<Begin Segment 30>

[Translated from Japanese]

I1: Atomic bombs were tested in Los Alamos.

TY: It was near.

I1: Did you know about the tests?

TY: Yes.

I1: How did you know about it?

TY: We said, "Some strange light just flashed. What was that?" We read on the next day's newspaper that it was a new nuclear bomb and the test took place.

I1: You couldn't see a mushroom cloud?

TY: Mushroom cloud.

I1: You could only see the light?

TY: Some people saw it. People talked about clouds and light.

I2: Did you see it? Did you see the light?

TY: I was in the mess hall. I just heard others saying, "It was like this."

I1: It was very close, and it must have been visible.

TY: And it was about a week after. The nuclear bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. The news of the Hiroshima A-bombing was in the newspaper immediately. I saw the newspaper.

I1: What kind of article was it?

TY: Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

I1: Were you worried about your mother there?

TY: Yes. I immediately thought about my mother. She was in Hiroshima. A bomb was dropped. There was a picture of the entire Hiroshima city in the newspaper. Nagaregawa is the center area of the city. There was a big Christian church there. The church was burnt to ashes. My house was south side of the Hijiyama Park in the city. The front side of the park was all burnt but houses were remaining in the back side of the park. So I thought my house should be still standing.

I2: You saw that in the newspaper picture?

TY: Yes. Newspapers came to our place, and we were allowed to read them.

I2: Was your mother okay?

TY: I assumed she was okay. I thought she would have survived. I saw the houses still standing in the picture. But the other side was all burnt.

<End Segment 30> - Copyright (c) 2004 Densho. All Rights Reserved.