Documenting Hiroshima of 1945: In November, US military physicians “requisition” medical materials
Nov. 28, 2024
by Kyosuke Mizukawa, Senior Staff Writer
In November 1945, a joint Japan-U.S. survey team set up to investigate health effects of the atomic bombing by order of the General Headquarters of the Allied Powers (GHQ), was continuing its work. The Hiroshima unit of the team, comprising a total of around 50 medical scientists from Tokyo Imperial University (present-day University of Tokyo) and physicians from the U.S. military, had entered Hiroshima City on October 12.
The survey team was established by the U.S. military, which had approached Masao Tsuzuki of Tokyo Imperial University for establishment a full-scale medical study. Although the effort was led by the U.S. military, the group was called a joint team for a reason.
On September 22, at the survey team’s first meeting in Tokyo, Colonel Warren J. Otterson, the person in charge of the U.S. military physicians, stated his expectation of full cooperation from the Japanese side in obtaining materials. His statement was recorded in a book titled Encounter With Disaster: A Medical Diary of Hiroshima, 1945, published in 1965 and authored by Averill Liebow, who had joined the survey team as a military physician with the rank of lieutenant colonel.
Medical data collected in the period shortly after the atomic bombing were essential for investigating the lethality of the atomic bombs. With that, the U.S. military had intense interest in the pathology specimens and autopsy records that the Japanese side already had in its possession. Seeking the materials, Mr. Liebow repeatedly met with Japanese medical scientists.
One of those medical professionals was Chuta Tamagawa of Hiroshima Prefectural Medical School (present-day Hiroshima University School of Medicine). Dr. Tamagawa had been conducting pathological autopsies since August 29 on the victims of the atomic bombing who had died at Hiroshima Teishin Hospital. On November 29, Mr. Liebow met with Dr. Tamagawa, who divided some of the autopsy materials with him, as explained in his A Medical Diary of Hiroshima, 1945.
According to a Chugoku Shimbun article that reported on a conversation with Dr. Tamagawa in 1954, two years after the end of the Allied occupation of Japan, he had initially refused the request to share materials. However, Japan was the side under occupation. In the end, he agreed to provide the materials after “following the advice of concerned individuals.”
Mr. Liebow also met with Shigeyasu Amano, a pathologist and associate professor at Kyoto Imperial University (present-day Kyoto University). The publication A Medical Diary of Hiroshima, 1945 indicates that Dr. Amano, after some hesitation, had agreed to provide pathological specimens obtained from the university’s studies. Dr. Amano later wrote in his personal account from 1954 about how the specimens had been forcibly taken and that he had “felt unimaginable discomfort.”
In September 1945, 11 members of the Kyoto University survey team lost their lives in a mudslide caused by the Makurazaki Typhoon. Among the fatalities was Shigeki Sugiyama, who had been engaged in pathological autopsy work. Dr. Amano also wrote about his regrets. “The autopsies and blood samples we had painstakingly collected were in that way treated like spoils of war.”
(Originally published on November 28, 2024)
In November 1945, a joint Japan-U.S. survey team set up to investigate health effects of the atomic bombing by order of the General Headquarters of the Allied Powers (GHQ), was continuing its work. The Hiroshima unit of the team, comprising a total of around 50 medical scientists from Tokyo Imperial University (present-day University of Tokyo) and physicians from the U.S. military, had entered Hiroshima City on October 12.
The survey team was established by the U.S. military, which had approached Masao Tsuzuki of Tokyo Imperial University for establishment a full-scale medical study. Although the effort was led by the U.S. military, the group was called a joint team for a reason.
On September 22, at the survey team’s first meeting in Tokyo, Colonel Warren J. Otterson, the person in charge of the U.S. military physicians, stated his expectation of full cooperation from the Japanese side in obtaining materials. His statement was recorded in a book titled Encounter With Disaster: A Medical Diary of Hiroshima, 1945, published in 1965 and authored by Averill Liebow, who had joined the survey team as a military physician with the rank of lieutenant colonel.
Medical data collected in the period shortly after the atomic bombing were essential for investigating the lethality of the atomic bombs. With that, the U.S. military had intense interest in the pathology specimens and autopsy records that the Japanese side already had in its possession. Seeking the materials, Mr. Liebow repeatedly met with Japanese medical scientists.
One of those medical professionals was Chuta Tamagawa of Hiroshima Prefectural Medical School (present-day Hiroshima University School of Medicine). Dr. Tamagawa had been conducting pathological autopsies since August 29 on the victims of the atomic bombing who had died at Hiroshima Teishin Hospital. On November 29, Mr. Liebow met with Dr. Tamagawa, who divided some of the autopsy materials with him, as explained in his A Medical Diary of Hiroshima, 1945.
According to a Chugoku Shimbun article that reported on a conversation with Dr. Tamagawa in 1954, two years after the end of the Allied occupation of Japan, he had initially refused the request to share materials. However, Japan was the side under occupation. In the end, he agreed to provide the materials after “following the advice of concerned individuals.”
Mr. Liebow also met with Shigeyasu Amano, a pathologist and associate professor at Kyoto Imperial University (present-day Kyoto University). The publication A Medical Diary of Hiroshima, 1945 indicates that Dr. Amano, after some hesitation, had agreed to provide pathological specimens obtained from the university’s studies. Dr. Amano later wrote in his personal account from 1954 about how the specimens had been forcibly taken and that he had “felt unimaginable discomfort.”
In September 1945, 11 members of the Kyoto University survey team lost their lives in a mudslide caused by the Makurazaki Typhoon. Among the fatalities was Shigeki Sugiyama, who had been engaged in pathological autopsy work. Dr. Amano also wrote about his regrets. “The autopsies and blood samples we had painstakingly collected were in that way treated like spoils of war.”
(Originally published on November 28, 2024)
