeless."

As for not only two women but also all the people that were in the surroundings, the fragments of glass were stuck in all over their bodies. There was a grandmother accompanied by her small child. She grasped her child's hand firmly and began to pray "namu-amida-butsu, namu-amida-butsu" soon.
I united my hands involuntarily, praying, " God help me. God help me." Neighboring darkness did not still clear up. I felt fear suddenly. I thought, "It is bad for me to stay here, so I have to escape somehow."

(To be continued)

　
(6) There were those who were still alive under rubble.

I began to walk toward the northeast along the street-car street in front of the city office. Going straightly on the way, there was the west parade ground of the Hiroshima part II party. It was around the present Hiroshima castle park and the present Hiroshima prefecture office.

I thought that I would not be burnt to death even if I were surrounded by fire, since the parade ground was a large open field. Another reason why I went to that direction was that there was a Hiroshima branch of the Bank of Japan where Reiko of my elder sister worked.

My elder sister must have been in the bank at that time. I thought she had surely tried to escape in pitch-darkness. I discovered my elder sister and thought that we would escape together. However, a pitch-dark trouble did not clear up.
Although I understood that I received bombing, it was not understood for me that the surroundings were in darkness continuously.

I walked and walked, but I was still in darknesst. In the darkness, when I looked around carefully, I could see the wires of the street car hung down over the stone pavement of the street car, and street cars were fallen sideways. The neighboring houses which I could see were all destroyed completely.

When I walked through two stations of the street car, I saw that fire went up suddenly in the direction. I gave up going to my elder sister's place and tried to escape to the direction of the city south. However, fire went up also in the direction, and people were coming to me, crawling. I thought that I would go back together with people coming.

However, I thought over that I would be burnt to death if I would not overcome that fire once. Then I retraced my steps and I improved my feeling and began to walk in the direction of fire.

I walked forward the direction of the fire which was coming, because I heard the talk on how to escape fire from my friend who came to school from Kure. Kure was damaged in the air raid before two weeks when the atomic bomb was dropped in Hiroshima.

My friend was a navy lieutenant general's son and heard the way of the air raid of the U.S. Forces from his father. He talked to me in detail about it. According to it, first, B29 dropped the firebombs circularly to surround the circumference of a town. They surrounded the circumference by fires so that people inside the city could not escape outside. Then the town was burnt in all the directions shortly -- it came out and carried out.

Therefore, if I stayed in the central part of the town as I was, I would be burnt to death. I thought, at any my risk, that I should pass once through the fire which enclosed the surroundings, and I had to escape in any how. I tried to progress but I could not find the way out.

All the buildings were collapsed and hided all the roads. I went up unavoidably on the crushed roofs toward the southern direction from the street-car street. I stepped on the tiles, making tiles sound, and I heard voices from the bottom of the tiles, " help me --. help me --".

There were those who were still alive under rubble. They became an underlay of the crushed houses and could not escape. However, I could do nothing.

I experienced "back hair having been pulled"(feel it very hard to leave there) of the proverb. Also now, their cries at that time remain in the inner part of my ear clearly. At that moment, I felt my powerlessness and I considered that I wanted to get off to a safe place. I was going to south contrary to the direction aimed at first unawares. I thought and think that it was impossible that only one pupil of the middle school had removed rubble. Furthermore, I would be soon burnt to death, if I remained there.

I was asking to myself many and many times, However, However You.
I escaped, at every time saying, "It was unavoidable." and shaking off the thought.

However, Could I not really help them at that time? Even now, such thought does not go out of my head.

(To be continued)

　
(7) The pillar of strangely huge clouds

I did not remember progress of time and progress of the way. It seemed that it did not clear since it was dark, but I came to the place where we were before, the place where everybody in class went out to make the firebreak for structure. When I wondered what happened on everybody, suddenly two middle school pupils came to cling to me and said, "-- please take us with you -- please take us and escape --". Both of them are naked with only belts at their waists left.

Their skin was burnt and festered, and drooped as dust cloth was hung down. Their feet were bare. I thought that I might see the ghost. I asked, "At what school are you studying?" They answered, "We are in a first grader of the Hiroshima San-yo middle school." So, they were pupils of the younger classes than mine.

I thought that I would take them to a safe place. I said. "I understand. Lets escape together." We came out to the place of a large pond. Since we were going in the darkness, I worried missing our way. However, I believed that we were progressing south.

Soon, several tens of schoolgirls came from the direction toward which we wanted to walk. Although I thought that they wore monpe (women's work pants, gathered at the ankles), they were almost in stark-naked state like the middle school pupils. Their hairs were burnt and cut, and their skins were boiled and drooped.

