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Hibakusha: Survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
This book's 25 firsthand accounts by hibakusha -survivors of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in early August 1945-constitute an indictment of nuclear weapons far more eloquent than any polemic. Grim though their stories are, understanding what they went through may well be crucial to averting another nuclear tragedy.
206 pages, Paperback
First published December 15, 1986
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
April 7, 2009
I hope to plan my Augusts in Japan, wherever I might be, to come to either Hiroshima, Nagasaki, or both, for the annual anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bombs on August 6th and August 9th, respectively. I don't know if I will be able to accomplish this yearly, but in the spirit of remembrance and prayer for those who died, suffered and/or died years later, and for those still dealing with the pain of those fateful days, I have decided to read one book on the subject around the anniversary. This year, I actually read two, 'Hibakusha: Survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki' and 'One thousand Paper Cranes: The story of Sadako and the Children's Peace Statue', by Takayuki Ishii, which I will review later.
This is a touching and raw book, that not only expresses the pain and suffering of the people of both cities, it is a testament to what seeds can nurture because of war and conflict. There are people in these narratives that are not the meek and passive Japanese (and Korean [See Lee Gi-sang's, "The Unknown Victims, 120-135:]) as there were Korean and Chinese slave laborers, as well as American POWs [Hiroshima:], that were caught up in the maelstrom of the bombs indiscriminate fury. There is anger, hatred in some of the words. As one proverb says, "Violence begets violence", and in some of the recollections, this point cannot be more overstated. The deep seated anger, pain, and the unwillingness to forgive or "forget" shows plainly the need for humanity to find better ways of resolving conflict than armed violence. This is not to say that there are not those who wish to live with hate. There are those sufferers who preach peace and a desire to understand and bring hope and forgiveness to the world. The compilers were wonderful in including as their last entry one Akihiro Takahashi,a founding officer of the A- and H- Bomb Sufferors Organizations (1957, p.201), who had the unique opportunity to not only have met Brigadier General Paul Tibbits, USAF (February 23, 1915 – November 1, 2007), the pilot of the Enola Gay, which dropped the bomb on Hiroshima, but who also was able to have an ongoing correspondence with him (204), as the example par excellence. The initial meeting and Takahashi's reflection is a telling reminder of what true forgiveness and the work for peace is all about.
There are also ironies here. Kosabe Okabe's recollection, "Hiroshima Flash", mentions that the only buildings left standing were "western style" (36) as if the complete dominance of the destruction was enforced by the might of western style architecture. A young boy at the time, Hiroshi Shibayama, recalls a scene where he saw a man, blackened and burned, on a bicycle, carrying what looked like wood tied to it, instead to find the "wood" to be the corpse of someone as it approached closer ("Four Days in Hiroshima", 100).
As tragic as the stories are, what seems to be more painful is the discrimination Hibakusha (Jap.:Atomic bomb survivors) faced from within their own country. Such documentation can be found in Fumiko Harada's, "A Second-Generation Victim" (153-160) and elsewhere between the recollections of other survivors.
Finally, Naomi Shohono, a nuclear physicist, gives good scientific background information about both bombings, which adds to the perspectives of the narratives contained in the work. It is invaluable and is strongly urged not to skip through.
What's heartening to see is pictures of the survivors years later. This is by no means a "good book". It is a good reminder of the absolute horror, inhumanity, and indiscriminate havoc and utter destruction war and military conflict has on whole families and on the lives of individuals and should be something to consider before any "gun" is picked up.
This is a touching and raw book, that not only expresses the pain and suffering of the people of both cities, it is a testament to what seeds can nurture because of war and conflict. There are people in these narratives that are not the meek and passive Japanese (and Korean [See Lee Gi-sang's, "The Unknown Victims, 120-135:]) as there were Korean and Chinese slave laborers, as well as American POWs [Hiroshima:], that were caught up in the maelstrom of the bombs indiscriminate fury. There is anger, hatred in some of the words. As one proverb says, "Violence begets violence", and in some of the recollections, this point cannot be more overstated. The deep seated anger, pain, and the unwillingness to forgive or "forget" shows plainly the need for humanity to find better ways of resolving conflict than armed violence. This is not to say that there are not those who wish to live with hate. There are those sufferers who preach peace and a desire to understand and bring hope and forgiveness to the world. The compilers were wonderful in including as their last entry one Akihiro Takahashi,a founding officer of the A- and H- Bomb Sufferors Organizations (1957, p.201), who had the unique opportunity to not only have met Brigadier General Paul Tibbits, USAF (February 23, 1915 – November 1, 2007), the pilot of the Enola Gay, which dropped the bomb on Hiroshima, but who also was able to have an ongoing correspondence with him (204), as the example par excellence. The initial meeting and Takahashi's reflection is a telling reminder of what true forgiveness and the work for peace is all about.
There are also ironies here. Kosabe Okabe's recollection, "Hiroshima Flash", mentions that the only buildings left standing were "western style" (36) as if the complete dominance of the destruction was enforced by the might of western style architecture. A young boy at the time, Hiroshi Shibayama, recalls a scene where he saw a man, blackened and burned, on a bicycle, carrying what looked like wood tied to it, instead to find the "wood" to be the corpse of someone as it approached closer ("Four Days in Hiroshima", 100).
