Documenting Hiroshima 80 years after A-bombing: In July 1952, numerous A-bomb victims’ remains excavated in Hiroshima, surrounding areas
Feb. 23, 2025
by Michio Shimotaka, Staff Writer
In July 1952, the remains of numerous victims of the atomic bombing by the U.S. military were excavated one after another in Hiroshima City and its surrounding areas. On July 4, the Hiroshima City government, based on information received from residents, discovered 29 bodies on Kanawajima Island (in Hiroshima’s present-day Minami Ward), where many wounded people had been taken immediately after the bombing. The Chugoku Shimbun dated July 5 carried heartbreaking photographs of the remains discovered at the site.
Bodies hastily buried amidst chaos
The occupation of Japan ended in April that year, and the press code that had restricted reports criticizing the atomic bombings was lifted. News of the discovery of remains, hastily buried and handled amidst the chaos, caused a sensation, leading to further investigations. On July 10, the Chugoku Shimbun received a piece of information from Katsusaburo Kitano, who was a businessperson managing a company related to the shipping industry in the town of Saka-cho in Hiroshima Prefecture. Mr. Kitano, who died in 1982 at the age of 80, revealed that there was a site in Saka-cho that held buried remains.
In the town, there was once a team affiliated with the Army’s Shipping Command that led rescue efforts immediately after the bombing, and countless wounded had been brought there. Mr. Kitano said he had heard stories about the situation from soldiers who assisted the wounded and carried out makeshift burials for the dead.
On the day Mr. Kitano provided the information, he guided a Chugoku Shimbun reporter around both the Taibi and Kotadadani areas. According to a Chugoku Shimbun story published on July 11, locals in Taibi said that a burial site with remains there was situated around 30 centimeters lower than the surrounding fields. Mr. Kitano explained, “That’s probably because the flesh has decomposed, leaving only bones.”
Kotadadani is located halfway up a mountain. For a while, dogs would carry parts of human remains in their mouths, leaving them exposed to wind, rain, and landslides. In 1947, Mr. Kitano revealed how he and his factory workers had unearthed 23 bodies and given them a proper burial. Conveying the need for further excavation, he said, “About 80 bodies appear to have been buried in this area, with around 40 still scattered around even now.” According to the July 11 Chugoku Shimbun story, the mayor of Saka-cho expressed his hope that the Hiroshima City government would excavate and retrieve the remains.
Erecting stone monument at his own expense
In the town, further excavation continued, and one photograph in the Chugoku Shimbun of the Kotadadani site captures at least 60 skulls. In August the following year, 1953, Mr. Kitano erected a stone monument about two meters tall on a hill (in the present-day area of Yokohama-Nishi, in Saka-cho) overlooking Hiroshima. In the interview with the Chugoku Shimbun, he said, “Those people suffered a terrible experience and were never found by their relatives, so we shouldn’t treat them carelessly.”
The stone monument remains today and, in 2020, an association of heads of households in Yokohama formed by local residents carried out repairs of damage to the monument. Mr. Kitano’s grandson, Katsujiro, 74, who runs a nearby marina and restaurant, goes to the monument whenever he visits his own family’s grave. “The tradition of holding memorial services for our ancestors has been passed down from generation to generation. I am only able to place my hands together in prayer, but I hope to continue the practice of doing so,” he said.
Separately, 42 bodies were excavated from the site where Yamanaka Girls High School, affiliated with Hiroshima Women’s High School of Education (present-day Hiroshima University Junior and Senior High School in Fukuyama), once stood in Hiroshima’s city center, and an estimated 52 bodies were additionally discovered at the foot of Mt. Futaba (in Hiroshima’s present-day Higashi Ward). One body discovered on Kanawajima Island had a piece of wood attached to its bones, with a junior high school student’s name written in ink. The body was returned to the student’s mother seven years after the bombing, but the identities and the families of most of the other remains are still unknown.
On August 5, 1952, a ceremony was held in which the remains were placed in an ossuary at what is now the Memorial Monument for the War Victims in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. More than 506 sets of remains were enshrined there.
