Documenting Hiroshima of 1945: In December, prefectural government reports death toll in excess of 70,000 people
Dec. 1, 2024
by Maho Yamamoto, Staff Writer
In December 1945, the Hiroshima prefectural government compiled the “Report on Damages from Hiroshima City Air Raid,” based on information as of November 30, which was to be submitted to the Japan Home Ministry. The report indicated that 78,150 people had died and 13,983 were missing, bringing the total number of people affected by the atomic bombing to more than 306,000. In addition to people who had been seriously injured (9,428) and slightly injured (27,997), those who were uninjured but whose homes had been destroyed were also included in the total number of those affected.
The numbers of people were based on responses collected by the Hiroshima Prefectural Police Department from 27 of its police stations in the prefecture. After the atomic bombing, police officers in the prefecture engaged in the examinations of countless bodies. It is said that the actual number was reported on the basis of official records made at the time of such examinations, local governments’ approvals for cremation, and other such records.
In September, the Hiroshima Prefectural Police Department had announced that the death toll as of the end of August was 66,000 people, with 10,000 missing, as reported in September 10 edition of the Chugoku Shimbun. The report as of November 30 stated that radiation effects, which persisted in September and thereafter, had resulted “in a number of deaths from what came to be known as A-bomb diseases among healthy people without even minor injuries.” The report indicated that cases of death “had mostly subsided by this time.”
The report also mentioned that because “the investigation has not been completed,” the actual number of those affected was expected to exceed the figure given. One reason was that those who had moved away from the prefecture after the atomic bombing, including those who had died outside of the prefecture, had not been counted. In addition, affected people serving in the military had not been included in the tally from the start.
The prefectural government, the organization charged with calculating the number of affected people, had also lost 1,141 of its own employees in the atomic bombing. The prefectural government offices, located in the area of Kako-machi (in Hiroshima City’s present-day Naka Ward), had been completely destroyed. A provisional office building was built on the grounds of the Toyo Kogyo factory (present-day Mazda Motor Corporation) in the town of Fuchu-cho, with the aim of restoring the prefectural government. To hold on December 12 the first prefectural assembly meeting after the atomic bombing, the building was partially remodeled and a temporary assembly hall established.
An item to be discussed at the meeting was the draft budget for fiscal 1946. Among those who died in the atomic bombing was the head of the internal affairs department involved in the budgetary process, and some of the relevant materials had been destroyed by fires. According to Shiro Ichikawa, who later served as manager of the finance section, “We had no choice but to compile the budget based on the memories of the staff of each section and department involved in the budget,” as described in the publication Sengo Hiroshima-ken Seishi (in English, ‘Postwar history of Hiroshima prefectural government’), published in 1950.
(Originally published on December 1, 2024)
In December 1945, the Hiroshima prefectural government compiled the “Report on Damages from Hiroshima City Air Raid,” based on information as of November 30, which was to be submitted to the Japan Home Ministry. The report indicated that 78,150 people had died and 13,983 were missing, bringing the total number of people affected by the atomic bombing to more than 306,000. In addition to people who had been seriously injured (9,428) and slightly injured (27,997), those who were uninjured but whose homes had been destroyed were also included in the total number of those affected.
The numbers of people were based on responses collected by the Hiroshima Prefectural Police Department from 27 of its police stations in the prefecture. After the atomic bombing, police officers in the prefecture engaged in the examinations of countless bodies. It is said that the actual number was reported on the basis of official records made at the time of such examinations, local governments’ approvals for cremation, and other such records.
In September, the Hiroshima Prefectural Police Department had announced that the death toll as of the end of August was 66,000 people, with 10,000 missing, as reported in September 10 edition of the Chugoku Shimbun. The report as of November 30 stated that radiation effects, which persisted in September and thereafter, had resulted “in a number of deaths from what came to be known as A-bomb diseases among healthy people without even minor injuries.” The report indicated that cases of death “had mostly subsided by this time.”
The report also mentioned that because “the investigation has not been completed,” the actual number of those affected was expected to exceed the figure given. One reason was that those who had moved away from the prefecture after the atomic bombing, including those who had died outside of the prefecture, had not been counted. In addition, affected people serving in the military had not been included in the tally from the start.
The prefectural government, the organization charged with calculating the number of affected people, had also lost 1,141 of its own employees in the atomic bombing. The prefectural government offices, located in the area of Kako-machi (in Hiroshima City’s present-day Naka Ward), had been completely destroyed. A provisional office building was built on the grounds of the Toyo Kogyo factory (present-day Mazda Motor Corporation) in the town of Fuchu-cho, with the aim of restoring the prefectural government. To hold on December 12 the first prefectural assembly meeting after the atomic bombing, the building was partially remodeled and a temporary assembly hall established.
An item to be discussed at the meeting was the draft budget for fiscal 1946. Among those who died in the atomic bombing was the head of the internal affairs department involved in the budgetary process, and some of the relevant materials had been destroyed by fires. According to Shiro Ichikawa, who later served as manager of the finance section, “We had no choice but to compile the budget based on the memories of the staff of each section and department involved in the budget,” as described in the publication Sengo Hiroshima-ken Seishi (in English, ‘Postwar history of Hiroshima prefectural government’), published in 1950.
(Originally published on December 1, 2024)
