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| YAMAMOTO Nobuo（YAMAMOTO Nobuo） |
| Gender |
Male |
Age at time of bombing |
23 |
| Recorded on |
2004. |
Age at time of recording |
81 |
| Location at time of bombing |
Hiroshima(Direct exposure Distance from the bombing hypocenter:0.5km) |
| Location when exposed to the bombing |
Kodo Elementary School Hiroshima Military Police Squad (Nekoya-cho, Hiroshima City [Current Nekoya-cho, Naka-ku, Hiroshima City]) |
| Status at time of bombing |
Armed Forces member or military personnel |
| Occupational status at time of bombing |
Chugoku Military PoliceHiroshima Military Police Squad |
| Hall site |
Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims |
Dubbed in English/
With English subtitles |
Dubbed in English |
1. Nobuo Yamamoto was exposed to the atomic bomb half a kilometer from the epicenter, in Nekoya-cho. He was 23.
2. He was blown away during morning assembly as a military police serviceman. When he regained consciousness he was enveloped in a sea of fire, which he barely escaped.
3. Ever since, he has been haunted by thoughts of after-effects or what could happen to his children. Unable to heal from this experience, he has kept silent.
4. Coming to Hiroshima
5. Upon returning from Manchuria, I attended a reserve officer's cadet school to become a ground officer. After I graduated, I went to military police school.
6. As a military police school graduate, I then went to the headquarters in Hiroshima.
7. The headquarters were in Nekoya-cho, 500m from the epicenter, an impressive four-storey concrete building. Those ranking below a commander were in wooden homes.
8. Work and State-of-affairs in Hiroshima
9. I was an officer in training so I investigated and followed my commanding officer's orders.
10. I instructed the regular military police and circulated the city at least once a day.
11. At night I listened to stories about what went on in other towns and at times was even allowed to sit in cafes to hear about movements in the army and navy.
12. Hiroshima was a very pretty city. Land readjustments were being planned as bombing was expected in the cities.
13. Because of this, we forced evacuation and created places for congregation. Leading this was also our job.
14. I often crossed the Aioi Bridge. I even went for walks over there on Sundays. The Ota River was truly beautiful.
15. Sense of Duty at the Time
16. In those days the emperor was considered to be a kind of god. It was our duty to protect the emperor and his nation; his people.
17. Immediately before the Bombing
18. The alert had just been called off and Hiroshima was getting ready for a day's work. I was relieved too, and walked over to my police squad in Nekoya-cho.
19. It was an extremely hot day and the morning sun was sizzling.
20. Morning assembly started at 8, but I had some other things to do. I needed to look some things up.
21. I had been researching how to dismantle unexploded American bombs and was going to give a lecture to soldiers and military police.
22. It was over in about 5 minutes and we all went into the reinforced concrete building.
23. Moment of the Explosion
24. I had just written something on the board and turned around to talk with two non-commissioned officers when I was blown away.
25. I had been the only one standing. The rest were seated, so I received the worst impact.
26. It wasn't like a flash and a bang for me. There was no light and no sound. Just a windblast. I may have momentarily been unconscious.
27. I crawled out from beneath the desks and chairs. At that time I had hit my head.
28. I was bleeding heavily but there were no bandages or anything, so I tore a curtain and wrapped that around my head.
29. Then I went outside. Not from the main entrance, but from a back window. Behind the barracks.
30. Tragedy after the Bombing
31. It was a sea of fire. Citizens had gathered in areas created from forced evacuation.
32. A mother, half-naked, was holding her child asking the soldiers to ""please help"". She was burned and half naked.
33. When I looked around, I saw that many people were lying in rows, covered in blood.
34. I met a soldier who had lost his nose and was unable to breathe.
35. It was all fire and smoke. From the fifth floor of the barracks, the city was completely flattened. ""That is an incredible bomb,"" I thought.
36. I didn't see a flash. There was no sound of explosion. ""What kind of bomb was that?"" I wondered.
37. Damage to the Citizens
38. Women were wearing colored clothing, which burned immediately, resulting in keloids. The men wore white shirts and didn't seem to be as badly burnt.
39. Those who were walking tottered as they held their arms up. Their skin was dangling from burns.
40. They resembled ghosts. The women's skin was dangling the most.
41. Children and women lined the streets in the burning city. I ordered a military police officer to move the lumber to prevent fire from spreading.
42. There were enough bodies floating in the river with the wood and lumber to be able to walk on.
43. These were people who had walked along the streets or ran to the river to get away from the heat. They had jumped into the river from thirst.
44. Perhaps there was nothing else they could do. There were very many of them.
45. Those who were still able to breathe held onto the lumber and flowed with it.
46. Injury from the Bombing
47. Some of those who were there to attend my lecture were saved.
48. But most of them seem to have passed away. Not wanting to know, I had refrained from investigating for tens of years.
49. I felt no pain or itching so didn't notice that I had a big cut on my chest. I wasn't aware of my bleeding either. This time I blacked out.
50. I don't remember what happened after that at all. A subordinate had taken me to a shelter in Yokogawa where I woke up the next morning.
51. Symptoms that Followed
52. On the third day they put me on a truck and took me to Oonoura Army Hospital across from Miyajima.
53. The fact that they took me away from the radiation is what saved my life.
54. I had diarrhea every day. My gums bled, too. There wasn't enough blood to go around so your own blood was injected.
55. Some people were injected with syringes with medication poisoned with radiation. This caused swelling and made the situation worse.
56. Fear of After-effects
57. I didn't tell my wife this, but I was worried about my children getting married. I was already married when I joined the army.
58. One child was born when I was with the army, so I wasn't worried there.
59. As for the other… I was worried about after-effects and effects on the genes. I did not go public with it.
60. Frightfulness of Radiation
61. Those lying next to me, those who had been exposed greatly to radiation died one after another.
62. A young man who had only been slightly burned helped me with my meals.
63. On about the third day, this person developed red spots at the tip of his baby finger. His temperature rose and he died in one day. I saw that happen to three people.
64. We had information at an early stage about the bomb being radioactive. I suffered, too.
65. anger about the bombing
66. I really hated remembering that day. I wonder why they needed to drop such a powerful bomb. That makes me feel angry.
67. Soldiers can convince themselves about the consequences of war, but that is not so for the average person.
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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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