{"id":1066,"date":"2018-08-06T21:48:39","date_gmt":"2018-08-07T04:48:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pages.palomar.edu\/mcastillo\/?page_id=1066"},"modified":"2025-10-11T00:40:54","modified_gmt":"2025-10-11T07:40:54","slug":"japan-a-survivor-of-the-atomic-bomb","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/pages.palomar.edu\/mcastillo\/japan-a-survivor-of-the-atomic-bomb\/","title":{"rendered":"H – Japan – A survivor of the Atomic bomb"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Our rendezvous with a Hiroshima survivor<\/em><\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

For AI assistance – click on Artificial Intelligence (AI)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Lesson – past perfect tense – H Level)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was very hot and humid the day we arrived, and ironically the same weather it was 68 years ago on August 6, 1945.  We struggled through this heat and humidity perspiring all over and drinking bottle after bottle of water trying to replenish the water we had lost<\/span> through this persistent heat and humidity.  The people said it was the hottest and most humid time of the year – August.  The heat and the humidity made me sweat.  It didn\u2019t help that I was also carrying a heavy backpack loaded with cameras, laptop and other important things.  It got heavier by the minute as the humidity and heat intensified at noon, and my sweat drenched through all my clothing.  There was no relief in site, but we had to meet our contact at 1:00 p.m. at the Peace Memorial Museum in Hiroshima.  My watch said 12:15 p.m, so we had enough time to sit, relax, drink some water, and take in the view of the bomb sight.  But the heat and humidity made us  all very uncomfortable. I looked at my wife and daughter, also perspiring profusely even as we sat and rested for a while and using our Japanese paper fan to cool ourselves in the shade. Looking at my watch I told my wife that we had about 40 minutes \u2013 enough time to make our rendezvous time. It was lunch time and we needed to eat something before we got there. Luckily, a convenient store was nearby where we grabbed some sandwiches and more cold drinks before we headed to the Peace Memorial Park for our rendezvous. It was time to meet our tour guides and one of the few survivors left of the Hiroshima holocaust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"An
We are cordially greeted by 2 interpreters and
Mr. Hirai Shouzou, the Hiroshima survivor.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Standing inside the front door of the Peace Museum were two of our guides, Yasutake Atsuko and Shimizu Mikiko, and a Hiroshima survivor, Mr. Hirai Shouzou.  A sign they were holding with my name on a big card helped us to find them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"An
Here Mr. Hirai Shouzou gives his story exclusively to us, my wife,
my daughter, and me, and flanked by a Hiroshima interpreter for Peace. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Our guides were very gracious and thanked us so much for coming all the way from San Diego to Hiroshima in order to learn about what happened here in Hiroshima 65 years ago on August 6, 1945.  All three spoke English well enough to communicate with us. Mr. Hirai Shouzou, the Hiroshima survivor, seemed the most impressive to us as he insisted in speaking only in English without any translator (the two guides were bilingual) to tell his story of his survival.  After the formalities of salutation they took us to the next building of the Peace Museum where we were given permission to use a private room of a rather large lecture hall from where Mr. Hirai Shouzou would tell his story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we got to the private room, I was surprised that we were the only ones.  I asked Yasutake Atsuko, our Hiroshima guide, why we were the only ones. She remarked that our tour company had set up this rare opportunity for us in their behalf and that Mr. Hirai Shouzou was accustomed to talking to small groups all the time.  He expressed to us right away that it was always an honor to have anyone from the Western world come to hear his story of his survival in Hiroshima.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a bottle of water, a dossier of papers and a picture, Mr. Hirai Shouzou was ready to speak.  I could tell from his body language he was ready to go, and it seemed that he had had<\/span> a lot of experience giving talks about his experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hirai first began by reading from his prepared text in English.  His distinct Japanese accent did not hinder or create any communication problems.  We understood everything he said because he used his eyes and body to make his point.  It seemed like he had rehearsed this speech many times before. With his papers in front of him, he had this look in his eye that he wanted us to understand him and his story that happened 65 years ago. I was very impressed that at the age of 84, he had so much energy and demonstrated his conviction to reveal his whole story.  Our ears were all his.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Hirai Shouzou\u2019s story<\/em><\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

(Lesson – Past perfect tense – H Level)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"An
