Latest news with #TsutomuYamaguchi
RNZ News
4 days ago
- General
- RNZ News
Tsutomu Yamaguchi: The man who survived both atomic bombs
By James Oaten , ABC News A nuclear bomb explodes over Nagasaki. Photo: Creative Commons There are not many people who have survived a nuclear attack. There is only one person who officially survived two. On this day, 80 years ago, young engineer Tsutomu Yamaguchi was telling his boss about the horrors he had seen in the Japanese city of Hiroshima when the room went blindingly white. "I thought the mushroom cloud had followed me from Hiroshima," he told UK Newspaper, The Independent . Yamaguchi was an engineer with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries when the United States dropped atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Yamaguchi, then 29, was in Hiroshima for a business trip when the bomb known as 'Little Boy' was deployed, killing tens of thousands in a flash, and leaving scores with burns so severe their skin draped off their bodies. The young engineer was around three kilometres from ground zero and suffered temporary blindness and deafness in one eardrum. After staying in a bomb shelter the first night with other survivors, he quickly made his way back to his hometown of Nagasaki. Then on 9 August, 1945, he went to work and told his colleagues about the horrors he saw. "When they realised that I had returned from Hiroshima, everyone gathered around me and said, 'I'm glad you're alive,' and 'great that you have survived,'" he recounted to Japanese broadcaster NHK. But his boss did not believe him. "He replied, 'You're badly injured, aren't you? Your head must be damaged too. I can't believe what you're saying. How could a single bomb destroy such a vast area like Hiroshima?'" Just at that moment, the United States dropped its second atomic bomb, known as 'Fat Man', killing some 40,000 people instantly. "I immediately recognised it as an atomic bomb," he told NHK. "I hid under a desk right away." The city of Nagasaki will pause today to remember the atomic blast that inflicted so much horror on the unsuspecting city. Within months, 74,000 people were dead after radiation sickness took hold. The bombing of Nagasaki is often overshadowed by the deadlier and earlier attack on Hiroshima, which killed some 140,000 people by year's end. Part of the tragedy of Nagasaki is it was not the original intended target. Two B-29 bombers were sent to destroy the industrial city of Kokura, which was a major hub for ammunition manufacturing. But the city was hidden under cloud cover, so the pilots diverted to their secondary target: Nagasaki. Tsutomu Yamaguchi in 2008. Photo: JIJI PRESS / AFP About 165 people are thought to have survived both atomic blasts, known as nijyuu hibakusha. But Yamaguchi is the only person to be officially recognised by the local governments of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. For decades, he kept his unique story under wraps and worked a blue-collar job. Many atomic bomb survivors, known as hibakusha, feel compelled to speak out, hoping their experiences will spur the world to abandon nuclear weapons. But the family of Yamaguchi feared he looked too healthy, which would undermine the message of survivors. "My entire family opposed it," his daughter Toshiko Yamasaki explained at a peace conference in 2011. "If my father, who had survived two atomic bombings, engaged in peace activities, people might think, 'even after being exposed to radiation twice, he's still healthy, so the atomic bomb isn't scary.'" The destruction in Hiroshima after the nuclear explosion, on 6 August 1945. Photo: Supplied But Yamaguchi did suffer a lifetime of health problems, as is often the case for hibakusha due to radiation exposure. "My father had cataracts, was deaf in one ear, suffered from leukopenia, lost his hair for 15 years after the war, and had after-effects from burns," Toshiko explained. His family endured sickness, too. His wife and son died of cancer. It was only in his final decade that Yamaguchi started to speak more openly, hoping his ordeal would help in the fight against nuclear weapons. "I have walked and crawled through the bottom of hell," he told the ABC in 2009. "I should be dead. But it was my fate to keep on living." Irish journalist David McNeill was one of the last journalists to interview him before his death. "What struck me was how modest he was," he explained. "Like many hibakusha, he really didn't want to discuss his extraordinary life. He had to be pressed into it because he thought he was better off than many of the people who surrounded him, who were getting sick and dying from cancer." Yamaguchi died in 2010, aged 93. