Silent Witness: Lunchbox of first-year student at Hiroshima Second Middle School — Student’s name discovered inside bag but remains never found
Apr. 26, 2021
by Kyoko Niiyama, Staff Writer
The owner of the untouched lunchbox, exposed to the atomic bomb’s thermal rays and blast, was Naofumi Hino, then 13 and a first-year student at Hiroshima Second Middle School (present-day Kanon High School). Mr. Hino is presumed to have experienced the atomic bombing while taking part in the demolition of buildings for creating fire lanes in an area south of what is now Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.
Occasioned by admittance into the school, he left his hometown of Kurahashi Island (located in Kure City, Hiroshima Prefecture) to live in the school dormitory, from which he commuted. On that day, August 6, about 320 first-year students had been mobilized and engaged in the building demolition work about 600 meters from the hypocenter. Most died instantly, with the rest dying shortly thereafter.
The day after the atomic bomb was dropped, Naofumi’s father, Naoto, and his older sister, Katsumi, left the island and headed to Hiroshima City by fishing boat. On the banks of the Honkawa River, near the place where Naofumi had been working, they found a bag made for him by Masuko, his mother, who had taken apart a kimono sash (in Japanese, ‘obi’) and sewed it together with a hand towel. His name was written in black ink inside of the front flap of the bag. A lunchbox with the food still inside was found in a traditional wrapping cloth inside the bag.
Story has it that, despite suffering severe burns, the Hiroshima Second Middle School students died after managing to make it home or sing war songs at first-aid stations where they were being treated. Nevertheless, the remains of most of the students have never been found. Information on what happened to Naofumi is still unknown.
After its discovery, the bag was placed inside a Buddhist altar in the family home. In 1999, at the time his older sister, Katsumi Hino, was interviewed by the Chugoku Shimbun, she said, “We never removed the bag from the altar in the presence of our parents, who had suffered the grievous loss of their son.”
(Originally published on April 26, 2021)
The owner of the untouched lunchbox, exposed to the atomic bomb’s thermal rays and blast, was Naofumi Hino, then 13 and a first-year student at Hiroshima Second Middle School (present-day Kanon High School). Mr. Hino is presumed to have experienced the atomic bombing while taking part in the demolition of buildings for creating fire lanes in an area south of what is now Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.
Occasioned by admittance into the school, he left his hometown of Kurahashi Island (located in Kure City, Hiroshima Prefecture) to live in the school dormitory, from which he commuted. On that day, August 6, about 320 first-year students had been mobilized and engaged in the building demolition work about 600 meters from the hypocenter. Most died instantly, with the rest dying shortly thereafter.
The day after the atomic bomb was dropped, Naofumi’s father, Naoto, and his older sister, Katsumi, left the island and headed to Hiroshima City by fishing boat. On the banks of the Honkawa River, near the place where Naofumi had been working, they found a bag made for him by Masuko, his mother, who had taken apart a kimono sash (in Japanese, ‘obi’) and sewed it together with a hand towel. His name was written in black ink inside of the front flap of the bag. A lunchbox with the food still inside was found in a traditional wrapping cloth inside the bag.
Story has it that, despite suffering severe burns, the Hiroshima Second Middle School students died after managing to make it home or sing war songs at first-aid stations where they were being treated. Nevertheless, the remains of most of the students have never been found. Information on what happened to Naofumi is still unknown.
After its discovery, the bag was placed inside a Buddhist altar in the family home. In 1999, at the time his older sister, Katsumi Hino, was interviewed by the Chugoku Shimbun, she said, “We never removed the bag from the altar in the presence of our parents, who had suffered the grievous loss of their son.”
(Originally published on April 26, 2021)