Hirai Shouzou profile based on U.S. reports.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hirai was only 16 years old when the bomb was dropped over his city.  He was a 4th<\/sup>year student at the Hiroshima Prefecture of Commerce studying to become an apprentice at a factory.  His parents\u2019 house was 2.6 km from the hypocenter of the explosion.  At the time of the blast his father was working in his office and his mother was visiting friends outside the perimeter of the blast.  His little brother was the only one at home at the time of the blast. Before the blast Hirai was visiting a friend just outside the perimeter of the main blast.  According to him, nothing out of the ordinary seemed unusual that day which he described as a very warm humid day, similar to when we arrived in Hiroshima on August 10, 2013.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At about 8:15 a.m. on August 6, 1945 the first atomic bomb had exploded over Hiroshima.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"An<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"An
A Hiroshima watch survives the explosion and tells the exact time
of the explosion.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It was a uranium gun-type bomb nicknamed \u201cLittle Boy,\u201d and it had exploded<\/span> with approximately 15 kilotons of force above the city of 350,000, causing a shockwave of destruction and a fireball with temperatures as hot as the sun at over 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While talking in his friend\u2019s house, Hirai and his friend were blown off their feet.   His friend\u2019s house had<\/span> instantly broken<\/span> apart. The blast had thrown<\/span> both of them on the ground. Somehow and someway that day they had defied death.  The explosion had left<\/span> them stunned, shocked, and bewildered, and they were asking each other what had happened.  They looked out and peered up in the sky only to see black smoke permeating through the sky and generating a lot of heat. Hirai said he could no longer see the blue sky.  Instead it was completely black like night.   Hirai added, \u201cThe light from the atomic bomb was so indescribable.\u201d  What he had remembered<\/span> was that the atomic explosion had an unbelievably massive light that lit up the whole city.\u201d  His voice trembled a bit as he completed his thoughts, \u201cWhen the bomb exploded, the earth shook so hard so I hung on to whatever was in front of me.  I hung on as hard as I could so I wouldn\u2019t get blown away.\u201d He looked out and saw a man walking but bleeding out of his flesh.  That was the first horrific scene of a person he saw after the blast.  Hirai and his friend examined themselves but saw no blood or any injury.  Only their clothes were tattered and torn from the blast.  The blast, intense light, shaking earth , heat, black smoke, and black rain had made<\/span> them tremble in fear, disbelief, and despair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the huge blast, Hirai said he felt an intense heat come over the city.  He could not understand how or why black smoke could generate so much heat right away.  All of a sudden it started to rain, but it was black rain.  He said it rained black rain throughout the city, leaving puddles of black water on the streets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"An
A schematic drawing of the effects of the atomic explosion on Hiroshima<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the sky cleared, he looked around the city and was shocked to see that all the buildings were destroyed.  Some were still burning.  He could not recognize any landmark that he was familiar with.  He could not even recognize the Aioi bridge or where things were Everything was destroyed, devastated and in disarray.  He started walking anyway, but struggled walking through the puddles of black water, rubble and debris. As he walked further Hirai was horrified to see hundreds and hundreds of bodies charred beyond recognition.  Many bodies he saw just had only bones remaining due to the intense heat, fire and explosion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"An
A victim burned in the face, chest, and lower part of the body.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He said he just could not believe what he was seeing because he could not see the faces of anyone.  Their faces were gone.  It was a horrible sight.  Those few people he saw walking and who had miraculously survived were all in shock.  Many were bleeding out of their skin, some were hoping around like injured animals, and others sat tending to their wounds and injuries.  Like Hirai the survivors were stunned, shocked, and suffering from despair.  After seeing so many dead burnt bodies of bones, he panicked and started to run toward his parents\u2019 house.  But all the roads were no longer visible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
After the atomic explosion Hiroshima landmarks are no longer recognizable.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

They were darkened by the blast and fire and there was debris and many bodies lying all over. Hirai did not know which way to go.  He looked in the direction of the Aioi bridge to give him a reference to where his house was, but it was no long recognizable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"An
