Tsutomu Yamaguchi survived both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings
In August 1945, two atomic bombs plummeted from bombers flying over Japan. The first destroyed Hiroshima. The second shattered Nagasaki. Between 129,000 and 226,000 civilians and soldiers died. Tsutomu Yamaguchi witnessed both attacks. However, unlike hundreds of thousands of his compatriots, he survived.
Why Hiroshima was bombed
It was the afternoon of April 12, 1945 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt died. Then 63-years old, he suffered from a cerebral bleed. President Harry S. Truman succeeded him.
Shortly after President Truman assumed presidency, he was privy to confidential information. Two men informed President Truman of the atomic bomb’s existence. The first one was Henry Lewis Stimson, the Secretary of War. The second one was the Director of War Mobilization, a man named James Francis Byrnes. Stimson took part in the Manhattan Project. This project researched and developed atomic bombs during World War II. Major General Leslie Groves supervised this endeavor.
Within four months we shall in all probability have completed the most terrible weapon ever known in human history, one bomb of which could destroy a whole city. — Henry Stimson’s words to President Truman
President Truman consulted his closest advisers on how to proceed. When will the bombers strike? Where? How? They consulted the top meteorologist of the Twentieth Air Force. He recommended to drop the bombs in January the following year. Neither rain nor typhoons were common in January. Except, no one wanted to wait that long. The war has been ongoing for quite some time, and they were keen to force Japan’s defeat sooner rather than later.
Subsequently, the meteorologist suggested August. June and July are rainy months. Although typhoons occur in August, this month also has dry and warm days. Any meteorologist would be able to predict a good day twenty-four hours in advance.
Major General Leslie Groves had a recommendation to answer the question of where. He proposed that the target be a military headquarters. This would annihilate military equipment and supplies.
The committee identified Hiroshima as the largest untouched military target.
Tsutomu Yamaguchi in Hiroshima
It was a pleasant, sunny morning on the 6th of August 1945. Tsutomu Yamaguchi, a naval draftsman for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, walked towards the Hiroshima shipyard. The three-month-long project he had been working on wrapped up that day. Yamaguchi would be able to go home to see his wife and son soon.
He retrieved his travel documents, bid farewell to his colleagues, and departed. While walking outside near a potato field, he heard the sound of a plane. From the plane fell some kind of object. This plane was Enola Gay; the object was Little Boy. “Little Boy” was an atomic bomb filled with 64 kilograms of uranium-235. It exploded with 15 kilotons of Trinitrotoluene (TNT). The blast occurred three kilometers away.
‘I looked up into the sky and saw the B-29, and it dropped two parachutes. I was looking up at them, and suddenly it was like a flash of magnesium, a great flash in the sky, and I was blown over.’ — Tsutomu Yamaguchi
A great white flash in the sky blinded Yamaguchi. He recognized it as an attack, so he followed his intuition. He flung himself immediately down the ground. A deafening roar followed the white flash. The blast shook him and the resulting heat pricked his skin. Although it turned dark and cloudy, Yamaguchi observed a mushroom-looking cloud in the sky. His hair, face, and arms sustained wounds. His left eardrum ruptured. But he survived.
After spending two hours inside an air-raid shelter, he decided to leave Hiroshima. There was no point in staying in this ruined city. Together with two friends, they headed to the train station. Surprisingly, despite the bomb damage, the railway continued to operate. They boarded the first train out of Hiroshima. He went home.
Although 78,000 people were killed at once by the bomb, Japan refused to surrender.
Tsutomu Yamaguchi heads home
Yamaguchi needed rest. He had been looking forward to seeing his family after being away for three months. Unfortunately, his home was in an industrial city called Nagasaki.
As soon as he arrived in the city, Yamaguchi visited the hospital. He needed treatment for his burns. A doctor covered his charred skin with ointment and sent him home. He reported to work on the 9th of August despite his wounds.
As he spoke with his boss in their office building, another bomb blasted the city. This time, what the bomber Bockscar released was a Fat Man. It was a bigger, 25-kiloton plutonium bomb. Initial plans to release the bomb in Kokura went awry due to thick haze. They dropped the bomb in Nagasaki instead. Yamaguchi was only 3 kilometers away from the bomb’s epicenter.
Again, he saw a bright white flash. This bomb shattered his office and threw him down the floor. Although his bandages unfurled, he did not hurt himself badly. A metal staircase protected him from harm.
He bolted out of the office to search for his family. Thankfully, his wife and son were safe. They were lucky to be alive.
Although Yamaguchi emerged unscathed from the second blast, he developed a fever. He had to undergo several operations and kept bandages for years after the bombing. His legs remained weak, and his left ear permanently damaged.
Japan would eventually surrender six days after the bombing of Nagasaki.
Tsutomu Yamaguchi, on the other hand, recovered from his injuries. Even though his health was not the best, he lived a long life. In 2010, he died from stomach cancer at the age of 93.
Resources
Crompton, Jenny. Unbelievable!: The Bizarre World of Coincidences. Michael O’Mara Books, 2013.
Moore, James, and Paul Nero. History’s Narrowest Escapes. The History Press, 2013.
Pellegrino, Charles. To Hell and Back. The Last Train from Hiroshima. Rowman & Littlefield, 2015.
Rhodes, Richard. The making of the atomic bomb. Simon and Schuster, 2012.
