<Begin Segment 23>

[Translated from Japanese]

TY: Right before Japan lost the war, an atomic bomb was dropped to Hiroshima.

AT: Uh-huh.

TY: What did you think about that?

AT: We were surprised at that time. That they dropped an atomic bomb. But, [Laughs] my husband Terao said this, "It was because they were dragging on the war for so long even though they didn't have a chance to win. That's why the U.S. surprised everybody by dropping such a big atomic bomb to push them down on the top of the head. That was bad." See, they surrendered after that.

DG: Did you worry about the relatives? They were in Hiroshima, weren't they?

AT: No, there weren't too many. Most of our relatives had evacuated, they had most of them evacuated, there, around in Hiroshima. But, those who were still running the business, and those who were doing things remained there. But, Obachan, there were people who were killed. There were also those who survived and escaped. Around Koi, Koi is a little outside of the city of Hiroshima. Even on that side, those children who were going to school, to school, they were going, then, some were killed by the influence of the atomic bomb. I read in the newspapers. The city was destroyed. It was written so. To the divisional headquarters, they took it to the divisional headquarters and dropped the bomb. But, it avoided them a little by the wind condition. It avoided them, and there was a plain field in front of the division where they held training. There are big streets and a museum, and that was destroyed. I wonder how many people were killed, of course, many people died. Luckily, the time was early, so there were not too many students who were killed.

TY: It was eight fifteen in the morning, wasn't it? In such an early time.

AT: I heard about the story of someone who was commuting on the train. Then, someone said, "Something just flashed." In the train, see, the glass windows, those flashed brightly. They said, "Hmm, this is strange." The conductor must have thought it was strange, too. The train stopped in the middle. Then, everybody stepped outside, and they were wondering what the flash was. Then, this time, there was an announcement in the loud voice. They said it was a bomb. That it was dropped. And, even if they wanted to keep the train going, they couldn't go further because the railroads were messed up, so they stopped the train there. Then, those who wanted to go to the city had to go back, so they started walking back from there. It was hard at that time. Also, the division was... It was dropped on the division, but because of the wind condition, the bomb avoided it a little bit. It was good that it was avoided. If not so, if the divisional headquarters received it, many people had died. Later on, I went to see the site. I went back from here. But, they hadn't taken care of it that much. They were showing it as it was.

<End Segment 23> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.