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were one of the final and most devastating acts of World War II. After the first nuclear attack, Japan would still not surrender, instead deciding to send a fact-finding team to the city after communications went dark. The second attack on Nagasaki was part of the American strategy to make Japan believe it had unlimited supplies of such bombs. Many historians argue the Soviet Union declaring war on Japan was more influential in securing Japan's surrender, as it suddenly exposed its entire unprotected north. Making a single uranium bomb that exploded over Hiroshima was incredibly challenging and chewed up much of the budget and resourcing of the multi-year Manhattan Project. Japan knew how challenging it would be. But the United States had also developed a plutonium bomb - far easier and cheaper than a uranium bomb. This is what detonated over Nagasaki. And the commander of the Manhattan Project boasted the United States could then create two or three atomic bombs a month to assist in the planned land invasion of Japan, scheduled for November 1945. "They had the capacity to make two or three bombs a month by that point," Professor Mordecai Sheftall from Shizuoka explains. "Because the plutonium production facilities in Hanford, Washington State, were going at full tilt." Japan finally surrendered on 15 August, but only after the emperor intervened and broke a deadlock in his war council. The army still wanted to fight on. There are few hibakusha left old enough to remember the blasts of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But the survivors are still determined to keep telling their stories. After all, those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. "As a double atomic bomb survivor, I experienced the bomb twice," Yamaguchi told The Independent in 2010. "I sincerely hope that there will not be a third." - ABC News
ABC News
4 days ago
- General
- ABC News
Tsutomu Yamaguchi: The man who survived both atomic bombs
There are not many people who have survived a nuclear attack. There is only one person who officially survived two. On this day, 80 years ago, young engineer Tsutomu Yamaguchi was telling his boss about the horrors he had seen in the Japanese city of Hiroshima when the room went blindingly white. "I thought the mushroom cloud had followed me from Hiroshima," he told UK Newspaper, The Independent. Yamaguchi was an engineer with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries when the United States dropped atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Yamaguchi, then 29, was in Hiroshima for a business trip when the bomb known as 'Little Boy' was deployed, killing tens of thousands in a flash, and leaving scores with burns so severe their skin draped off their bodies. The young engineer was around 3 kilometres from ground zero and suffered temporary blindness and deafness in one eardrum. After staying in a bomb shelter the first night with other survivors, he quickly made his way back to his hometown of Nagasaki. Then on August 9, 1945, he went to work and told his colleagues about the horrors he saw. "When they realised that I had returned from Hiroshima, everyone gathered around me and said, 'I'm glad you're alive,' and 'great that you have survived,'" he recounted to Japanese broadcaster NHK. But his boss did not believe him. "He replied, 'you're badly injured, aren't you? Your head must be damaged too. I can't believe what you're saying. How could a single bomb destroy such a vast area like Hiroshima?'" Just at that moment, the United States dropped its second atomic bomb, known as 'Fat Man', killing some 40,000 people instantly. "I immediately recognised it as an atomic bomb," he told NHK. "I hid under a desk right away." The city of Nagasaki will pause today to remember the atomic blast that inflicted so much horror on the unsuspecting city. Within months, 74,000 people were dead after radiation sickness took hold. The bombing of Nagasaki is often overshadowed by the deadlier and earlier attack on Hiroshima, which killed some 140,000 people by year's end. Part of the tragedy of Nagasaki is it was not the original intended target. Two B-29 bombers were sent to destroy the industrial city of Kokura, which was a major hub for ammunition manufacturing. But the city was hidden under cloud cover, so the pilots diverted to their secondary target: Nagasaki. About 165 people are thought to have survived both atomic blasts, known as nijyuu hibakusha. But Yamaguchi is the only person to be officially recognised by the local governments of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. For decades, he kept his unique story under wraps and worked a blue-collar job. Many atomic bomb survivors, known as hibakusha, feel compelled to speak out, hoping their experiences will spur the world to abandon nuclear weapons. But the family of Yamaguchi feared he looked too healthy, which