Since they were escaping from the direction which I thought was safe, I asked them, "Why are you escaping in this direction?", They answered, "Fire began to burn in that direction".

For a moment I wavered in judgment of whether I should go back together with them. Since it was found that the fire was going up in all over the place, I had a doubt that this air raid might be different from that which was heard from my friend of Kure.

However, I decided that I would not be safe, if I did not overcome the fire and go out of the town. We parted from the schoolgirls and began to walk to the southern direction already aimed at.

The fire was approaching us gradually. It was terrible heat, the heat which could not be expressed as others except heat itself. Two middle school pupils who escaped together shouted, "hot, hot." Since two persons were burning themselves to the whole body, they met too much heat and began to cry, "Oh, I feel very painful". I regretted them as pitiful. However, if I would not pass through fire, I would die.

I exceeded the fire desperately, encouraging two pupils who did not want to enter the fire. The women came out of the fire, and they cringed to me.
Even if I tried to detach hers, they held my clothes firmly and did not release them. They said, "There is my child in the fire. Please! Help me! ". Hearing about the child, I sympathized them very much. However, although I sympathized very much, if we remained there, we would also die in the flames. We again had to shake off the mother's hand and had to escape. Even now, I remember the sad shout of the mother at that time.

It became soon somewhat bright and I could see our front view of 10m ahead. I looked around. The pillars and walls of houses all vanished like a Daruma omission game, and the roof covered over the rubble. Although I saw fires going up in many directions, any new fire was not seen around me. I thought we were saved in any case and I looked behind me. I could not find two pupils behind. I had parted from the middle school pupils unawares.

As a result, it was good luck that I escaped toward the fire. The schoolgirls who escaped toward the central part, I think, probably would die in the flames. When I progressed for a while, there was a hand pump which could pump up well water, on the left-hand side of the way.
The man of the middle age was sitting before the pump, and said, "Please kindly push the pump and draw water from well "

The man's head was divided to two parts. His body faced to the front, but one part of the divided head turned to me, standing on the side of him. He said, "I could not see any longer ". Much blood was flowing from the head. His body was full of blood. The blood flew into his eyes, and he could not see and walk. He wanted to wash his eyes and asked me to draw water. After I drew water to him I progressed aiming at south further.

I came out to the river soon. Although seven big rivers were flowing in Hiroshima, the river was Hijisan-gawa (kyoubashigawa).
Coming there, I looked back upon the way where I escaped.
I did not understand what time it was -- it was before noon in practice.
But, there was only brightness of the same grade as a twilight front.

I saw a grotesque scene such that many clouds were coming out here and there from the ground. There were a could of red color, a cloud of black color and also a cloud of purple color. I raised my eyes looking after the clouds. An extraordinarily giant pillar of cloud, climbing on the sky, was recognized. "I see. Since I was under that cloud, then I was in the darkness as pitch," I understood finally.

(To be continued)

　
(8) A fearful spectacle like hell, as far as one can see

When I was crossing a bridge over the Hijisan river and looking down the river, I saw naked people going down the bank and entering into the river rapidly. The river was full in people who were going to escape from heat. However, just as they touched water, they would die. They were still entering into water. It seemed to me that the river had inhaled men.

I escaped toward the south, bypassing the Hijisan park, a small mountain foot (The Atomic bomb research institute was built here after the war). All the people who I met on the way had pitiable figures. All the people were in stark nakedness or a state close to it. The women gathered the thing which has not been burnt, then hid the portion in front of her, and walked.

I met a mother holding her young child. When I came to the reverse side of Hijisan, I found a private house which had not suffered damage. " Grandmother, give me a cup of water", I asked the grandmother of the house and I got. I drank water and regained composure.

Then, I looked at my own body. My body was unhurt although I passed along the bottom of fire. My body did not have a burn, either. I did not realize that my feet became bare unawares. I did not step any nail on my feet, though I had escaped frantically.

It was supposed that I was fortunate, However, I was not yet safe. Although I passed through the bottom of fire, I had escaped in the direction opposite of my own house.

The siren of an air-raid alarm was continuing to sound. The enemy's ship airplanes flew and repeated machine-gun mopping-up. The ship airplanes had flown at a low altitude. The face of the pilot could be seen. The machine gun was shot from the ship airplanes, and I heard the sound of flying bullets such that a wind might be sliced through.

Every time I felt fearful, I ran for a while into the air-raid shelter. After I tool a rest for a while, then I progressed again. I could not go ahead so much though I would go back to my house as soon as possible. All the air-raid shelters were full in the men and the injured who could not do much movement.

