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| KITAMURA Mineo（KITAMURA Mineo） |
| Gender |
Male |
Age at time of bombing |
21 |
| Recorded on |
2004. |
Age at time of recording |
80 |
| Location at time of bombing |
Hiroshima(Direct exposure Distance from the bombing hypocenter:4.0km) |
| Location when exposed to the bombing |
Hosogi, Niho-machi, Hiroshima City [Current Minami-ku, Hiroshima city] |
| Status at time of bombing |
Armed Forces member or military personnel |
| Occupational status at time of bombing |
Supply Corps (16710th Akatsuki Unit), Ship Communications Troops, Training Ship Corps, Ship Headquarters, Army Department, Imperial Headquarters |
| Hall site |
Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims |
Dubbed in English/
With English subtitles |
Dubbed in English |
1. Mineo Kitamura was exposed to the bomb 4 kilometers from the hypocenter at the Akatsuki Unit in Niho. He was 21.
2. Although he was saved after that bright light and hot wind that followed the B29, he has spent life in and out of hospitals. The scars from the bombing have never healed.
3. [arriving in Hiroshima before the bombing]
4. I passed the physical to enter the army, with flying colors. Well you know, in those days that was an honor. To join the army, that is.
5. This was great because it was my deepest wish to be able to join the army. With my experience in transmissions, I expected to get work in that field.
6. I had been working at Ueda Station and most of my work involved signal transmissions.
7. I also sold train tickets. It was then that I was summoned for active duty. And that's how I ended up in Hiroshima.
8. [work at the signal regiment]
9. I was mostly in transmissions. Ship signal transmissions. I was at a training center in Ujina for about three months where I got my radar training. Then I returned to the main unit.
10. You know, it was youth training. Do you know Tanna? That's where the army education headquarters was. It was also the marine strategy headquarters.
11. I was posted at the signals investigation unit and what we did there was intercept all the information that came through the regiment. We were the communications police.
12. [Hiroshima in those days]
13. It was a wonderful city. There were lots of fun places in Kamiya-cho, like the performance hall.
14. We often went downtown on Sundays. Mostly Kamiya-cho. Of course military exercises were held at the Western Drill Ground, the other side of Gokoku Shrine.
15. We went into town for these exercises. Yes, I remember Kamiya-cho and the Western Drill Ground most clearly. The toughest training was there.
16. From the Drill Ground, we had to run … about four kilometers … in four rows, all the way back to our quarters. A number of us wouldn't make it the whole way.
17. [premonition of Japan's defeat]
18. What I felt most was uh… Some 200 Grumman aircraft flew overhead in formation. The skies of Hiroshima didn't mean a thing. They had come to bomb naval shipyards in Kure.
19. Personnel at the Ujina arsenal aimed ammunition at them but nothing would reach in time. Oh, I suppose they got one or two.
20. Seeing that artillery was not reaching these bombers, it was clear that Japan was completely under armed.
21. Before the bomb, a surveillance plane came and scattered leaflets telling the citizens of Hiroshima to move away. The papers said; ""Our enemy is the military and plutocracy, not the people.""
22. [moment of the blast]
23. The morning of the 6th, the sun was shining brightly. At 8 o'clock in the morning, we had just changed shifts and finished daily reports. When I stepped out onto the road, I saw a B29 flying low.
24. I thought ""that's strange"" and as soon as the plane went behind the hill, it dropped the bomb. There was a sudden flash of light.
25. The light was like that of a magnesium flash bulb used in cameras. It was incredible. And the heat wave that followed and enveloped us. We held our eyes and ears and took cover.
26. Then in no time, there was a huge blast that shook the earth, and the roof tiles … I was nearly four kilometers away, and roof tiles were falling, flying … it was impossible.
27. [the mushroom cloud that followed]
28. I looked toward Hiroshima City and it had turned completely dark and that mushroom cloud was growing. It was sort of pinkish and looked as though it was coming my way.
29. ""Look, it's a disaster! Is it coming this way?"" I thought, and looked over at Ujina. It was on fire. They got Ujina, too.
30. There were tanks at the edge of town near Ujina and I was sure they got those. But that wasn't it. The tanks were untouched.
31. [devastation immediately after]
32. Meanwhile, army vehicles started bringing back the injured one after another. You couldn't tell if they were male or female, they were so badly burnt.
33. And their skin was peeling off … They looked like ghosts. It frightened me to the point where I was shaking so hard, I couldn't move one step forward.
34. But still, I pulled myself together and started helping people out of the vehicles. And I laid them down on the grass mats in the warehouse.
35. Then these people started begging for water. And the nurses are saying; ""Don't give them water!"" They were too badly burned. ""Don't give them water"" they said. There was no medicine to help them.
36. And for those that were burnt, we went looking for something oily. But there was no oil being used in the army. The only oil available was the stuff used to stretch leather. That was it.
37. So all we could do was leave them lying there. I went back to my unit and explained the situation.
38. [to the hypocenter in search of comrades]
39. A corporal from my section named Shiomi, was in the army hospital near the hypocenter for pulmonary infiltration.
40. Those of us on early-morning shift went to the epicenter in 2s and 3s to see if he was alive. I went on the 7th with Hirabayashi.
41. What we saw were mountains of debris. Dead bodies lying everywhere. When we got to the hospital it was gone. So we picked up some bones and took them back. We didn't know who's they were.
42. On the way, the wounded begged for water. What else could I do? I took out my canteen and gave them water, like this. Of course they would die in 10 minutes.
43. In the end what we did was bring back bones that belonged to somebody, maybe friends, got incense and candles from neighbors, made an altar and prayed for each of them, until the army disbanded.
44. [devastating force of the atomic bomb]
45. Nobody knew the name of that bomb, only that it was new. It was only later that we found out it was an atomic bomb.
46. Apparently this bomb was being researched in Japan too. I heard that the researcher died while he was working on it.
47. But of course it's completely nonsense. The bomb itself. All it took was one single bomb to destroy a city of that size.about 140,000 people died in Hiroshima, didn't they?
48. With Nagasaki, the number was more like 200,000. We have a group in Nagano, of friends that were killed or exposed to the bombs in Nagasaki and Hiroshima. There are about 200 members.
49. Everybody has something wrong and many regularly see their doctor.
50. [symptoms after exposure]
51. Not having experienced any impact, there was nothing to speak of immediately after the bomb. I was showered in light and wind but I took cover by the side of that road so I was okay.
52. Not having any cuts or bruises, I had no idea. Not until I got a medical check-up.
53. They told me at the health center that there was something wrong with my blood, so ""please come two more times so we can conduct a more thorough examination.""
54. I had been feeling especially lethargic around then. I'm sure due to after-effects.
55. [hiding being a hibakusha]
56. I didn't talk much about the bomb. I worked for the national railway for 41 years but never told anyone… well, just those at Ueda station when I returned. After that, none of us ever mentioned it.
57. That was mostly because of the rumors. They said that if you had after-effects your children and grandchildren will be affected too. Maybe there was some truth to that, but I never talked about it.
58. Never. Not even to my wife. She never knew. Later on when I started taking part in activities through the hibakusha group, she started to catch on.
59. [a peaceful world with no war]
60. What I feel most strongly about now is the words engraved at the Atomic Bomb Dome. ""Let all the souls here rest in peace, for we shall not repeat the evil."" Those words are now a big part of me.
61. So you see, to try another nuclear war, well that just cannot happen. Everyone wants a peaceful world. War is not the answer when troubles occur.
62. Peace must be the top priority when looking for solutions. The world must become peaceful. This is how I always feel.
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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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