Documenting Hiroshima of 1945: December 14, memorial service held at Kanon National School
Dec. 14, 2024
by Maho Yamamoto, Staff Writer
On December 14, 1945, a memorial service was held at Kanon National School (present-day Minami Kanon Elementary School, Kanon Elementary School, in Nishi Ward), which was located in Hiroshima City’s Higashikanon-machi. At least 86 students and teachers, including Tomo Tamaki, the school’s principal, are known to have died on the day of the atomic bombing.
Two messages of condolence are archived at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. One was written by Shintaro Tagashira who, after the war, was selected to serve as head of the local neighborhood association for the Kanon district. He described his sorrow in words. “When I stand on the site where Kanon National School was located, all I can see is the desolate sight of scorched earth and bleak ruins.”
Most of the roughly 1,600 students at the school had been evacuated before the bombing, but some teachers and students were trapped under the collapsed two-story wooden school building, which was located around 1.4 kilometers southwest of the hypocenter. The school building was eventually burned to the ground by fires. Mr. Tagashira lamented, “We failed to build a bright generation of young people to lead the coming age. How can we apologize to the victims that lie beneath the ground?”
The other message was written under the name of Ichitaro Tsushima, who was chair of the Kanon National School education support association. It describes Mr. Tamaki’s last moments. “He repeatedly called out, ‘What’s happened to the students? Save the children as quickly as possible. Don’t worry about me. Leave me be. Save the children,’” wrote Mr. Tsushima.
Hideko Terasawa, 97, a resident of Hatsukaichi City, was 18 years old and a teacher at the school at the time of the atomic bombing. After checking in at school, she went to a nearby meeting hall. She experienced the bombing as she was preparing for a class there. Her mother, Kyo, 55 at the time, and her older sister, Sadako, 20, were killed in the bombing, and their remains have never been found. Ms. Terasawa suffered serious injuries to her right leg, but returned to work in the autumn when the school reopened.
Ms. Terasawa has no memory of the memorial service but said, “Children came back to school in good spirits, despite the poor sanitary conditions. The sorrow of losing my family members was overwhelming, but I was able to continue on in my work as a teacher because I loved teaching children.” She worked as an elementary school teacher until she was 59.
(Originally published on December 14, 2024)
On December 14, 1945, a memorial service was held at Kanon National School (present-day Minami Kanon Elementary School, Kanon Elementary School, in Nishi Ward), which was located in Hiroshima City’s Higashikanon-machi. At least 86 students and teachers, including Tomo Tamaki, the school’s principal, are known to have died on the day of the atomic bombing.
Two messages of condolence are archived at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. One was written by Shintaro Tagashira who, after the war, was selected to serve as head of the local neighborhood association for the Kanon district. He described his sorrow in words. “When I stand on the site where Kanon National School was located, all I can see is the desolate sight of scorched earth and bleak ruins.”
Most of the roughly 1,600 students at the school had been evacuated before the bombing, but some teachers and students were trapped under the collapsed two-story wooden school building, which was located around 1.4 kilometers southwest of the hypocenter. The school building was eventually burned to the ground by fires. Mr. Tagashira lamented, “We failed to build a bright generation of young people to lead the coming age. How can we apologize to the victims that lie beneath the ground?”
The other message was written under the name of Ichitaro Tsushima, who was chair of the Kanon National School education support association. It describes Mr. Tamaki’s last moments. “He repeatedly called out, ‘What’s happened to the students? Save the children as quickly as possible. Don’t worry about me. Leave me be. Save the children,’” wrote Mr. Tsushima.
Hideko Terasawa, 97, a resident of Hatsukaichi City, was 18 years old and a teacher at the school at the time of the atomic bombing. After checking in at school, she went to a nearby meeting hall. She experienced the bombing as she was preparing for a class there. Her mother, Kyo, 55 at the time, and her older sister, Sadako, 20, were killed in the bombing, and their remains have never been found. Ms. Terasawa suffered serious injuries to her right leg, but returned to work in the autumn when the school reopened.
Ms. Terasawa has no memory of the memorial service but said, “Children came back to school in good spirits, despite the poor sanitary conditions. The sorrow of losing my family members was overwhelming, but I was able to continue on in my work as a teacher because I loved teaching children.” She worked as an elementary school teacher until she was 59.
(Originally published on December 14, 2024)
