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Former employee’s camera, which captured mushroom cloud, on display at Chugoku Shimbun

A camera that captured the mushroom cloud shortly after the atomic bombing has been put on permanent display in the lobby on the first floor of the Chugoku Shimbun building, located in Naka Ward of Hiroshima. The camera belonged to Seiso Yamada, 93, a resident of the town on Fuchu, Hiroshima Prefecture, and a former employee of the Chugoku Shimbun. Mr. Yamada is believed to have taken the photo about two minutes after the explosion of the atomic bomb, and his photo is regarded as the earliest of an atomic cloud ever taken from the ground.

Mr. Yamada’s camera is called a “Semi Sports,” a hand-held, bellows-type model measuring 12 by eight centimeters, released in 1940. Mr. Yamada worked for the newspaper company in the daytime and studied at a junior high school at night. On August 6, 1945, he saw a vermillion cloud near the entrance to Mikumari Gorge, located in Fuchu, about six kilometers from the hypocenter. He said he immediately took the photo of the cloud, which is now on display in the main building of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.

The first-floor lobby is open from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays. The lobby will be closed from August 11 through 15.

(Originally published on August 1, 2022)

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