Nagasaki and the Bomb: 66 years later
Today - August 9, 2011 - marks the 66th anniversary of U.S. atomic bombing of the Japanese city of Nagasaki. When the 20-megaton "Fat Man" bomb fell that day, heat, radiation, and traumatic injuries killed an estimated one-fourth to one-third of the city's inhabitants. Survivors faced terrible health effects, including increased risk for cancer and birth defects.
More than half a century later, it's hard to grasp the bomb's physical and emotional toll. But keep clicking to see archival photos, along with drawings made by survivors. The latter - reproduced here with permission of the UCLA Asian American Studies Center website Children of the Atomic Bomb - were collected by Dr. James Yamazaki, who at the age of 33 was the lead doctor on the U.S. Atomic Bomb Medical Team assigned to Nagasaki in the aftermath of the bombing.
Artist: Yamada Ikue
A mother fled the flames with her child in her arms.
Year of Birth: 1933
Age at time of blast: 12
Age when image created: 41
Artist: Kihara Toshiko
As we fearfully crossed a railroad bridge, my two brothers and I saw bloated red, blue, green, and purple corpses floating.
Year of Birth: 1928
Age at time of blast: 17
Age when image created: 47
Artist: Takakura Akiko
A woman driven by unbearable thirst trying to catch black raindrops in her mouth.
Year of Birth: 1925
Age at time of blast: 19
Age when image created: 49
Artist: Yamashita Masato
Charred body of a four or five-year-old child pointing to the sky.
Year of Birth: 1924
Age at time of blast: 20
Age when image created: 49
Artist: Matsumoro Kazuo
A woman whose burned skin had peeled off and was hanging down.
Year of Birth: 1913
Age at time of blast: 32
Age when image created: 61
Artist: Yamashita Masato
August 31: My younger brother who died vomiting blood. His nose was bleeding, and his hair had fallen out. There were small red spots all over his body.
Year of Birth: 1924
Age at time of blast: 20
Age when image created: 50
Artist: Takahara Yoshio
My dead friends. They became bald. Their gums and fingertips bled, and they died.
Year of Birth: 1911
Age at time of blast: 34
Age when image created: 63
Artist: Ishikawa Fumie
Dead pupils on the verandah of an elementary school. One dead boy was standing and leaning on an umbrella shelf.
Year of Birth: 1928
Age at time of blast: 16
Age when image created: 46
Artist: Taguchi Mitsuko
Charred body of a mother who died while trying to protect her child. Her hair stands on end.
Year of Birth: 1915
Age at time of blast: 30
Age when image created: 60
Artist: Tasaka Hajime
A severely burned mother and child asked passersby for water.
Year of Birth: 1930
Age at time of blast: 15
Age when image created: 45
Artist: Fujimoto Sachiko
A young pregnant woman and children fleeing near Koi.
Year of Birth: 1933
Age at time of blast: 11
Age when image created: 40
Artist: Ogawa Sagami
Corpses in the water tank were swollen and red while those around it were charred and shrunken.
Year of Birth: 1917
Age at time of blast: 28
Age when image created: 57
Artist: Ishikawa Fumie
Loading corpses on a hand-drawn cart.
Year of Birth: 1928
Age at time of blast: 16
Age when image created: 46
Artist: Ikegame Haruo
People fleeing toward Yoshijima airport. Their clothes were torn, and their bodies were burned red, their skin was peeling off and hanging down.
Year of Birth: 1925
Age at time of blast: 20
Age when image created: 50
Artist: Ishibashi Shinko
Heaped up corpses. Most people are dead with their eyes open.
Year of Birth: 1938
Age at time of blast: 6
Age when image created: 35
Artist: Shunk Scott
English translation of description is coming
Year of Birth: 1927
Age at time of blast: 18
Age when image created: 47
Artist: Kobayashi Masao
They fled with their arms raised in front like a procession of ghosts.
Year of Birth: 1899
Age at time of blast: 45
Age when image created: 74
Artist: Yamashita Masato
A sea of fire filled with the moans of people pinned under their collapsed houses.
Year of Birth: 1924
Age at time of blast: 20
Age when image created: 50
Artist: Ishizu Kazuhiro
Survivors burned over their whole bodies flee the city.
Year of Birth: 1908
Age at time of blast: 37
Age when image created: 66
Artist: Iwamoto Atsuko
People walking along the river. Sergeant Fumoto. Corpses floating in the river.
Year of Birth: 1932
Age at time of blast: 13
Age when image created: 42
Artist: Yamabe Sh?ji
Ruins of a barber shop. A skelton remained sitting on a chair.
Year of Birth: 1903
Age at time of blast: 42
Age when image created: 71
Artist: Amano Katsuko
Soldiers cremating corpses on a galvanized iron sheet.
Year of Birth: 1931
Age at time of blast: 14
Age when image created: 44
Artist: Takeda Hatsue
Female students at Nukushina Elementary School. Scene from the window is the burning city of Hiroshima
Year of Birth: 1930
Age at time of blast: 15
Age when image created: 44
Artist: Kanemasu Hiroko
At Ninoshima Elementary School a moment after the blast.
Year of Birth: 1938
Age at time of blast: 7
Age when image created: 37
Artist: Usagawa Yoshitaka
An infant clinging to its dead mother.
Year of Birth: 1931
Age at time of blast: 14
Age when image created: 43
Artist: Ariki Ayako
Students at a relief station died calling for their mothers and fathers.
Year of Birth: 1931
Age at time of blast: 14
Age when image created: 43
Artist: Michitsuji Yoshiko
I ran toward my house through a sea of flames.
Year of Birth: 1925
Age at time of blast: 20
Age when image created: 49
Artist: Yamagata Yasuko
One day later: Corpses in a water tank. The charred body of a mother holding a baby, still standing as if in flight.
Year of Birth: 1928
Age at time of blast: 17
Age when image created: 46
Artist: Takahashi Akihiro
Running away with a friend. My friend, whose feet were burned, crawled across the wooden bridge over Ota River.
Year of Birth: 1931
Age at time of blast: 14
Age when image created: 42
Artist: Takeda Hatsue
Half-naked people running on a street, their hair burned and frizzled.
Year of Birth: 1930
Age at time of blast: 15
Age when image created: 44
Artist: Suga Y?ko
People jumped into the river to escape the tremendous heat of the fire, and many drowned and were swept away.
Year of Birth: 1931
Age at time of blast: 14
Age when image created: 43
Artist: Kojiri Tsutomu
Picking up maggots that appeared in the wounds.
Year of Birth: 1940
Age at time of blast: 4
Age when image created: 34
Artist: Yoshimoto Satoshi
Cremating family members.
Year of Birth: 1932
Age at time of blast: 13
Age when image created: 41
