13. A Boy Who Received Radiation Burns On His Whole Body

This boy had thermal burns on more than one-third of his body, and his chest and the left side of his belly were seriously injured. He managed to leave the hospital after 3 years and 7 months. This person, who miraculously recovered, is now a father of two children, and recollects what happened then; "At that time I was riding a red bibycle on the streets of Sumiyoshi township (about 2 kilometers from the hypocenter). I was 16 years old, and it was my second year as a telegram messenger. The moment of face, I was blinded by the flash and thrown 3 meters away by the blast that came from my rear left, and my bicycle was twisted and bent. It was strange that I was not bleeding and did not feel any pain until I reached an underground shelter 300 meters away. The moment I reached the shelter, I felt severe pain in my back, which ran through my whole body. From then on, for three days and three nights, I kept on groaning in the shelter, and on the fourth day I was finally rescued and sent to a first-aid station."

"In the early stages, the only treatment I received for my burns was the application of a mixture of ash and oil as a substitute for medicine. I do not know how many times I yelled "kill me!" because of the severe pain and desperate feeling."

"Thereafter, as a result of the several operations I underwent, I escaped death and returned to work. Since I have once given up my life, I wish to dedicatemy new life to the struggle against atomic bombs."

He is continuing to devote his efforts to the prohibiton of atomic and hydrogen bombs.

14. The Burned Corpse Of A Boy

This boy, who was burned to death with his hands placed on his chest, leaving an impression of agony, is believed to have been a mobilized student exposed to the A-bomb in Iwakana township, which is about 700 meters from the hypocenter.

In those days, students who were in the 7th or 8th grade or in middle school were mobilized to munitions factories, farms, and national defense crews. They hardly did any learning at school. In the Urakami district of Nagasaki, there were several factories, including the Mitsubishi munitions, to which many students were mobilized. The death toll of mobilized students is unknown.

Regarding the disaster in Iwakawa township where this student was burned to death, the record of the Nagasaki A-bomb War Disaster reads as follows:

The instant the A-bomb exploded, almost all of the houses collapsed. The scattered pieces of wood and other debris covered the ground, and in some places they were heaped into drifts. Those who were outdoors all died, and those who were caught under the collapsed houses were screaming for help, and those who barely escaped frantically ran around. The town got dark, and, when visibility was regained, the collapsed houses started to smolder and then took fire. While there were mixed outcries of calls and for help, the town turned into a sea of flames."


15. Streetcars And Passengers Blown Away

The Urakami district, the northern part of Nagasaki City, was originally a quiet residential area; but, from around the time of the Japan-China War, munition factories were constructed one aftere another. The streetcars transported factory workers and mobilized students to the factory area from the center part of Nagasaki City.

This photograph shows a streetcar that was blown away from the Shimonokawa car-stop while it was heading for the Ohashi terminal, two stops away. The corpses of passengers were blown from the streetcar to a stone wall. Most of them were soldiers of the 2nd Company of Special Guards on the way to the Municipal Commercial School where their defensive position was.

This streetcar was only 230 meters from the hypocenter and was destroyed to the extent that none of its original shape remained after unimaginable pressure of that blast from the upper right. The soldiers and other passengers on the streetcar instantly succumbed to the blast and the heat. The black portions of the corpse, which are actually dark red, are burns from the heat rays.

Currently, this spot is a railway crossing that separates the Peace Park from National Highway 34 where the streetcar line and the National Railway line run parallel, on a lower level, to the National Highway. After the war, the Shimonokawa car-stop was no longer used, but the curbstone of the car-stop still carries the traces of the burn. The place shown in the photograph is now a parking lot, and by the sidewalk along the National Highway above the stone wall, there are two monuments to the memory of the A-bomb vicim. In between is a monument for those victims who had no surviving relatives. Offerings of flowers to these monuments never cease.

16. Subcutaneous Hemorrhage / Atomic Bomb Cataract Caused By Radiation

The left photograph shows a 21-years-old soldier who was in a wooden house situated 1 kilometer from the hypocenter. Since he was indoors, he was saved from burns, but, as he received cuts on his buck, right elvow and right belly, first-aid treatment was given to him. However, when we follow his medical record, we learn more:

August 18 --Hair falling out is noticed; August 19 --Bleeding from gum, and purplish subcutaneous hemorrhage starts to appear as in the photograph; August 30 --Is hospitalized in the Ujina Branch of the Army Hospital, and on the 31st becomes feverish; September 1 --Tonsillitis occurs and with a sore throat he can not eat. Bleeding from gum dose not stop, and subcutaneous hemorrhage multiplies on face and upper half of body: September 2 --Has an indistinct consciousness and starts to talk in delirium. September 3 --Died at 9:30 p.m.

This photograph was taken 2 hours before his death at the request of an American Army surgeon. This soldier's symton record is a typical description of the acute effects of radiation.

The right photograph shows an eyeball of an A-bomb victim who got an atomic bomb cataract. There is opacity near the center of the eyeball. It has been known for some time, through that radiation causes cataracts in animals. But cataracts developed in human beings after the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

According to a clinical report of 128 cataract cases in Hiroshima during the four years from 1957, 38.3% had atomic bomb cataracts or suspected atomic bomb cataracts. It is reported that 70% of those were within 1 kilometer from the hypocenter, and 30% were within 2 kilometers.

Some Atomic-bomb cataracts occurred several months after exposure, while most occurred several years later. In the case of this patient, it was diagnosed as an atomic bomb cataract in 1970, 25 years after the bomb. The patient filed an application with the Ministry of Health and Welfare of the Japanese Government in August 1971 so as to be registered as an A-bomb victim. His application was turned down because 'it is not considered necessary that you be medically treated now; The patient filed the second and third application in August and November of 1972. The second one was turned down and he was told to apply anew at the time was commenced. The third one was turned down with a reply saying, 'submit application at the time of operation.' So, the patient had no other choice but to sue the Government and Ministry of Health and Welfare in May 1973. After 3 years in court, the patient's request was finally approved in July 1976.