Children of the Atomic Bomb: Hiroshima survivors' art

Children of the Atomic Bomb is a research website project developed by Dr. James N. Yamazaki, UCLA professor emeritus of paediatrics, together with the UCLA Asian American Studies Centre.

It is hard to imagine the horrors that survivors of the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki must have endured for the rest of their lives. Through this research project the memories of such victims have been shared, the hellish scenes that innocent people witnessed have been documented through their artworks:

NAKANO Kenichi 中野 健一 (なかのけんいち)
A hell-like city in a sea of fire.
全市火の海となった地獄のような様子
Year of Birth: 1898 \ Age at time of blast: 47 \ Age when image created: 76
Date of image depicted: 1945/8/6
Distance from hypocenter in meters: 200
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum

Raging flames and corpses scattered everywhere / City center / Afternoon, August 6, 1945 / Kenichi Nakano (47 at the time of the bombing 76 when he drew this picture)

Explanation in picture: Whole city a sea of fire. Hell. Hell on Earth.

MATSUMURO Kazuo 松室 一雄 (まつむろかずお)
A woman whose burned skin had peeled off and was hanging down.
皮膚がたれ下った女の人
Year of Birth: 1913 \ Age at time of blast: 32 \ Age when image created: 61
Date of image depicted:
Distance from hypocenter in meters: 1300
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum

She held her arms out in front to keep the burned, hanging skin off the ground. / 1,050m from the hypocenter, Yagembori / August 6, 1945 / Kazuo Matsumuro (32 at the time of the bombing, 61 when he drew this picture)

Explanation in picture: To prevent their red, exposed flesh from sticking, people thrust their arms in front of them like ghosts. Their skin, like the thin skin of potato, hung from the fingernails where it was still attached.

FUJISE Asako 藤瀬 朝子 (ふじせあさこ)
Seen from Hijiyama Hill, the city was a bright red burning Hell.
真火にもえる市内を放心状態で眺める
Year of Birth: 1923 \ Age at time of blast: 22 \ Age when image created: 51
Date of image depicted: 1945/8/6
Distance from hypocenter in meters: 2000
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum

Seen from Hijiyama Hill, the city is a bright-red burning hell. / Approx. 2 kilometers from the hypocenter / August 6, 1945 night / Asako Fujise


Children of the Atomic Bomb website