Documenting Hiroshima of 1945: August 16, with no surviving students, “last shred of hope lost”
Aug. 16, 2024
by Kyosuke Mizukawa, Senior Staff Writer
On August 16, 1945, officials at Hiroshima Municipal Girls’ High School (Municipal Girl’s School; present-day Funairi High School, located in the city’s present-day Naka Ward) were confronted with the news of the death of one first-year student who had somehow survived the atomic bombing of the city. “Sachie Morimoto, 1st year, class 5, has died. Heard on site, last shred of hope lost” was the entry dated August 16, 1945, for a daily progress log involving damage from August 6, 1945, written by the school’s teachers about circumstances after the bombing.
On August 6, first and second-year students of the Municipal Girls’ School had been mobilized to work on the demolition of buildings to create fire lanes in the area south of the present-day Peace Memorial Park, around 500 meters from the hypocenter. The school’s daily log described the situation right after the bombing — “Many of students lost their sight and fell unconscious … A few students were assumed to have been taken to Ninoshima Island, but only three or four are still alive… .” On August 12, the result of an investigation of Ninoshima Island (in Hiroshima’s present-day Minami Ward) was a follow-up report in the daily log — “Only the name of Sachie Morimoto was found.”
According to a personal account written by the late Tokiko Morimoto, Sachie’s mother, her daughter had covered her eyes with her hands at the moment of the A-bomb detonation and had fled with two friends who still had their sight. On the way, however, one of the three had collapsed. Sachie and the other friend, while holding hands as they went, promised each other, “Let’s not get separated.” As they traveled in the downstream direction of Motoyasu River, her friend seemed to nearly run out of breath. Ms. Morimoto vomited blood and lost consciousness. When she came to, she found herself being transported on a military ship to Ninoshima Island.
On August 9, Sachie’s 13th birthday, she was reunited with her mother on Ninoshima Island. Later, she was transferred to a relief station in Yahata National School (present-day Yahata Elementary School, in Hiroshima’s Saeki Ward) but passed away on August 13. Before dying, she repeated her gratitude to her teachers, friends, and family. “Thank you for helping me for so long. I will depart this world before you. Goodbye,” she said.
None of the 541 first- and second-year students and seven teachers and staff of the girls’ school mobilized for the building-demolition work survived. Including other school years, a total of 676 students, teachers, and staff of the school were killed in the atomic bombing.
(Originally published on August 16, 2024)
On August 16, 1945, officials at Hiroshima Municipal Girls’ High School (Municipal Girl’s School; present-day Funairi High School, located in the city’s present-day Naka Ward) were confronted with the news of the death of one first-year student who had somehow survived the atomic bombing of the city. “Sachie Morimoto, 1st year, class 5, has died. Heard on site, last shred of hope lost” was the entry dated August 16, 1945, for a daily progress log involving damage from August 6, 1945, written by the school’s teachers about circumstances after the bombing.
On August 6, first and second-year students of the Municipal Girls’ School had been mobilized to work on the demolition of buildings to create fire lanes in the area south of the present-day Peace Memorial Park, around 500 meters from the hypocenter. The school’s daily log described the situation right after the bombing — “Many of students lost their sight and fell unconscious … A few students were assumed to have been taken to Ninoshima Island, but only three or four are still alive… .” On August 12, the result of an investigation of Ninoshima Island (in Hiroshima’s present-day Minami Ward) was a follow-up report in the daily log — “Only the name of Sachie Morimoto was found.”
According to a personal account written by the late Tokiko Morimoto, Sachie’s mother, her daughter had covered her eyes with her hands at the moment of the A-bomb detonation and had fled with two friends who still had their sight. On the way, however, one of the three had collapsed. Sachie and the other friend, while holding hands as they went, promised each other, “Let’s not get separated.” As they traveled in the downstream direction of Motoyasu River, her friend seemed to nearly run out of breath. Ms. Morimoto vomited blood and lost consciousness. When she came to, she found herself being transported on a military ship to Ninoshima Island.
On August 9, Sachie’s 13th birthday, she was reunited with her mother on Ninoshima Island. Later, she was transferred to a relief station in Yahata National School (present-day Yahata Elementary School, in Hiroshima’s Saeki Ward) but passed away on August 13. Before dying, she repeated her gratitude to her teachers, friends, and family. “Thank you for helping me for so long. I will depart this world before you. Goodbye,” she said.
None of the 541 first- and second-year students and seven teachers and staff of the girls’ school mobilized for the building-demolition work survived. Including other school years, a total of 676 students, teachers, and staff of the school were killed in the atomic bombing.
(Originally published on August 16, 2024)