As tragic as the stories are, what seems to be more painful is the discrimination Hibakusha (Jap.:Atomic bomb survivors) faced from within their own country. Such documentation can be found in Fumiko Harada's, "A Second-Generation Victim" (153-160) and elsewhere between the recollections of other survivors.
Finally, Naomi Shohono, a nuclear physicist, gives good scientific background information about both bombings, which adds to the perspectives of the narratives contained in the work. It is invaluable and is strongly urged not to skip through.
What's heartening to see is pictures of the survivors years later. This is by no means a "good book". It is a good reminder of the absolute horror, inhumanity, and indiscriminate havoc and utter destruction war and military conflict has on whole families and on the lives of individuals and should be something to consider before any "gun" is picked up.
July 3, 2025
The author acts as if nuclear weapons bring new levels of destruction compared to previous forms of bombing (Sekimori 10). The difference between the nuclear bomb and normal bombing is the casualty rate. The bombing happens so quick with nuclear bombs such that people don’t have time to run away or gain safe shelter if applicable. The author is out of touch and overly optimistic (Sekimori 12). He acts as if the effectiveness of the bomb would make the US want to use the bomb less (Sekimori 12). The author is clueless. The author is wrong about military justifications for the bomb (Sekimori 12). There were definite military justifications for the bomb. The issue is that the military justifications aren’t great enough to justify the civilian casualties and harm.
March 30, 2013
Hell, hell, hell.
When bomb fell the world became a living hell.
People - if not burnt to death, were scarred beyond recognition and put through suffering I cannot begin to imagine, only to die a miserable, nameless death amid the ruins.
The accounts of regular people who survived against such odds often brought me to tears.
How could this happen?
Regardless of the answer, I hope this would never happen again.
When bomb fell the world became a living hell.
People - if not burnt to death, were scarred beyond recognition and put through suffering I cannot begin to imagine, only to die a miserable, nameless death amid the ruins.
The accounts of regular people who survived against such odds often brought me to tears.
How could this happen?
Regardless of the answer, I hope this would never happen again.
August 4, 2023
This book almost broke me. It gives 25 first hand accounts of people who survived the Nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Some of the accounts were merely a few pages, but after each one I'd have to stop because of the tears. It's taken me a while to read. I thought the crying I did reading "Hiroshima" by John Hersey was bad enough, but this was something else.
Whilst it is a hard read, it is a very important one. It's easy to disassociate yourself from the ever looming threat of nuclear warfare, but we should not forget, because we cannot let this happen again. No one should ever have to go through what these people did. Ever.
Whilst it is a hard read, it is a very important one. It's easy to disassociate yourself from the ever looming threat of nuclear warfare, but we should not forget, because we cannot let this happen again. No one should ever have to go through what these people did. Ever.
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October 5, 2025I am thinking of the utility of a camera in a situation like this. what makes someone want to take these? it's important to have proof of the carnage and destruction I guess but I can't imagine being the people behind the cameras. maybe it's compulsive. I can't imagine developing these. I wonder if the people who took them lived to develop them. I know this book is about words, but I ended with the photos and so words are failing me.
February 26, 2025
Wow, just finished reading 'Hibakusha: Survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki' and I'm still trying to process it. The stories are haunting and thought-provoking. Really opens your eyes to the dark corners of humanity. a book that'll stay with me for a long time. Highly recommended.
November 9, 2022
The bravery of Hibakusha are astounding. The stories brought me to tears, made my blood boil, but also gave me hope for peace in the future.
December 28, 2024
essential reading about "the good war"
March 25, 2015
By April 1945 the Japanese Suzuki government embraced a war policy called "Ketsugo" whereby the home islands would be defended to the last man, woman, and child. There are several stories in this book where the subject discusses either being a member or having a family member serving in a kamikaze unit. Others discuss their willful training with other civilians in preparation to serve and die in the defense of Japan. You read about Japanese teenagers practicing in courtyards with bamboo spears, a young man prepared to drive his boat into an American transport ship, or one ready to give up his life by blowing himself up under the treads of an American tank.
By early 1945 Japan was a defeated nation. It had lost the air war and the sea war. Japanese ground forces throughout the Pacific were defeated. The American naval blockade had choked Japan's capacity to make war. Japan was defeated economically. All of this is undeniably true, and yet Japan refused to surrender.
Based on the massive American casualties incurred in the capture of Okinawa, American military leaders expected severe casualties with the invasion of Japan's home islands. Staff working for Adm Nimitz calculated that the first 30 days of Olympic alone would cost 49,000 men. MacArthur's staff concluded that America would suffer 125,000 casualties after 120 days. Admiral Leahy estimated that the invasion would cost 268,000 casualties. Personnel at the Navy Department estimated that the total losses to America would be between 1.7 and 4 million with 400,000 to 800,000 deaths. The same department estimated that there would be up to 10 million Japanese casualties. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki prevented those casualties. To argue otherwise is simply revisionist history.