There were almost fire in the town and at the places without fire all were pressed and fallen completely. I was looking at a fearful spectacle like hell all the time. I approached the familiar Miyuki bridge soon. The Shudo middle school was near the bridge.

The school was located in the place of about 2500m from the center of then explosion. I wanted to make sure of how the school was and then went to the school yard. But I could find nobody there. Although only one school building made of reinforced concrete remained, the school buildings made of wood were all crushed. There was no crying of cicadae which were usually crying noisily, but the school was quite quiet. I was able to hear no sound. It was uncanny silence.

It seemed to me that I experienced a momentary occurrence, but it was already 3:00 in the afternoon. Only the clock of the school building of the steel rod, though I thought it had stopped, minced the time calmly.

After for a long time darkness continued, it became bright at last. And the sunlight of midsummer was returning. The sand of the playground shone in strong sunlight and looked to me like the whiteness of dazzling. Although I used to see the schoolyard, I felt that I was standing on the completely different unknown place.

I went to the place around where my classroom was. The big beam fell down and I found a pupil was crushed between the desks. I was surprised and returned there. Though the pupil seemed to be already dead under the beam, I felt fear and I could not go close to him.

Later, it turned out that the dead pupil was called Mr. Hosokawa who came to school for study at that day. Only his class was open for study.
Other pupils entered under the desk at the moment of coming of the big noise of the A-bomb, then they were safe.

I crossed the bridge over the Motoyasu river. The next was the Ohta river ( called the Hon river). Since the bridge over the Ohta river was wooden, it had been burnt down. Then I tried to walk and cross the river. I found many people who could not move in the river.

(To be continued)

　
(9) Write a name on the naked body in India ink

When I went down to the bank of the river, somebody was calling as "Takemoto" and "Takemoto" in my neighborhood. I looked around, thinking who was calling me. There were many people in my surrounding and I could not find the man who called me. Finally I could find him but he was a man whom I did not know. I asked him , Who are you?, he answered, Me. Me. I am Kawabata. I was surprised. Mr. Kawabata was the best friend of the same class, who was together with me till this morning.

However, his face had changed much, so I could not recognize him even if I looked him in the face. "Takemoto! I'm Kawabata! I'm Kawabata! he still shouted. Though he sat just behind me in the classroom and we met together every day, I could not recognize him. His face became about two times large. I was not able to consider him as the same person. I looked at his shoes unintentionally and found the name "Kawabata" written on them. I recognized him at last.

We should be at the Enami town after we would cross the river. There was the house of our close friend Nobuyuki Masumoto. "I understand you are Kawabata. If we cross this river, there is a house of Masumoto. We will go there. Do your best to go there!" I encouraged him and carried Mr. Kawabata on my back, and began to cross the river.

We crossed the river and climbed on the bank of the opposite side. I asked the place and knew luckily his house was close to the river. His mother and elder sister were in his house. I asked them whether Masumoto was safe or not. They answered, "He returned home before noon but he had the whole body serious burnt, so we took him to the army hospital." I needed to take Kawabata to the hospital immediately. I borrowed the bicycle trailer from Masumotos house, got the help from Masumoto's elder sister, and took him to the army hospital.

The way in front of the hospital was blocked by the fallen people, a lot of people.
Some people who lied on straw mats or doors were lucky. Other people lied directly on the ground. Some were already dead with their bodies expanded to red. Some were still alive with their eyes open, though they could not speak already. Some were crying again and again "Give me water! Give me water!"

A name of Yamanaka or Ohmachi was written on a piece of tile or a piece of wood on the side where the person lied. It was the name of the person. The names of some persons were written on their naked bodies in India ink.

As persons in charge of relief were lacking, many persons could not get relief. So, at least, their names should be heard and be written on their bodies directly while they were able to speak their names. There were also many people who died with their names unknown. Those who had a white plaster or cooking oil applied were still fortunate. Most persons unluckily lied on all the ways in front of the hospital without any care. So, we were not able to arrive at the hospital.

We entered the courtyard of the hospital. We were not able to go on from there, I handed Kawabata to someone at the entrance of the hospital.
However, I did not remember the person whom I handed him. I have not remembered whether the person was a nurse or a military man. Only this portion is not in my memory clearly. Later I tried to trace back my memory desperately, but it can never be remembered. I am very sorry to Mr. Kawabata, but I parted from him there and after all it became the last time when I met Mr. Kawabata.

In the case of Mr. Saito with whom I watched lunches together, I thought that he would die. However, Mr. Saito appeared on the class reunion party held in Shinjuku in Tokyo about 40 years later after that time. He thought also that I would die, so our reunion is really a miraculous reunion.

(To be continued)