My Life: Interview with Sunao Tsuboi, Chairperson of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, Part 4
Jan. 22, 2013
1.2 km from the hypocenter
by Sakiko Masuda, Staff Writer
Lingering regret over inability to help woman
When the atomic bomb was dropped, Mr. Tsuboi was a third-year student at the Hiroshima Technical Institute (now the Faculty of Engineering at Hiroshima University).
Our entire class had been on guard duty at school until dawn. The air raid warning had been lifted, so around 7:50 a.m. I ate breakfast at a restaurant in Takanobashi (now part of Naka Ward). The meal was very simple: a bowl of 50 percent barley, 30 percent soybeans and 20 percent rice, some salty broth with seaweed in it, and two small slices of pickled radish. I finished it in about 5 minutes. Just after I said thank you and went outside, I ran into three underclassmen.
They said, “How about eating again with us? If you need a ration coupon we’ll manage something.” I was tempted, but then I thought of the young woman who worked in the restaurant. I was afraid she might think I was a greedy student. I was too embarrassed to go back in, so I decided to return to school. That was about 8:05. I heard later that those three underclassmen were killed in the A-bombing. If I had stayed to eat with them, I wouldn’t have survived. We talked about having lunch together, and that was the last conversation I ever had with them.
Mr. Tsuboi was walking through the vicinity of Fujimi-cho (now part of Naka Ward) on his way back to his lodgings to get some belongings when suddenly there was a flash.
I heard a strange slithering sound. Just then there was a silvery white light, like the flash of a camera. My first impulse was to hit the ground, but I was thrown about 10 meters by the blast and knocked out. I don’t know how much time passed, but when I came to everything was black. I could only see about 100 meters in front of me. I figured I’d been unlucky and a bomb had been dropped right where I was. I immediately thought, “How dare the enemy do this! I will get revenge!”
Mr. Tsuboi heard the voice of a woman calling for help coming from a house that had collapsed. The woman was trapped, but he could not see her.
I wanted to help her, but I could hardly move. That’s when I first realized I was injured. The sleeves of my shirt and my pant legs from the knees down had been burned off. My legs and arms were burned black, and dark red blood was flowing from my waist. I was really weak.
I couldn’t help the woman by myself, so I decided to call for help. I called out to the woman, “Hold on. Hang in there.” The people around me were injured too, so there was no one to help me rescue her. No matter the reason, I still feel guilty about not being able to save that woman.”
(Originally published on January 19, 2013)
by Sakiko Masuda, Staff Writer
Lingering regret over inability to help woman
When the atomic bomb was dropped, Mr. Tsuboi was a third-year student at the Hiroshima Technical Institute (now the Faculty of Engineering at Hiroshima University).
Our entire class had been on guard duty at school until dawn. The air raid warning had been lifted, so around 7:50 a.m. I ate breakfast at a restaurant in Takanobashi (now part of Naka Ward). The meal was very simple: a bowl of 50 percent barley, 30 percent soybeans and 20 percent rice, some salty broth with seaweed in it, and two small slices of pickled radish. I finished it in about 5 minutes. Just after I said thank you and went outside, I ran into three underclassmen.
They said, “How about eating again with us? If you need a ration coupon we’ll manage something.” I was tempted, but then I thought of the young woman who worked in the restaurant. I was afraid she might think I was a greedy student. I was too embarrassed to go back in, so I decided to return to school. That was about 8:05. I heard later that those three underclassmen were killed in the A-bombing. If I had stayed to eat with them, I wouldn’t have survived. We talked about having lunch together, and that was the last conversation I ever had with them.
Mr. Tsuboi was walking through the vicinity of Fujimi-cho (now part of Naka Ward) on his way back to his lodgings to get some belongings when suddenly there was a flash.
I heard a strange slithering sound. Just then there was a silvery white light, like the flash of a camera. My first impulse was to hit the ground, but I was thrown about 10 meters by the blast and knocked out. I don’t know how much time passed, but when I came to everything was black. I could only see about 100 meters in front of me. I figured I’d been unlucky and a bomb had been dropped right where I was. I immediately thought, “How dare the enemy do this! I will get revenge!”
Mr. Tsuboi heard the voice of a woman calling for help coming from a house that had collapsed. The woman was trapped, but he could not see her.
I wanted to help her, but I could hardly move. That’s when I first realized I was injured. The sleeves of my shirt and my pant legs from the knees down had been burned off. My legs and arms were burned black, and dark red blood was flowing from my waist. I was really weak.
I couldn’t help the woman by myself, so I decided to call for help. I called out to the woman, “Hold on. Hang in there.” The people around me were injured too, so there was no one to help me rescue her. No matter the reason, I still feel guilty about not being able to save that woman.”
(Originally published on January 19, 2013)