A before – after model of how Hiroshima looked like before and after the atomic bomb.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He felt lost. He stopped walking and just wept.  He could not even remember how long he wept.  He even lost site of his friend who may had been<\/span> walking around looking for his family and relatives.  It was so hard for him to accept and believe that what he was seeing was very real. Maybe it was just a nightmare? But the tears that rolled down his cheeks and landed in his hands proved otherwise. What had troubled<\/span> him now and given him high anxiety was the fear that his own family members, his father, mother, and little brother, had<\/span> all died<\/span> or had been<\/span> vaporized, like those who had met<\/span> their demise in the epicenter of the explosion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He knew his two older brothers were not affected because they were in China fighting a war for Japan. So he looked out and tried to find his friend.  His friend had<\/span> already parted<\/span> and walked<\/span> another direction in search of his family members and relatives.  Whether he found them or not, Hirai could not remember.  The remaining survivors of Hiroshima that he saw were walking like zombies \u2013 all in a state of shock like Hirai.  Everyone was confused, shaken, stunned, destitute, helpless, and desperate.  The only thing to do was to look for their loved ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
A photo of Hirai’s family before the war.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hours passed after the blast, somehow or someway he and his mother had found<\/span> each other through all the confusion and chaos of the atomic blast.  They embraced each other with joy and hope.  She explained  to him that she too was visiting a friend just outside the perimeter of the atomic explosion. She and Hirai had been<\/span> both fortunate to have survived the blast. Finding each other had given<\/span> them hope that motivated them to continue the search for his father and his little brother.  Hours later, they found a policeman and inquired the whereabouts of Hirai\u2019s father and brother.  The policeman  said he had seen<\/span> the remains of his father\u2019s bones inside the office where he was working. All of the workers in the office, including his father, had burned<\/span> to death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Only remaining building standing in the atomic blast<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Only the bones had remained<\/span>.  Hirai and his mother cried and hugged each other in disbelief that like many other citizens of Hiroshima, the atomic explosion took away the lives of their loved ones. There was no end to their grief, sorrow, shock and despair.  The atomic bomb was Hiroshima’s nightmare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Days passed and Hirai and his mother never found his brother.  They believed he too had perished<\/span> along with his father in the first atomic explosion on Earth.  His bones were never found and Hirai and his mother were unsuccessful to locate their house. In fact, he could not even recognize his neighborhood where he grew up.  The atomic explosion had decimated<\/span> and erased<\/span> all recognizable landmarks – streets, trees, office buildings, houses, parks or anything that resembled the Hiroshima that people once knew.  The bomb had succeeded<\/span> in destroying everything that was Hiroshima, and it had created<\/span> an atmosphere of chaos, confusion, and disbelief among the citizens of Hiroshima.  Mr. Hirai Shouzou and all of the Hiroshima survivors had begun<\/span> asking themselves how they were so fortunate to have survived an atomic explosion while over 50% of the citizens of Hiroshima had completely vanished or vaporized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We looked at Mr. Hirai Shouzou\u2019s demeanor and we could see that even after 68 years the memories of this horrific event were still vivid in his mind. His eyes were red, his voice quivered, and his head bowed from just telling his story.  I had no doubt that after 68 years Mr. Shouzou had been <\/span> and is still experiencing PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder), a psychological problem from which many soldiers who have come back home from combat have psychological problems after seeing people killed, mamed, or tortured, or having survived themselves from life-threatening wounds as a result of combat, bombs or any weapons of war.  I asked myself how could any human being be capable of comprehending the magnitude of one\u2019s suffering, loss, ill effects, desperation and hopelessness from an atomic blast?  This was just so impossible to comprehend and internalize for any human being on Earth.  The citizens of Hiroshima were the first human beings on Earth to have experienced a nuclear explosion.  I looked at Mr. Shouzou\u2019s red eyes, his face marked with historical memories of that horrific day as he told his touching and emotional story to me.  Tears began to roll down my eyes, and I felt a very heavy burden in my heart. I really admired this man who at 84 years old had the courage, compassion, and commitment to tell his story to me and to the rest of the people of the world who had heard him before.  