would undermine the message of survivors. "My entire family opposed it," his daughter Toshiko Yamasaki explained at a peace conference in 2011. "If my father, who had survived two atomic bombings, engaged in peace activities, people might think, 'even after being exposed to radiation twice, he's still healthy, so the atomic bomb isn't scary.'" But Yamaguchi did suffer a lifetime of health problems, as is often the case for hibakusha due to radiation exposure. "My father had cataracts, was deaf in one ear, suffered from leukopenia, lost his hair for 15 years after the war, and had after-effects from burns," Toshiko explained. His family endured sickness, too. His wife and son died of cancer. It was only in his final decade that Yamaguchi started to speak more openly, hoping his ordeal would help in the fight against nuclear weapons. "I have walked and crawled through the bottom of hell," he told the ABC in 2009. "I should be dead. But it was my fate to keep on living." Irish journalist David McNeill was one of the last journalists to interview him before his death. "What struck me was how modest he was," he explained. "Like many hibakusha, he really didn't want to discuss his extraordinary life. He had to be pressed into it because he thought he was better off than many of the people who surrounded him, who were getting sick and dying from cancer." Yamaguchi died in 2010, aged 93. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were one of the final and most devastating acts of World War II. After the first nuclear attack, Japan would still not surrender, instead deciding to send a fact-finding team to the city after communications went dark. The second attack on Nagasaki was part of the American strategy to make Japan believe it had unlimited supplies of such bombs. Many historians argue the Soviet Union declaring war on Japan was more influential in securing Japan's surrender, as it suddenly exposed its entire unprotected north. Making a single uranium bomb that exploded over Hiroshima was incredibly challenging and chewed up much of the budget and resourcing of the multi-year Manhattan Project. Japan knew how challenging it would be. But the United States had also developed a plutonium bomb — far easier and cheaper than a uranium bomb. This is what detonated over Nagasaki. And the commander of the Manhattan Project boasted the United States could then create two or three atomic bombs a month to assist in the planned land invasion of Japan, scheduled for November 1945. "They had the capacity to make two or three bombs a month by that point," Professor Mordecai Sheftall from Shizuoka explains. "Because the plutonium production facilities in Hanford, Washington State, were going at full tilt." Japan finally surrendered on August 15, but only after the emperor intervened and broke a deadlock in his war council. The army still wanted to fight on. There are few hibakusha left old enough to remember the blasts of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But the survivors are still determined to keep telling their stories. After all, those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. "As a double atomic bomb survivor, I experienced the bomb twice," Yamaguchi told The Independent in 2010. "I sincerely hope that there will not be a third."
News18
6 days ago
- General
- News18
‘The Mushroom Cloud...': The Only Man Who Survived Both Hiroshima And Nagasaki Atomic Bombs
Tsutomu Yamaguchi survived both Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings in 1945 and was officially recognised as the sole double survivor of the blasts On August 6, 1945, near the end of the Second World War, the United States dropped the first atomic bomb ever used in warfare on Hiroshima, Japan. The blast instantly killed nearly 80,000 people. Three days later, on August 9, a second atomic bomb struck Nagasaki, causing around 40,000 deaths. Remarkably, one man survived both attacks: Tsutomu Yamaguchi. Officially recognised as the only survivor of both bombings, Tsutomu Yamaguchi passed away in 2010 at the age of 93. Who Was Tsutomu Yamaguchi? At the time of the Hiroshima bombing, Tsutomu Yamaguchi was 29 years old and working as an engineer for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. He was on a three-month business trip in Hiroshima, with August 6 marking his last day in the city. Over the summer, he and his colleagues had been working on plans for a new oil tanker. Eager to return to his wife, Hisako, and young son, Katsutoshi, Tsutomu Yamaguchi was preparing to leave the city. How Did He Survive Hiroshima? On the morning of August 6, Tsutomu Yamaguchi saw an American B-29 bomber release a small object attached to a parachute, the atomic bomb known as 'Little Boy'. Moments later, a bright magnesium flash lit the sky. Tsutomu Yamaguchi