(Originally published on February 23, 2025)
In July 1952, the remains of numerous victims of the atomic bombing by the U.S. military were excavated one after another in Hiroshima City and its surrounding areas. On July 4, the Hiroshima City government, based on information received from residents, discovered 29 bodies on Kanawajima Island (in Hiroshima’s present-day Minami Ward), where many wounded people had been taken immediately after the bombing. The Chugoku Shimbun dated July 5 carried heartbreaking photographs of the remains discovered at the site.
Bodies hastily buried amidst chaos
The occupation of Japan ended in April that year, and the press code that had restricted reports criticizing the atomic bombings was lifted. News of the discovery of remains, hastily buried and handled amidst the chaos, caused a sensation, leading to further investigations. On July 10, the Chugoku Shimbun received a piece of information from Katsusaburo Kitano, who was a businessperson managing a company related to the shipping industry in the town of Saka-cho in Hiroshima Prefecture. Mr. Kitano, who died in 1982 at the age of 80, revealed that there was a site in Saka-cho that held buried remains.
In the town, there was once a team affiliated with the Army’s Shipping Command that led rescue efforts immediately after the bombing, and countless wounded had been brought there. Mr. Kitano said he had heard stories about the situation from soldiers who assisted the wounded and carried out makeshift burials for the dead.
On the day Mr. Kitano provided the information, he guided a Chugoku Shimbun reporter around both the Taibi and Kotadadani areas. According to a Chugoku Shimbun story published on July 11, locals in Taibi said that a burial site with remains there was situated around 30 centimeters lower than the surrounding fields. Mr. Kitano explained, “That’s probably because the flesh has decomposed, leaving only bones.”
Kotadadani is located halfway up a mountain. For a while, dogs would carry parts of human remains in their mouths, leaving them exposed to wind, rain, and landslides. In 1947, Mr. Kitano revealed how he and his factory workers had unearthed 23 bodies and given them a proper burial. Conveying the need for further excavation, he said, “About 80 bodies appear to have been buried in this area, with around 40 still scattered around even now.” According to the July 11 Chugoku Shimbun story, the mayor of Saka-cho expressed his hope that the Hiroshima City government would excavate and retrieve the remains.
Erecting stone monument at his own expense
In the town, further excavation continued, and one photograph in the Chugoku Shimbun of the Kotadadani site captures at least 60 skulls. In August the following year, 1953, Mr. Kitano erected a stone monument about two meters tall on a hill (in the present-day area of Yokohama-Nishi, in Saka-cho) overlooking Hiroshima. In the interview with the Chugoku Shimbun, he said, “Those people suffered a terrible experience and were never found by their relatives, so we shouldn’t treat them carelessly.”
The stone monument remains today and, in 2020, an association of heads of households in Yokohama formed by local residents carried out repairs of damage to the monument. Mr. Kitano’s grandson, Katsujiro, 74, who runs a nearby marina and restaurant, goes to the monument whenever he visits his own family’s grave. “The tradition of holding memorial services for our ancestors has been passed down from generation to generation. I am only able to place my hands together in prayer, but I hope to continue the practice of doing so,” he said.
Separately, 42 bodies were excavated from the site where Yamanaka Girls High School, affiliated with Hiroshima Women’s High School of Education (present-day Hiroshima University Junior and Senior High School in Fukuyama), once stood in Hiroshima’s city center, and an estimated 52 bodies were additionally discovered at the foot of Mt. Futaba (in Hiroshima’s present-day Higashi Ward). One body discovered on Kanawajima Island had a piece of wood attached to its bones, with a junior high school student’s name written in ink. The body was returned to the student’s mother seven years after the bombing, but the identities and the families of most of the other remains are still unknown.
On August 5, 1952, a ceremony was held in which the remains were placed in an ossuary at what is now the Memorial Monument for the War Victims in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. More than 506 sets of remains were enshrined there.
(Originally published on February 23, 2025)
