<Begin Segment 16>

TI: Okay, so to get home to Atatashima, you have to go through Hiroshima, and that's the main city. So what did you see when you got to Hiroshima?

PY: Well, you know, I lined, to get the ticket took me two days. But when I, after twenty-four hours of trip, when I reached Hiroshima, nobody was in Hiroshima station to get the ticket. I didn't have to buy the ticket, get the ticket, I can just walk away from the station because nobody was there. And I was surprised that I can see the whole city. And smell, funny kind of smell. Because people -- I don't know exactly how many days later, but August 6th is the atomic bomb, and the war ended August 15th. So I must have passed Hiroshima city around 17th or 18th.

TI: Okay, about eleven, twelve days after the bomb.

PY: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

TI: And so the smell, describe the smell again? What was it like?

PY: I don't know. I really don't know.

TI: But it was a strong smell.

PY: Yeah, strong smell. And, you know, when my mother died at Atatashima, they have a, they have a place that you cremate the bodies. At that place, you can smell the, when they do that. I smelled same kind of smell when they passed the Hiroshima city. And you can see the, the other end of the city. Why I went to Hiroshima instead of go straight to Atatashima, because I lived in Hiroshima for a while and I felt that, I went to visit and tried to find out what happened to that Ogawa family. And one of the Ogawa sons was my classmate. So I knew where the Ogawa family lived because I used to live over there and it's kind of far from Hiroshima station. But I went to the Ogawa family to see the old lady, whether she's okay or not. My classmate, Ogawa, was attending college in the Miyazaki area, in Kyushu island, so he wasn't home yet. But I met the Mrs. Ogawa, and she was so happy, but she said that she lost one son from that atomic bomb. But one of, daughter was still living. They had three children.

TI: You know, when you walked from the station to the Ogawa house, were there very many other people walking around?

PY: Yeah, yeah.

TI: And what was, what was that like?

PY: Well, that was just like you walk into the hell, yeah. And the smell and still was burning although it's more than ten days late. But still, some people was living, though. Some people was living, they make a shelter.

TI: And the people who were walking around, were they there searching for people or were they living there? Who were they?

PY: I guess some of the Hiroshima city people was living over there, and they tried to live. So they were building a shelter or whatever.

TI: And how about government or military people? Were there any people around helping people?

PY: I don't think so. I don't think any government people was around.

TI: Okay. So after you visit Mr. Ogawa, then where do you go?

PY: After that, I went to the, from Hiroshima station there's a Yokogawa Station, little more near to the Ogawa house. So I went to the Yokogawa Station and tried to catch the train and go back to Atatashima. From Yokogawa to Atatashima, it's a train ride about one hour, take one hour. So I was waiting, waiting, waiting, but they said no train. No passenger train to go to Kuba Station where I get off and go to Atatashima. I said, "Why there is no station, I mean, no train, passenger train go back to Kuba Station?" Said because the rail was bombed around Iwakuni area, little further down, and they were carrying some what you call sand or, to fill up the, to fill up the...

TI: The craters?

PY: Yeah, bomb crater like that. So, but whenever that kind of train comes around, at the station, they slow down. When they slow down, I jump on the train. And I was still young, I had only one bag. And then the same thing at the Kuba, Kuba Station, the train slow down so I throw the bag and then I went down, and that's how I went to, back to Atatashima.

TI: Oh, that's a good story. [Laughs]

<End Segment 16> - Copyright © 2009 Densho. All Rights Reserved.