Mr. Hirai Shouzou had such an incredible story to tell and it was an unforgettable moment for me to have had the  privilege to hear his story of survival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Months had passed and Mr. Hirai Shouzou had begun<\/span> to notice that some of the survivors of Hiroshima started becoming very ill.   After four months, they had succumbed<\/span> to their burns or the after effects of the atomic bomb.  By December of that year, Hirai said more than 140,000 people had lost <\/span>their lives to the nuclear explosion.  He said that more people had died<\/span> due to the complications of leukemia brought on by radiation exposure. Victims of the atomic blast have often been called in Japanese\u201chibakusha<\/em>-\u3072\u3070\u304f\u3057\u201dwhich means \u201cvictims of radiation from a nuclear accident.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Japanese government tried desperately to help the people who had survived<\/span>, but the hospitals, the doctors, and the nation as a whole had been<\/span> so overwhelmed by the unknown injuries and illnesses and were at a lost at what to do and how to help the remaining survivors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Mr. Hirai Shouzou shows two papers of his medical
records the U.S. had conducted on him.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Further, they had lacked<\/span> the proper medicine needed to counter the after effects of the bomb \u2013 namely radiation exposure and leukemia. The United States, whose knowledge of radiation poisoning was only marginally better than that of the Japanese, was of little help. The U.S. government had completed<\/span> their mission \u2013 to stop the war, but they had no plans on how to deal with the victims of the atomic bomb \u2013 none whatsoever. The top secret project called the Manhattan Project, which created the atomic bomb, had concentrated<\/span> all its efforts on developing and making the atomic bomb a reality.  They had made<\/span> no efforts to study the effects of the bomb nor how to treat victims exposed to radiation.  It was pretty much a one-sided plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"An
A boy severely burned from the atomic blast and
suffered many skin grafts for 10 to 15 years.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"An
Hirai shows where he was at the time of the atomic bomb
explosion. At that distance he was able to survive the blast.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Years had passed<\/span> and miraculously, Mr. Hirai Shouzou had shown<\/span> no ill effects of the atomic explosion.  He said he could not understand why he was still alive while other Hiroshima survivors had died<\/span> from burns, leukemia, and other symptoms unknown to the Japanese doctors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Mr. Hirai Shouzou finished his story, we looked at him with so much admiration.  It was clear to us that he had endured<\/span> many psyhological pains for many years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout his story, his eyes appeared very steady and unflinching, and he showed so much determination to finish his story and help us understand his experience.  He concluded that as long as he was alive and healthy, he would continue to tell his story over and over again to anyone in the world about the first atomic bomb in Hiroshima, about those people who suffered from the bomb, and the horrors he saw as a result of the nuclear explosion.  He warns that no country in the world should ever have a \u201cHiroshima\u201d again and that citizens of the world must do everything they can to NEVER let it happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I left the private room where Mr. Hirai Shouzou had his talk, I understood very clearly what I had learned <\/strong>from Mr. Hirai Shouzou and what I had to do to convey to others (my family members, relatives, friends, colleagues, students, and anyone willing to listen) about my experience with Mr. Hirai Shouzou, a survivor of the Hiroshima atomic bomb.  His talk had fueled<\/strong> deep thoughts  of how I have viewed my Hiroshima experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, no one in the world can survive a nuclear holocaust. Second, countries who do nothing to get rid of their nuclear weapons cannot protect their own people from a nuclear holocaust. Third, if the people on earth want to save this world, the global community must put their hearts and minds together to live in peace and NEVER allow a Hiroshima to happen again, else there will not be a world left for the human race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"An<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A.  Choose the correct answer based on the story you have read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rubric to self-grade your quiz.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

0 – 3 mistakes A. – Student has little or no problems understanding the concepts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4 – 5 mistakes. B- Student has a couple of problems understanding the concepts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6 – 8 mistakes. C – Student shows problems understanding the concepts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

9 – 11  mistakes. D – Student shows significant problems understanding the concept<\/p>\n\n\n