Family memories 77 years after A-bombing: Yo Hosokawa from Hiroshima renews determination to serve as “Family A-bomb Legacy Successor” and share father’s grief
Aug. 7, 2022
by Taiki Yomura, Staff Writer
On the morning of August 6, a memorial service for A-bomb victims of Hiroshima Prefectural First Girls’ High School (now Minami High School) was held in the city’s Naka Ward. Yo Hosokawa, 63, a former high school teacher who lives in Naka Ward, attended the ceremony on behalf of his father, Koji, 94, who is currently under care at a nursing home. Mr. Hosokawa quietly put his hands together in prayer in front of the cenotaph on which is inscribed the name of Koji’s younger sister, Yoko Moriwaki. “I believe my father would be pleased because he used to attend the ceremony every year.”
On that day, August 6, 1945, Koji, 17, experienced the atomic bombing about 1.3 kilometers from the hypocenter. He was seriously wounded by glass shards impaled in his body, and more, but he miraculously survived. Meanwhile, he was devastated by the greatest sorrow in his life, the death of his beloved younger sister. At the time of the bombing, Yoko, then 13, was around the area of Dobashi-cho (now part of Naka Ward), about 800 meters from the hypocenter, to engage in demolishing buildings for the creation of fire evacuation routes as a mobilized student. She was badly burned and died the night of August 6.
Yoko left behind a journal she had had kept until the day before her death in the atomic bombing. The journal begins with a description of her joy at having entered the girls’ school in April 1945, and ends with an entry on August 5, which reads, “The work of dismantling buildings is to begin tomorrow. I hope to do my best.” Koji published a book in 1996 to leave a record of his sister. Her journal continues to be touched on and read in school textbooks.
Koji traveled throughout Japan as a survivor registered with the Hiroshima City government as someone who shares his A-bombing experience with the public, communicating with public audiences not only his own experience but also his sister Yoko’s journal. Regarding the inhumane nature of the atomic bombs, which instantly deprived people of their daily lives, Koji has continued to warn, “War turns people mad, and the extreme case is the use of nuclear weapons.”
Koji’s oldest son, Yo, aims to become a “Family A-bomb Legacy Successor,” motivated by his father’s poor health after falling critically ill in 2021. Yo said, “There are things that only a family member would know about my father, such as his personality. As a second-generation A-bomb survivor, I want to convey the horrors of the atomic bombing to future generations.” He was able to renew his determination to serve in that role when attending the commemorative ceremony on behalf of his father.
(Originally published on August 7, 2022)
On the morning of August 6, a memorial service for A-bomb victims of Hiroshima Prefectural First Girls’ High School (now Minami High School) was held in the city’s Naka Ward. Yo Hosokawa, 63, a former high school teacher who lives in Naka Ward, attended the ceremony on behalf of his father, Koji, 94, who is currently under care at a nursing home. Mr. Hosokawa quietly put his hands together in prayer in front of the cenotaph on which is inscribed the name of Koji’s younger sister, Yoko Moriwaki. “I believe my father would be pleased because he used to attend the ceremony every year.”
On that day, August 6, 1945, Koji, 17, experienced the atomic bombing about 1.3 kilometers from the hypocenter. He was seriously wounded by glass shards impaled in his body, and more, but he miraculously survived. Meanwhile, he was devastated by the greatest sorrow in his life, the death of his beloved younger sister. At the time of the bombing, Yoko, then 13, was around the area of Dobashi-cho (now part of Naka Ward), about 800 meters from the hypocenter, to engage in demolishing buildings for the creation of fire evacuation routes as a mobilized student. She was badly burned and died the night of August 6.
Yoko left behind a journal she had had kept until the day before her death in the atomic bombing. The journal begins with a description of her joy at having entered the girls’ school in April 1945, and ends with an entry on August 5, which reads, “The work of dismantling buildings is to begin tomorrow. I hope to do my best.” Koji published a book in 1996 to leave a record of his sister. Her journal continues to be touched on and read in school textbooks.
Koji traveled throughout Japan as a survivor registered with the Hiroshima City government as someone who shares his A-bombing experience with the public, communicating with public audiences not only his own experience but also his sister Yoko’s journal. Regarding the inhumane nature of the atomic bombs, which instantly deprived people of their daily lives, Koji has continued to warn, “War turns people mad, and the extreme case is the use of nuclear weapons.”
Koji’s oldest son, Yo, aims to become a “Family A-bomb Legacy Successor,” motivated by his father’s poor health after falling critically ill in 2021. Yo said, “There are things that only a family member would know about my father, such as his personality. As a second-generation A-bomb survivor, I want to convey the horrors of the atomic bombing to future generations.” He was able to renew his determination to serve in that role when attending the commemorative ceremony on behalf of his father.
(Originally published on August 7, 2022)
