Documenting Hiroshima of 1945: October 4, in heart-wrenching image, older brother carries little brother on back
Oct. 4, 2024
by Maho Yamamoto, Staff Writer
On October 4, 1945, a staff member of the film production company Nippon Eigasha (Japan Movie Co.) took a photograph with his camera of an older brother walking with his little brother on his back. At the time, Nippon Eigasha was continuing to shoot scenes in Hiroshima City for the production of a documentary film on the damage caused by the atomic bombings. The image of the younger brother with round, innocent eyes and bandages wrapped around his head and cheek was heart-wrenching.
Two years ago, at a peace gathering in Higashihiroshima City, Hideo Takemoto, 82, a resident of Kure City in Hiroshima Prefecture, came forward and identified himself as being the boy in the photo. Mr. Takemoto was three years old at the time the photo was taken. He was being carried on the back of his older brother, Sadao, who was 11 at the time. Mr. Takemoto said, “I would not be here if it had not been for my older brother.”
Before the atomic bombing, he lived with his parents, older brother, and two older sisters in the area of Otemachi in Hiroshima (in the city’s present-day Naka Ward). On August 6, his home, located around one kilometer from the hypocenter, was flattened by the A-bomb’s blast. Hideo had been trapped under the ruins of the house but was saved by his older brother as fires approached from the surrounding areas.
The whereabouts of his older sister Kimie, 13 at the time, who had been mobilized for work as a student, were unknown. On August 29, his parents traveled to Ninoshima Island (in Hiroshima’s present-day Minami Ward) to look for their daughter after receiving word that she had been taken to the island after the bombing. They were able to find her after hearing her call out, “Father, mother,” and took her back to Hiroshima. Despite that, on the following day, August 30, Kimie passed away.
Mr. Takemoto had suffered such a severe wound to his left cheek that the bone underneath was visible. Because he was young at the time, he does not remember the photo being taken. “I must have been undergoing treatment for the wound,” he said. Because one of the bases for Nippon Eigasha’s filming work was the Hiroshima Red Cross Hospital (located in the city’s present-day Naka Ward), the brothers at the time of the photo are thought to have been going to or coming back from the hospital. Mr. Takemoto’s scar never disappeared and ultimately turned into a keloid. He underwent surgery to remove the scar at the age of 19. His older brother, who had saved his life, died later in a traffic accident at 23 years of age.
Several decades ago, Mr. Takemoto came to find out that he was in the photo after being alerted by his brother-in-law, who had seen the Nippon Eigasha image. Despite that, he did not reveal that information to anyone but a close circle of friends. Encouraged by a good friend actively engaged in the campaign to ban A- and H-bombs, he resolved to begin communicating to the public his experiences in the atomic bombing.
(Originally published on October 4, 2024)
On October 4, 1945, a staff member of the film production company Nippon Eigasha (Japan Movie Co.) took a photograph with his camera of an older brother walking with his little brother on his back. At the time, Nippon Eigasha was continuing to shoot scenes in Hiroshima City for the production of a documentary film on the damage caused by the atomic bombings. The image of the younger brother with round, innocent eyes and bandages wrapped around his head and cheek was heart-wrenching.
Two years ago, at a peace gathering in Higashihiroshima City, Hideo Takemoto, 82, a resident of Kure City in Hiroshima Prefecture, came forward and identified himself as being the boy in the photo. Mr. Takemoto was three years old at the time the photo was taken. He was being carried on the back of his older brother, Sadao, who was 11 at the time. Mr. Takemoto said, “I would not be here if it had not been for my older brother.”
Before the atomic bombing, he lived with his parents, older brother, and two older sisters in the area of Otemachi in Hiroshima (in the city’s present-day Naka Ward). On August 6, his home, located around one kilometer from the hypocenter, was flattened by the A-bomb’s blast. Hideo had been trapped under the ruins of the house but was saved by his older brother as fires approached from the surrounding areas.
The whereabouts of his older sister Kimie, 13 at the time, who had been mobilized for work as a student, were unknown. On August 29, his parents traveled to Ninoshima Island (in Hiroshima’s present-day Minami Ward) to look for their daughter after receiving word that she had been taken to the island after the bombing. They were able to find her after hearing her call out, “Father, mother,” and took her back to Hiroshima. Despite that, on the following day, August 30, Kimie passed away.
Mr. Takemoto had suffered such a severe wound to his left cheek that the bone underneath was visible. Because he was young at the time, he does not remember the photo being taken. “I must have been undergoing treatment for the wound,” he said. Because one of the bases for Nippon Eigasha’s filming work was the Hiroshima Red Cross Hospital (located in the city’s present-day Naka Ward), the brothers at the time of the photo are thought to have been going to or coming back from the hospital. Mr. Takemoto’s scar never disappeared and ultimately turned into a keloid. He underwent surgery to remove the scar at the age of 19. His older brother, who had saved his life, died later in a traffic accident at 23 years of age.
Several decades ago, Mr. Takemoto came to find out that he was in the photo after being alerted by his brother-in-law, who had seen the Nippon Eigasha image. Despite that, he did not reveal that information to anyone but a close circle of friends. Encouraged by a good friend actively engaged in the campaign to ban A- and H-bombs, he resolved to begin communicating to the public his experiences in the atomic bombing.
(Originally published on October 4, 2024)