I was exposed by the A-bomb on the site of the Mitsubishi shipbuilding yards in Eba-machi, at 8:15 on the morning of 6th August 1945. The force of the blast carried me five meters through the air, but I was not injured. The windows in all of the buildings were broken. I could see a mushroom cloud right before my eyes.

I was a junior high school student at Shudo Junior High School at that time. After lunch, our teachers told us to go straight home, and then gather at the Shudo Junior High School in Senda-machi the following morning. I went into the city with my friend Murakami. We heard that Funairi Bridge could not be crossed, and so we found a boat with about 10 other students, and crossed to the opposite bank in Yoshijima. There was a fuel depository there at that time, which was now being consumed by a great blaze. We went north from Yoshijima, trying to reach my granduncle Iguchi's house in Kako-machi, but the flames were still too strong for us to pass. We crossed Yorozuyo Bridge and headed toward the intersection at Takanobashi. We saw about twenty people with terrible burns lying in the rotary there. They were gasping, ""Water, give me water"" in almost lifeless breaths. We ran toward City Hall, in front of which we found the burned steel frame of a streetcar. Inside were about 10 lifeless bodies, burned so badly we could not distinguish man from woman. At the large entrance to City Hall, we found another body scorched badly like a grilled fish. But, it was very odd that only the chestnut-colored shoes on the body still shone as if they were new.

Making our way to Kamiya-cho, we discovered one more burned-out streetcar in front of the Bank of Japan. Tanks of water for fighting fires were placed at intervals of about 200 meters. There were about five or six scorched bodies piled at each tank, each person with his or her head thrust into the tank.

We avoided the streetcar street at Kamiya-cho, and made our way to the open ground in front of Gokoku Shrine. We drank the water that was spraying out of a ruptured water pipe, but then developed diarrhea later that night. When we crossed Aioi Bridge at approximately 3 pm, all of the bridge's parapets had fallen off. The burnt bodies of soldiers and their large horses were lying in the middle of the bridge. A man who appeared to be a medic and carrying a can of grease crossed the bridge toward us.

Since I was living with my relatives, the Kanazawas, in Misasa-kita-machi at that time, I went from Tokaichi to Yokogawa, and on to their home in Misasa. The Kanazawas' home was leaning a bit askew, but was overall undamaged. The father, mother, and first son were hysterical, because they had heard that it was most likely that everyone at the Second Prefectural Junior High School, where their second son went to school, had been killed.

I told them that I was going to return to my parents' house in Miyoshi, and then set off walking north along with Murakami. Night had fallen by the time we reached Midorii. It was dark, and we were hungry and lacked the energy to move. We begged for help at a large farmhouse. An old lady lived there alone, but she kindly offered us dinner and a place to sleep for the night.

The next morning, we heard that the Geibi Line was running as far as Yaguchi. Murakami and I parted ways, since he needed to get on the Kabe Line, and I continued toward Miyoshi. The train platform at Yaguchi was like a scene from hell, with dozens of badly burned and mostly naked men and women waiting for the train. After I returned to Miyoshi, my diarrhea continued for one week. However, I did not suffer any other complications. Later as an adult, tests showed that most of my sperm were dead. (I have no children.) On about 16th August I returned to Hiroshima to visit my uncle in Kako-machi, and we removed my things from where I had been staying in Misasa. After that, I transferred to Miyoshi Junior High School.