jumped into a ditch for cover but was lifted into the air and thrown into a nearby potato field by the blast. When he regained consciousness, the once bright morning had turned dark, his face and hands badly burnt, and his eardrums ruptured. Ash fell heavily as a mushroom cloud hovered over the devastated city. He made his way to the Mitsubishi shipyard ruins, where he found two colleagues, Akira Iwanaga and Kuniyoshi Sato, who had also survived. That night, they sheltered in an air raid bunker, and the next day, hearing the railway station was operational, they left Hiroshima. How Did He Survive Nagasaki? Despite severe injuries, Tsutomu Yamaguchi returned home and was treated at a local hospital on August 8. His wounds were so severe that his family initially did not recognise him; his mother even mistook him for a ghost due to his bandaged appearance and fever. Remarkably, on August 9, he got out of bed and went to work at Mitsubishi's Nagasaki office. During a meeting, as he recounted the Hiroshima bombing, the sky suddenly lit with a bright white glow. Tsutomu Yamaguchi fell to the ground just before the shockwave shattered the office windows, scattering glass and debris. Later, he told The Independent, 'I felt the mushroom cloud was following me from Hiroshima." Official Recognition And Legacy In 2009, a year before his death, Tsutomu Yamaguchi stated, 'My double radiation exposure is now an official government record. It can educate the younger generation about the horrific history of atomic bombings after my death." Tsutomu Yamaguchi passed away in 2010 from stomach cancer at 93. While it is believed around 165 people experienced both bombings, Tsutomu Yamaguchi remains the only person officially recognised by the Japanese government as a ' Niju Hibakusha ', that is, a person affected by both bombs. Japan is the only country to have suffered atomic bomb attacks. According to The Washington Post, roughly 140,000 people died in Hiroshima and 70,000 in Nagasaki. Get breaking news, in-depth analysis, and expert perspectives on everything from geopolitics to diplomacy and global trends. Stay informed with the latest world news only on News18. Download the News18 App to stay updated! tags : atomic bomb General Knowledge hiroshima hiroshima and nagasaki hiroshima atomic bomb japan Nagasaki Nagasaki bombing Nuclear bombs Second World War view comments Location : Japan First Published: August 07, 2025, 11:28 IST News world 'The Mushroom Cloud...': The Only Man Who Survived Both Hiroshima And Nagasaki Atomic Bombs Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Associated Press
6 days ago
- General
- Associated Press
The grandchildren of 2 men who experienced both A-bomb attacks 80 years ago now work for peace
HIROSHIMA, Japan (AP) — When the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, Ari Beser's grandfather was on board both of the American B-29 bombers that carried the weapons. On the ground, Kosuzu Harada's grandfather survived both attacks. Neither of the men — U.S. radar specialist Jacob Beser and Japanese engineer Tsutomu Yamaguchi — met during their lives. But both became staunch advocates of nuclear abolishment. Decades later, that shared goal has brought their grandchildren together. Ari Beser and Harada are telling their grandfathers' linked stories and working to seek reconciliation and understanding about an attack that continues to divide people in both countries. During this week's commemoration of the 80th anniversaries of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki attacks, the grandchildren visited a station in Hiroshima where Yamaguchi, badly injured, boarded a train back to his hometown of Nagasaki a day after the Aug. 6, 1945, attack. The two grandchildren then went to the Hiroshima peace park where they spoke with The Associated Press about what their grandfathers experienced during two of the 20th century's most momentous events and their consequences. Kosuzu Harada remembers her grandfather as a compassionate advocate for peace Yamaguchi was 29 when he was burned severely in the Hiroshima bombing. He was in the city on a temporary assignment as a shipbuilding engineer. After Yamaguchi arrived in Nagasaki, and was telling colleagues about the attack he'd witnessed in Hiroshima, the second bomb exploded. Harada first learned about her grandfather's experience of both bombs when she interviewed him for an assignment in elementary school. Yamaguchi didn't talk about his experience in public until he was 90 because of worries about discrimination. He then became a vocal activist for peace until he died in 2010. In 2013, Harada learned that the grandson of an American who was on the planes that bombed both Hiroshima and Nagasaki wanted to hear about Yamaguchi's story. 