Masako Irita, first-year student, Class 5, Hiroshima Municipal Girls’ School—Letters to younger sister show feelings of young girl living earnestly
Jun. 23, 2000
Masako Irita, 12 years old at the time and a first-year student in Class 5 at Hiroshima Municipal Girls’ School, would frequently send letters to her younger sister, Sumiko, a fifth grader at Koi Elementary School who had been evacuated with groups of other students to the village of Higashi (Kozan-cho at the time) in the Sera-gun district on May 12, 1945. The letters contained information about how Masako and her family were doing at that time and about what was happening in Hiroshima. The correspondences convey the young girl living earnestly in wartime and her feelings before she ultimately died in the atomic bombing. With the permission of her bereaved family, excerpts from the original letters are presented herein. All of her letters and postcards were donated to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum by her father, Shigeo Irita, who died in 1970.
“Sumiko-chan, thanks for your first letter. I am so glad to hear you are full of vigor. Dad and everyone else in the family are well and protecting the land of Hiroshima.
“I am working hard to be of some service to the nation, helping clean up the houses of people who have evacuated.
“Everything we do every day is for His Majesty the Emperor and for the nation. Therefore, no matter how difficult things may be, we must be patient and willing to be of service in any way...
“Air-raid alerts are issued several times a day, and enemy planes are defiling this sacred homeland created by the gods. However, we are not at all dispirited. Until the day of victory, we must simply carry out the duties entrusted to us...” (Excerpted from a letter dated May 18, 1945)
“ ... Yesterday and today, a fine, thread-like spring rain has been softly falling on the air-raid shelter in the garden and on the fields. It must be the beginning of the rainy season. It’s truly an unpleasant rain. Is it raining in your area in the countryside? When I think of the farmers, I guess I can’t complain at all...
“I am out again working with the others. We stand in the dust and work hard. I can’t express how delicious the box lunch is that we eat after work. We are happy to work for the nation and for final victory.” (Excerpted from a letter dated May 22, 1945)
“Sumiko-chan, how are you? Everyone at home is fine. I’m working hard to grow pumpkins. I wrote earlier that we were producing one kan (note: 3.75 kilograms) of the pumpkins, but that was a mistake. It was actually 10 kan. So now the entire garden is full of pumpkins. The female flowers have already bloomed. The castor-oil plants have also grown large. In addition, we’ve planted sennari gourds. We’ve made a trellis for the pumpkins and gourd plants. We’ve also planted sweet potatoes.” (Excerpted from a letter dated June 10, 1945)
“I’m sorry I haven’t written you for such a long time. The air raids are becoming more intense day by day. We were not at all harmed by yesterday’s air raid (July 24). Even now, air-raid sirens are being sounded from early in the morning. We are in the midst of that situation right now...
“We have moved our sewing machine and clothes cabinet to a safer place. We are also going to move the table and cupboard in the tatami room. People have started swimming next to Asahi Bridge. The water in the Municipal Girls' School pool has been changed, so we’ll be able to swim there soon. I haven’t yet swum even one time. I heard from mom that the place you are staying is very nice. Well, take care of yourself in the coming hot weather.
Goodbye, Sumiko-chan. From Masako.” (Excerpted from a letter dated July 25, 1945)
(Originally published on June 23, 2000)
“Sumiko-chan, thanks for your first letter. I am so glad to hear you are full of vigor. Dad and everyone else in the family are well and protecting the land of Hiroshima.
“I am working hard to be of some service to the nation, helping clean up the houses of people who have evacuated.
“Everything we do every day is for His Majesty the Emperor and for the nation. Therefore, no matter how difficult things may be, we must be patient and willing to be of service in any way...
“Air-raid alerts are issued several times a day, and enemy planes are defiling this sacred homeland created by the gods. However, we are not at all dispirited. Until the day of victory, we must simply carry out the duties entrusted to us...” (Excerpted from a letter dated May 18, 1945)
“ ... Yesterday and today, a fine, thread-like spring rain has been softly falling on the air-raid shelter in the garden and on the fields. It must be the beginning of the rainy season. It’s truly an unpleasant rain. Is it raining in your area in the countryside? When I think of the farmers, I guess I can’t complain at all...
“I am out again working with the others. We stand in the dust and work hard. I can’t express how delicious the box lunch is that we eat after work. We are happy to work for the nation and for final victory.” (Excerpted from a letter dated May 22, 1945)
“Sumiko-chan, how are you? Everyone at home is fine. I’m working hard to grow pumpkins. I wrote earlier that we were producing one kan (note: 3.75 kilograms) of the pumpkins, but that was a mistake. It was actually 10 kan. So now the entire garden is full of pumpkins. The female flowers have already bloomed. The castor-oil plants have also grown large. In addition, we’ve planted sennari gourds. We’ve made a trellis for the pumpkins and gourd plants. We’ve also planted sweet potatoes.” (Excerpted from a letter dated June 10, 1945)
“I’m sorry I haven’t written you for such a long time. The air raids are becoming more intense day by day. We were not at all harmed by yesterday’s air raid (July 24). Even now, air-raid sirens are being sounded from early in the morning. We are in the midst of that situation right now...
“We have moved our sewing machine and clothes cabinet to a safer place. We are also going to move the table and cupboard in the tatami room. People have started swimming next to Asahi Bridge. The water in the Municipal Girls' School pool has been changed, so we’ll be able to swim there soon. I haven’t yet swum even one time. I heard from mom that the place you are staying is very nice. Well, take care of yourself in the coming hot weather.
Goodbye, Sumiko-chan. From Masako.” (Excerpted from a letter dated July 25, 1945)
(Originally published on June 23, 2000)
