Documenting Hiroshima of 1946: In January, Hiroshi Ishizumi resumes writing in journal after returning to hometown
Jan. 22, 2025
by Maho Yamamoto, Staff Writer
In January 1946, Hiroshi Ishizumi, 21 at the time, who died in 2009 at the age of 85, resumed writing in his journal after he had been demobilized from the Army Shipping Command in Hiroshima and returned to his home in Kyoto. He had not written in his journal for around five months following the atomic bombing.
On New Year’s Day, he wrote, “Went to a shrine. Met Kyuichi at his home after visiting a temple. Played a karuta card game at Hideo’s house and had a good time.” He added on the same page, “I will work hard to build a new Japan.” He continued to write in his journal every day. On February 10, after attending the inauguration ceremony of a young men’s association, he wrote enthusiastically, “This group has bright prospects.”
Mr. Ishizumi was from the village of Shiganosato (in present-day Ayabe City) in Kyoto Prefecture. He had worked as a substitute teacher, but after becoming an officer in training, he headed to Hiroshima. He recorded the days of his training in a “personal development logbook” starting February 24, 1945. He described how he would write logbook entries in the restroom so that he would not be discovered.
On August 6, Mr. Ishizumi experienced the atomic bombing while taking part in exercises involving the dropping of depth charges off the Kusatsu coast in Hiroshima City. “At around 8 o’clock, I heard a huge noise accompanied by a strange light, and the next instant Hiroshima became engulfed in flames. It was an enemy attack using new tactics with new weapons.”
Starting that same day, he joined the relief efforts at Kusatsu National School (present-day Kusatsu Elementary School, in Hiroshima’s Nishi Ward) and, the next day, August 7, his journal stopped. According to a personal account that Mr. Ishizumi wrote later, he provided water to the wounded who were dying in accordance with instructions from military physicians. He was also in charge of recovering and cremating corpses.
According to his son, Toshiaki Ishizumi, 74, a resident of Nagaokakyo City in Kyoto Prefecture, his father worked as a government employee and engaged in farming on the side. He would always carry a water bottle with him when he went out to work in the fields but would never drink the water. Toshiaki had heard that the water bottle was one his father had used while in the Army. Toshiaki imagined, “Somewhere inside of him, it had significance as a memorial offering.”
Mr. Ishizumi almost never spoke of the atomic bombing while alive. He was disciplined about writing in his journal, even doing so while ill at the end of his life. Toshiaki described the hiatus during which his father did not write in his journal in 1945 as being because, “It was an experience he probably didn’t want to recall.”
After resuming his journal, Mr. Ishizumi mainly wrote about scenes of daily life, among others. In a journal entry dated April 9, he wrote, “In the afternoon, I completed rice seedbeds and split firewood.” On June 5, “Bothered daily by the food shortages.” However, on August 6, 1946, he wrote, “It’s the first anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Thinking about what happened last year on this day makes my hair stand on end.”
(Originally published on January 22, 2025)
In January 1946, Hiroshi Ishizumi, 21 at the time, who died in 2009 at the age of 85, resumed writing in his journal after he had been demobilized from the Army Shipping Command in Hiroshima and returned to his home in Kyoto. He had not written in his journal for around five months following the atomic bombing.
On New Year’s Day, he wrote, “Went to a shrine. Met Kyuichi at his home after visiting a temple. Played a karuta card game at Hideo’s house and had a good time.” He added on the same page, “I will work hard to build a new Japan.” He continued to write in his journal every day. On February 10, after attending the inauguration ceremony of a young men’s association, he wrote enthusiastically, “This group has bright prospects.”
Mr. Ishizumi was from the village of Shiganosato (in present-day Ayabe City) in Kyoto Prefecture. He had worked as a substitute teacher, but after becoming an officer in training, he headed to Hiroshima. He recorded the days of his training in a “personal development logbook” starting February 24, 1945. He described how he would write logbook entries in the restroom so that he would not be discovered.
On August 6, Mr. Ishizumi experienced the atomic bombing while taking part in exercises involving the dropping of depth charges off the Kusatsu coast in Hiroshima City. “At around 8 o’clock, I heard a huge noise accompanied by a strange light, and the next instant Hiroshima became engulfed in flames. It was an enemy attack using new tactics with new weapons.”
Starting that same day, he joined the relief efforts at Kusatsu National School (present-day Kusatsu Elementary School, in Hiroshima’s Nishi Ward) and, the next day, August 7, his journal stopped. According to a personal account that Mr. Ishizumi wrote later, he provided water to the wounded who were dying in accordance with instructions from military physicians. He was also in charge of recovering and cremating corpses.
According to his son, Toshiaki Ishizumi, 74, a resident of Nagaokakyo City in Kyoto Prefecture, his father worked as a government employee and engaged in farming on the side. He would always carry a water bottle with him when he went out to work in the fields but would never drink the water. Toshiaki had heard that the water bottle was one his father had used while in the Army. Toshiaki imagined, “Somewhere inside of him, it had significance as a memorial offering.”
Mr. Ishizumi almost never spoke of the atomic bombing while alive. He was disciplined about writing in his journal, even doing so while ill at the end of his life. Toshiaki described the hiatus during which his father did not write in his journal in 1945 as being because, “It was an experience he probably didn’t want to recall.”
After resuming his journal, Mr. Ishizumi mainly wrote about scenes of daily life, among others. In a journal entry dated April 9, he wrote, “In the afternoon, I completed rice seedbeds and split firewood.” On June 5, “Bothered daily by the food shortages.” However, on August 6, 1946, he wrote, “It’s the first anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Thinking about what happened last year on this day makes my hair stand on end.”
(Originally published on January 22, 2025)