'I had mixed feelings as a family member of the survivors,' Harada said, recalling Ari Beser's first visit. Ari Beser quietly listened as Harada's mother talked about Yamaguchi. Harada and her mother were surprised when they learned the senior Beser was exposed to radiation during his missions. 'We used to see ourselves only from the victims' perspective,' she said. 'We learned that war effects and ruins everyone's lives.' 'I feel it is my role to keep telling about the horror ... so that the same mistake will never be repeated,' Harada added. She tours Japan to talk about her grandfather's story and to push for a nuclear-free world. Yamaguchi used to say that he could never forgive the U.S. government for dropping the bombs, but he had no hatred for Americans. Even as his health deteriorated, Yamaguchi still spoke of his past, holding an interview from his hospital bed. Beser, a visual journalist and producer, has since regularly visited Nagasaki, and he and Harada have become friends. Harada believes the U.S. government should formally apologize for the bombings. 'A reconciliation takes time. It's a long process which takes generations,' Harada said. Ari Beser's grandfather was considered a hero at schools for his role in the bombings When he was asked about the attacks during his first visit to Hiroshima 40 years ago, Jacob Beser did not apologize, but said: 'I wouldn't say it was our proudest moment.' He said the world needed to make sure it doesn't happen again. Growing up, Ari Beser was told that his grandfather's bone cancer was presumably from his radiation exposure during the bombing missions. In 2011, Ari Beser traveled to Japan for the first time to learn more about the bombings. He has since met many survivors and is eager to hear their stories. 'Before, I think that we all believed in the same justifications. I can't justify it anymore,' Ari Beser said about the bombings. 'For me, all I focus on is trying to convey it to people so that it doesn't happen again.' Because his grandfather was on both B-29s, Ari Beser was always interested in meeting a double survivor. That led him to Harada's family 12 years ago. 'It's passing the baton and it's leaving the record. … We are the keepers of memory,' Ari Beser said. He was young when his grandfather died and never got to talk with him about the bombings. 'I also want to interview him or just want to ask him so many questions' and find out if there were other options besides dropping the bomb. Despite language difficulties, the two grandchildren keep communicating and working together on projects, including a book about their grandfathers. As the world increasingly becomes a divisive place, with fighting in the Middle East and Ukraine, Ari Beser believes his work with Harada is more important than ever. 'It makes you nervous, makes you worry because if this history repeats with today's nuclear weapons, it's almost unimaginable how much would be destroyed,' Ari Beser said. Visiting Japan and meeting with Harada, he said, 'makes me little bit more hopeful. ... Everybody needs hope and this is how I get hope.' ___ The Associated Press receives support for nuclear security coverage from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and Outrider Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. ___ Additional AP coverage of the nuclear landscape:
CNN
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- CNN
James Cameron's next film on Hiroshima and Nagasaki ‘a sacred duty' to survivors
James Cameron's next film on Hiroshima and Nagasaki 'a sacred duty' to survivors Film director James Cameron tells CNN's Christiane Amanpour he is adapting the book, "Ghosts of Hiroshima" by Charles Pellegrino into a film that he "has to make" partly because of a pledge he made to Tsutomu Yamaguchi, a survivor of both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings. 02:55 - Source: CNN Vertical World News 16 videos James Cameron's next film on Hiroshima and Nagasaki 'a sacred duty' to survivors Film director James Cameron tells CNN's Christiane Amanpour he is adapting the book, "Ghosts of Hiroshima" by Charles Pellegrino into a film that he "has to make" partly because of a pledge he made to Tsutomu Yamaguchi, a survivor of both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings. 02:55 - Source: CNN US special envoy Witkoff meets Putin in Russia US special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, as President Donald Trump threatened to impose punishing new sanctions on Russia. The meeting, which lasted around 3 hours, was described as 'constructive and useful' by Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov, according to Russian state media TASS. CNN's Frederik Pleitgen reports. 