My experience with the A-Bomb - Terasu Mochida

I used to live in Fukuoka but I moved to Nagasaki as a Military Policeman. When we were attacked I had brought a military vehicle to the car repair shop in front of Nagasaki Station and was wandering around Urakami. I was watching some workers move rice There was a big mound of rice piled up like it was soil on a sheet. The workers were carrying straw sacks full of rice one after the other into a warehouse brought in from another district. I was vaguely thinking that there seem to be plenty of rice although it was said that the rice supply was low.

It was at that moment that I heard a sort of frizzling sound and saw yellow smoke shooting around and filling the area. I was already alarmed about the new special bomb that had attacked Hiroshima. I instantly jumped into the pile of rice.

I think it was then the flashing explosion occurred. Many people ask me what the explosion was like, but I don’t remember as I had jumped into the rice and had passed out. By all accounts I should, have been dead. When I came to it was deadly hot. Touching my body I felt rather cold. I tried to open my eyes but could not as they were too painful. I stood still for a while and supported myself with my sword. Finally in being able to open my eyes   The cloud could be clearly seen from the neighbouring Prefecture!

I was shocked to see all the roads looked clean as if they had been wiped with a damp cloth. Apart from that, there was nothing left except ruins. At that time there were no fires. Sometime later the fires started. I thought I should not stay around and started to walk on and on. The arsenal was bent and melted as if it was hot candy but most of the roads were passable.

On my way I found a man under a burned wall. I tried to pull him out but he was too frightened to move. The more I pulled the more he moved further inside. I saw a gas tank ahead and remembered where I was and quickened my pace. There was a broken water pipe there with water spouting out. Many people gathered there to drink and then died. Being puzzled by this I went on to Nagasaki Station without drinking. Later we found out that those who had been exposed to the light of the blast and the gas and smoke had damaged respiratory organs and need correct medical treatment before they could drink. They need not have died like that.

I got home and looked in the mirror. Every part of my body that had been exposed was totally black. Small pieces of broken glass, roof tile and other rubbish seemed to be embedded in my skin. My eyes and skin was sore, and even as I washed myself I could not remove the blackness. The more I washed the blacker it became.

Anyway it is just impossible to express how I felt and how horrible that instant experience felt. Actually I was not in the terrible condition that millions of others were although I went through the same experience. I don't really know why. What I can never forget was that deadly heat. The scene of so many people dying after drinking water, the view of the asphalt roads. I have never been able to get them out of my head.

Nature lives and has it’s cycles. So do we. But we should pass our experiences down through the generations. This is what life is about. Really we must avoid wars. We must preserve nature. The younger generation must think how to live their lives and be thankful for what has been passed down to them. The war had never been our choice. I was wrong of us but at the time we believed we were fighting for our country. We should never forget the millions of people that fought and died for Japan. We owe them what we are now in being able to enjoy japans prosperity. How we have to live now is at peace with each other and in harmony with nature and then pass this down in turn to the next generations.

After the interview: Mr. Mochida was very close to the centre of the explosion at the time. He has a very clear memory of his experience. His reflection of what happened on August 9th 1945 is that we should learn from the past. All we can do now is try to deliver his wishes and try to avoid all war. We should be dedicated in handing this down in the 21st century.

November 16th 1994 - Interviewers Yukiko Ando, Mizuho Yasutake, Mineko Umio of Dazaifu City

War is nothing but hell on earth - Natsuo Koshimichi

I was born on Iki island, Nagasaki Prefecture in 1925.

At the time is question I had been assigned to work at the Nagasaki Precision Machinery. I had gone there as a volunteer from Nagasaki Girls High School. Because the war grew fiercer and all the male workers had gone to war. The plant was located 1.4 Kilometers away from the centre of the blast. We were assembling a torpedo sprayer. It was difficult work. We were tense and tired but were not allowed to go home until our volunteer term ended. As the war was becoming fiercer our supervisor had told us that the term would become indefinite and I tried hard not to cry.

I was going to go out and get my lunch. I stopped to look at my watch. I was still a bit too early so I returned. It was at the very moment I re-entered the building when there was a flash like lightening. I could not see anything at all for moment and was blown against a thick wall. This wall saved my live. I lay there still. I could not see out as the blast had shattered the window. It was a living hell. Voices called out, “Help!”, “Water”, “Mother”. Others called out the names of their children. The terrible blast and flash had charred people were they stood. I saw people with stakes of wood pierced and sticking out of their thighs and stomachs. Some peoples intestines had spilled out. All the wounds were infested by maggots whether the people were alive or dead. There were lots of bodies at the river. They had gone there to drink . The water was red with blood.

I felt some kind of foreign substance in my ear. A lump of earth as big as a soybean came out. I think it had been poisoned a lot of blood came out of my ear and it became septic.

My mother had lived in the country and did not know of the A-Bomb until many years later. People had not been told.

Win or lose neither party gains from wars. There are nothing but victims. War tramples life like it was under the heel of a shoe. What are Peace Summits for? Can’t people talk peacefully instead of fighting each other? Some other countries are at war even now. Consequently many people suffer from hunger The one thing I must always demand is that we should commit ourselves to a peaceful, industrious life. There are so many people that have the intelligence to do this. I wish for a lasting peace and offer a prayer morning and evening for the peace of the world.

After the interview: For us living in a peaceful age and never experiencing war, everything we were told by Mrs. Koshimichi was horrendous. We should use this opportunity, face the facts and learn from it.

October 11th 1994 - Interviewers - Junko Tanaka, Onojo. Kiku Arimoto of Dazaifu.