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| IKUTA Katsuko（IKUTA Katsuko） |
| Gender |
Female |
Age at time of bombing |
16 |
| Recorded on |
2004. |
Age at time of recording |
76 |
| Location at time of bombing |
Hiroshima(Direct exposure Distance from the bombing hypocenter:2.0km) |
| Location when exposed to the bombing |
Senda, Hiroshima City [Current Naka-ku, Hiroshima City] |
| Status at time of bombing |
High school or university student |
| Occupational status at time of bombing |
Training School for Relief Nurses, Hiroshima Branch Hospital, Japan Red Cross Society |
| Hall site |
Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims |
Dubbed in English/
With English subtitles |
Dubbed in English |
1. Katsuko Ikuta was in Senda-machi, 2km from the epicenter, when the bomb exploded. She was 16.
2. A student at the nursing school there, she was trapped under a building and severely injured her head and face. Still, she helped to rescue other victims.
3. To this day, she worries about possible after-effects to her children and grandchildren.
4. coming to Hiroshima before the bombing.
5. It was the most aggressive stage of World War II and families were proud of their sons who went to war. I too, wanted to do something for my country.
6. When I saw nurses at the Red Cross Hospital in Shimonoseki seeing soldiers off to places overseas and realized that women too, could help in war zones, I applied to the Red Cross.
7. It would have been natural to join the Red Cross in Shimonoseki, but I went to Hiroshima because my sister had a friend there.
8. work at the time
9. It was the Hiroshima Red Cross Nurse Training Center.
10. I entered in April, 1945. There wasn't much to study, as there were not many teaching materials available.
11. life at the time
12. Air raids and air raid sirens were common so I couldn't study comfortably. I often saw the silver B29s shining in the light. Every time one came, I had to go to a shelter. There was no time for study.
13. There wasn't any food either, so we mixed soybean curds and such that are normally for animals, with our rice and ate that. I also picked grass from the street that was edible.
14. After graduating from girls' school, my classmates had gone to the naval arsenal in Kure as mobilized students.
15. While I was attending that girls' school, I also made airplane parts at an army factory.
16. Hiroshima before the bombing
17. After entering the nursing school I never went out, so I didn't know east from west. I only knew that a streetcar ran outside of the hospital.
18. I got off at Hiroshima Station, then I got off the streetcar in front of City Hall and walked to the hospital from there. That's all.
19. state of affairs that morning
20. It was a beautiful day. Dysentery was going around though, an I had caught it a few days earlier so I was in isolation.
21. A lot of dysentery patients had come to the hospital but there weren't enough rooms for them. Part of the dormitory was used as an isolation ward.
22. moment of the explosion
23. It was just as the alert was called off. I had put on my pants and jacket so that I could go out any time, but it was hot, so I undressed and lay on my bed.
24. Just then, towards the right I saw a bright light. It was like a magnesium flash for a camera. ""What are they doing taking pictures from the sky now?"" I thought.
25. That moment, things came falling from above. The wall and everything. There was so much dust I couldn't see a thing. I couldn't even grab my towel that was just by my bed.
26. At the time we were trained to take cover immediately if something happened. I didn't know what was happening, but I took cover.
27. Thinking this was a dream, I pinched my cheek but it hurt so I knew it wasn't. Something terribly strange was happening.
28. I hadn't even realized that I was trapped. I could hear voices coming from here and there saying ""help"", ""mother"", ""head nurse"" and so on.
29. I didn't know how I escaped, but somehow I got out into the courtyard.
30. The second floor had dropped as is, so I was saved. The people below all burned to death.
31. A beam had fallen on my back and I was cut so badly that my bone was visible. I was cut all over my face and hands too, but I didn't feel any pain.
32. I figured I needed to go to where other people were. When I got out to the courtyard, a number of my friends were there. They didn't recognize me because my face was all covered in blood.
33. I washed my face with water that was for extinguishing fires.
34. Right near me, a friend who had come with me from Shimonoseki was lying dead. I heard later that a falling beam had hit her and she died instantly.
35. Normally you would think that seeing a friend dead would make you sad or feel sorry for her. Things were such that it didn't even cross my mind.
36. The surrounding area was burnt and barren. Fires were burning for as far as I could see. I didn't have time to be caring about other people. I was in a daze.
37. tragedy immediately after the bombing
38. Patients came rushing into the hospital. Their clothing tattered, their skin dangling. It was like looking at rows of ghosts heading my way.
39. I didn't know where to begin. I will never forget what I saw that day.
40. At night there was no place to sleep. Patients filled the hospital entrance and the yard in front. I slept outside in front of the hospital.
41. At sundown, a baby was crying so hard, I went to see what was wrong. The child was crying beside her dead mother.
42. treating the hibakusha
43. We only had this white zinc oxide oil to treat burns. There was nothing else we could do.
44. People who had burns on their faces were painted white with this oil and really looked like ghosts.
45. It was summertime so maggots grew in the wounds. The only thing we could do was remove them with tweezers.
46. conditions after the bombing
47. Some help came from the Yamaguchi Red Cross, so I was allowed time off to go home. I think it was just before the war ended. Malnutrition was an issue too.
48. From around autumn, I started to lose hair. ""This is the atom bomb disease. I'm going to go bald,"" I thought. I didn't think I would live long.
49. I got on a train in the morning, but it stopped every time there was an air raid warning so by the time I got to Tsuwano it was evening.
50. There weren't any busses then and no phones, so I hiked home from the station over a mountain - about 3 or 4 kilometers.
51. My mother was so happy to see me. She thought I was dead. She had heard that a new type of bomb had been dropped on Hiroshima and things were bad. I looked like a ghost.
52. marriage and anxieties about childbirth
53. I had decided not to marry. There were rumors that deformed children would be born. But my husband told me not to worry about that, so we married.
54. I feel bad about giving birth. There is nothing wrong with my child at the moment, but it does worry me.
55. Even if there are no after-effects, I still feel responsible.
56. losing a lot of friends
57. When I entered that school there were 200 students. At graduation there were 100 at most.
58. anger about the bombing
59. It must not be done. This is the destruction of mankind. If it is used again, it will lead us to the end of human life. We must abolish the atomic bomb at all costs.
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*Many more memoirs can be viewed at both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki Peace Memorial Halls.
*These contents are updated periodically.
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