01:49 - Source: CNN Mudslide engulfs Indian village after deadly flash floods Flash flooding struck northern India on Tuesday prompting at least 70 people to be evacuated while dozens remain missing, according to officials in Uttarakhand. At least four people have died in the flooding, which triggered a mudslide that was caught on video as it engulfed a Himalayan village. 00:46 - Source: CNN Women in Gaza face their periods without adequate supplies Women in Gaza say they feel "embarrassed" and degraded by the dire hygiene situation in the enclave. Israel's aid blockade has deprived women of essential supplies like sanitary pads, tampons and soap while access to clean water remains scarce. Mother of six, Ghadeer Nassar told CNN how she has been forced to cut up pieces of old cloth to fashion makeshift sanitary pads for her teenage daughter. 01:44 - Source: CNN A 12-year-old girl's quest to find food in Gaza CNN first met 12-year-old Jana in May months after her older brother was killed by Israeli fire, according to her family. Now, we follow her quest to find food as even the soup kitchens have become dangerous. As starvation and desperation has deepened in the enclave, the family's health has also deteriorated. The IDF did not respond to a request for comment on the death of Jana's brother. CNN's Abeer Salman reports. 01:22 - Source: CNN Japanese firework festival ends with barges on fire A firework festival in Japan's Yokohama went awry on Monday when fireworks landed on the barges they were being launched from, setting two of the barges on fire. The event organizer told police a fireworks launch system went out of control, Reuters reported citing local media. 00:27 - Source: CNN Great Barrier Reef sees record coral bleaching According to the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), parts of the Great Barrier Reef suffered their biggest-ever declines last year after a marine heatwave bleached vast swaths of hard coral. 00:55 - Source: CNN How to spot a North Korean operative on LinkedIn North Korean operatives are using fake identities to secure remote tech jobs at US companies and make millions for Kim Jong Un's regime. CNN's Teele Rebane breaks down how the scheme works and what to look for online. 03:07 - Source: CNN The apartment she bought is perfect. The owner just has to die first There is a morbid loophole that could get you a Paris apartment for half the price. The French viager system is a real estate deal where buyers essentially bet on how long the seller has left to live. 01:50 - Source: CNN Tornado hits Inner Mongolia Footage shows a tornado hitting Inner Mongolia on Monday. No casualties were reported from the incident, according to a state media report. 00:29 - Source: CNN Why Asia is one of the fastest-warming places in the world CNN's Hanako Montgomery reports from Tokyo and explains why Asia is warming faster than the global average, as Japan endures its hottest day ever recorded 01:03 - Source: CNN Satellite images show damage to Russian submarine base after tsunami Satellite images captured after the 8.8 magnitude quake show damage to a floating pier at Russia's submarine base in Rybachiy and raise questions about fleet readiness. 01:18 - Source: CNN 'I thought, do or die': How a Ukrainian soldier cycled to safety after Russian assault After a Russian assault left all three of his fellow soldiers dead and himself wounded, Andriy, stationed near Siversk, Ukraine, thought his life was over. But back at his command bunker, they hatched a plan. Armed with determination, a will to live - and a bike - he was able to escape. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh reports. 01:12 - Source: CNN Moscow residents on Trump-Putin relationship As the relationship between President Trump and President Putin continues to deteriorate, with Trump threatening harsher sanctions on Russia if a ceasefire agreement with Ukraine is not reached, CNN's Frederik Pleitgen talks to Moscow residents about their thoughts on the tensions between the two countries. 02:02 - Source: CNN Desperation grows in Gaza as aid is airdropped CNN footage on Monday captured the desperation of hundreds of Palestinians in central Gaza as people rushed towards aid boxes that many rely on, as the hunger crisis continues. Six countries were involved in dropping 120 aid packages in total, according to the Israel Defense Forces. 00:34 - Source: CNN Hear from Israeli hostages' families after meeting with Witkoff Steve Witkoff, the United States' Special Envoy to the Middle East, held a nearly three-hour meeting with the families of those still being held in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, telling them that the US' 'first priority' is getting the hostages back to Israel, the forum said. Fifty hostages remain in Gaza, at least 20 of whom are believed to be alive. CNN has reached out to Witkoff's team to confirm that he made these comments. 01:16 - Source: CNN
