Life after the atomic explosion, as the survivors of Hiroshima said

The mushroom cloud was visible from the hills of the neighboring governorates. Those who were outside the radius of the immediate explosion may not show any external injuries immediately – but they became commonly sick and died in the days, weeks, months and years that followed.

Those outside the city are exposed to radiation when they tried to enter to help the injured.

The radiation also affected the children who were in the womb at the time. Common radiation diseases were hair loss, bleeding, energy loss (“no more will” in Japanese), pain, as well as high life threat fever.

on 650,000 people It was recognized by the Japanese government as being affected by the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. While most of them died now, Numbers As of March 31, 2025, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare shows that there is an estimated 99,13030 years, with an average age of 86.

In a radio broadcast after the atomic bombings, Emperor Hirohito announced the surrender of Japan and called on the Japanese people to.Be pregnant,“In reference to the” most cruel weapons “used by allied forces without directly identifying the nuclear attack. Because of the misinformation of the defeat, the shame of the Japanese imperial and its role in the war, as well as control and ignorance about the reality of nuclear weapons, was just a dead peace and the injured wound.”

The affected generations

It took about seven years from Yamanaka to restore its strength enough to live a relatively normal life, so I barely graduated from high school. It was later diagnosed with various blood diseases, heart, eye, thyroid gland, as well as low immunity – symptoms that can be associated with radiation exposure.

Her daughters also suffered. In 1977, when her 19 -year -old daughter, she had three skin cancer operations. In 1978, when her second daughter was fourteen years old, she developed leukemia. In 1987, her third daughter suffered from unilateral alienation (ovarian removal surgery).

I met Yamanaka’s daughters, his granddaughter and many other survivors over and over again, starting from experiments before the atomic bombing and continued to this day.

While these interviews were generally started on the official website of the Hiroshima Memorial Museum, there were also walking interviews and went to sites of special importance to their personal memories. I shared cars, coffee and meals trips with them and their assistants, because I wanted to see their lives in the context, as part of society.

Their shocks and suffering are treated socially. For the relatively few survivors who tell their stories in public places, through strong help Local networks. While I was told at the beginning, I will not find survivors who want to share their stories, but more gradually came forward through the effect of snowball.

Returning to an interview with Yamanaka in August 2013, we traveled by car to her former EBA home, stopping at the site where she had passed after her journey through the river. There, Yamanaka held a conversation with Naji’s colleague who was going on his bike. His name was Maruto San. They attended the same primary school based on the temple.