Documenting Hiroshima of 1945: October 11, presence of blood disorders confirmed by autopsy
Oct. 11, 2024
by Kyosuke Mizukawa, Senior Staff Writer
On October 11, 1945, Shunkichi Kikuchi, the person in charge of photography who was accompanying the production of a documentary film, took a photograph of Chuta Tamagawa, a professor of pathology at Hiroshima Prefectural Medical School (present-day Hiroshima University School of Medicine) in an “autopsy room” housed in a shack next to Hiroshima Teishin Hospital (in Hiroshima’s present-day Naka Ward).
Mr. Tamagawa was a senior classmate of Michihiko Hachiya, director of Teishin Hospital, when they attended the Okayama College of Medicine (present-day Okayama University School of Medicine). At first, Mr. Tamagawa’s request of the Hiroshima Prefectural government to allow autopsies to be conducted on the bodies of A-bomb victims was rejected. However, unable to wait until permission was granted while survivors without obvious physical injuries were dying one after the other, he began performing autopsies at his junior classmate’s hospital on August 29.
On August 31, according to his book Hiroshima Diary, published in 1955, Mr. Hachiya listened to the findings after Mr. Tamagawa had finished autopsying five bodies. Mr. Tamagawa reported that the cause of death of four of the five people was massive bleeding, because hemorrhagic spotting had been found everywhere, not only on the surface of the bodies but also in the internal organs. It was assumed that a decrease in blood platelets, which are essential in the blood-clotting process, was a primary factor.
Furthermore, Mr. Tamagawa reported that bone marrow, an organ involved in the production of blood cells, “was severely damaged,” according to his testimony recorded in Hiroshima Genbaku Iryoshi (in English, ‘History of Hiroshima atomic bomb medical treatment’), published in 1961. His findings were consistent with Mr. Hachiya’s diagnosis that the patients were suffering from “blood disorders.” Mr. Tamagawa continued performing autopsies until October 13, leaving a record of the autopsies of 19 deceased.
One of those autopsied was Saburo Yasuda, who died on September 12 at the age of 41. He had experienced the atomic bombing at his home, located around 1.1 kilometers from the hypocenter. According to his oldest son, Yasuyuki Yasuda, 89, a resident of Yokohama City in Kanagawa Prefecture who was 10 at the time, Saburo was “fine and able to walk in the initial period” after the bombing.
Yasuyuki’s mother died at the family’s home in the bombing. His father, who was expected to work to rebuild his family’s life, began to suffer ailments sometime after August 20, calling his own condition “unbearable.” According to the record of his autopsy, purple spotting called “purpura” was observed on his chest and belly.
Autopsies of A-bomb victims’ bodies had been performed by Japanese military doctors and medical researchers starting earlier that year in August, with post-autopsy pathology samples kept for the purpose of research. Meanwhile, the U.S. military began “confiscation” of the samples.
(Originally published on October 11, 2024)
On October 11, 1945, Shunkichi Kikuchi, the person in charge of photography who was accompanying the production of a documentary film, took a photograph of Chuta Tamagawa, a professor of pathology at Hiroshima Prefectural Medical School (present-day Hiroshima University School of Medicine) in an “autopsy room” housed in a shack next to Hiroshima Teishin Hospital (in Hiroshima’s present-day Naka Ward).
Mr. Tamagawa was a senior classmate of Michihiko Hachiya, director of Teishin Hospital, when they attended the Okayama College of Medicine (present-day Okayama University School of Medicine). At first, Mr. Tamagawa’s request of the Hiroshima Prefectural government to allow autopsies to be conducted on the bodies of A-bomb victims was rejected. However, unable to wait until permission was granted while survivors without obvious physical injuries were dying one after the other, he began performing autopsies at his junior classmate’s hospital on August 29.
On August 31, according to his book Hiroshima Diary, published in 1955, Mr. Hachiya listened to the findings after Mr. Tamagawa had finished autopsying five bodies. Mr. Tamagawa reported that the cause of death of four of the five people was massive bleeding, because hemorrhagic spotting had been found everywhere, not only on the surface of the bodies but also in the internal organs. It was assumed that a decrease in blood platelets, which are essential in the blood-clotting process, was a primary factor.
Furthermore, Mr. Tamagawa reported that bone marrow, an organ involved in the production of blood cells, “was severely damaged,” according to his testimony recorded in Hiroshima Genbaku Iryoshi (in English, ‘History of Hiroshima atomic bomb medical treatment’), published in 1961. His findings were consistent with Mr. Hachiya’s diagnosis that the patients were suffering from “blood disorders.” Mr. Tamagawa continued performing autopsies until October 13, leaving a record of the autopsies of 19 deceased.
One of those autopsied was Saburo Yasuda, who died on September 12 at the age of 41. He had experienced the atomic bombing at his home, located around 1.1 kilometers from the hypocenter. According to his oldest son, Yasuyuki Yasuda, 89, a resident of Yokohama City in Kanagawa Prefecture who was 10 at the time, Saburo was “fine and able to walk in the initial period” after the bombing.
Yasuyuki’s mother died at the family’s home in the bombing. His father, who was expected to work to rebuild his family’s life, began to suffer ailments sometime after August 20, calling his own condition “unbearable.” According to the record of his autopsy, purple spotting called “purpura” was observed on his chest and belly.
Autopsies of A-bomb victims’ bodies had been performed by Japanese military doctors and medical researchers starting earlier that year in August, with post-autopsy pathology samples kept for the purpose of research. Meanwhile, the U.S. military began “confiscation” of the samples.
(Originally published on October 11, 2024)