There is no question that this is a horrific accounting of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but is this accounting of intense suffering that much different from that of the survivors of the fire bombing of Tokyo on 9 March 1945 when almost 16 square miles in and around the Japanese capital were incinerated, and between 80,000 and 130,000 Japanese civilians were killed in the worst single firestorm in recorded history?
One reviewer here says the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a U.S. planned and executed Holocaust. What a ludicrous comparison. Yes, this book is filled with horrible personal accounts but to liken the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to the Holocaust is absolute nonsense.
By early 1945 Japan was a defeated nation. It had lost the air war and the sea war. Japanese ground forces throughout the Pacific were defeated. The American naval blockade had choked Japan's capacity to make war. Japan was defeated economically. All of this is undeniably true, and yet Japan refused to surrender.
Based on the massive American casualties incurred in the capture of Okinawa, American military leaders expected severe casualties with the invasion of Japan's home islands. Staff working for Adm Nimitz calculated that the first 30 days of Olympic alone would cost 49,000 men. MacArthur's staff concluded that America would suffer 125,000 casualties after 120 days. Admiral Leahy estimated that the invasion would cost 268,000 casualties. Personnel at the Navy Department estimated that the total losses to America would be between 1.7 and 4 million with 400,000 to 800,000 deaths. The same department estimated that there would be up to 10 million Japanese casualties. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki prevented those casualties. To argue otherwise is simply revisionist history.
There is no question that this is a horrific accounting of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but is this accounting of intense suffering that much different from that of the survivors of the fire bombing of Tokyo on 9 March 1945 when almost 16 square miles in and around the Japanese capital were incinerated, and between 80,000 and 130,000 Japanese civilians were killed in the worst single firestorm in recorded history?
One reviewer here says the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a U.S. planned and executed Holocaust. What a ludicrous comparison. Yes, this book is filled with horrible personal accounts but to liken the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to the Holocaust is absolute nonsense.
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October 6, 2014The Author's purpose of writing this book is not to only tell people how the bombing went bad but how horrified and terrified these people were after. The theme of the book is to understand the survivors point of view of the bombing and is trying to not only say but to have the reader feel how the victims felt after the tragic event. The bigger picture of this book is that the survivors are glad to be alive and are trying to explain everything so possibly this won't happen again to anyone as innocent as them. The style of the book is a description because it had people in it that explained how it was like I was actually in there spot at this time. Also this was a event that happened at a certain time that made me feel like it was first hand experience. The book is very specific to where I like how it seems like a was right there but I also dislike it because this kind of event would not be fun to be around. I would not change anything because this was a great book about history that happened and you cannot change history. This is not similar to any book I have ever had because this is one of the most "graphic minded" books I have ever read.
November 10, 2012
I read this in one day. I am overflowing with so many kinds of emotions right now that I can't comment. Almost too much too bear and I only read a book. This is a book that should be read by everyone. Some of the accounts that describe the horror are beautiful and lyrical making the horror all that more stark.
A U.S. planned and executed Holocaust whose direct victims and those who were yet to be born is not all that different than the attempted annihilation of mass groups of peoples during Hitler's Holocaust and reign of terror. And before anyone tells me not to use the word Holocaust in vain let me tell you this: Forty seven members of my family who we know of were murdered during the more well known Holocaust that took place in Europe under Hitler's reign and tutelage.
Please read this book. If you can't find a copy I'll send you mine with the hope that you will send it back to me when you're done.
I will return to write a review sometime when I can breath again.
A U.S. planned and executed Holocaust whose direct victims and those who were yet to be born is not all that different than the attempted annihilation of mass groups of peoples during Hitler's Holocaust and reign of terror. And before anyone tells me not to use the word Holocaust in vain let me tell you this: Forty seven members of my family who we know of were murdered during the more well known Holocaust that took place in Europe under Hitler's reign and tutelage.
Please read this book. If you can't find a copy I'll send you mine with the hope that you will send it back to me when you're done.
I will return to write a review sometime when I can breath again.
July 21, 2013
a very moving book....you cannot possibly imagine the scene that these people lived through. I have also read the manhattan project book and feel that america was going to drop this bomb whether japan surrendered or not, purely as they wanted to trial their new toy!!.
what amazes me is the peoples attitude, they do not all want to waste their enerygy on hate and regret. they move forward and fight against nuclear weapons. I can only feel great sympathy for those affected and still affected by the events of 1945.
what amazes me is the peoples attitude, they do not all want to waste their enerygy on hate and regret. they move forward and fight against nuclear weapons. I can only feel great sympathy for those affected and still affected by the events of 1945.
June 21, 2010
It sounds strange, but I really loved reading this book. Though I've read quite a bit on the atomic bomb survivors, the volume of witnesses and especially the photographs included in this book expanded my understanding of the effects of the bomb. For anyone who supports warfare and armament, I am pretty sure reading this would change your mind. As a side effect, the stories also made me feel incredibly grateful for my own decent health.
August 5, 2016
A harrowing and ultimately necessary read. It's difficult to fathom the human suffering involved in nuclear war, and these personal accounts expose a fraction of that pain. The introduction is excellent, as it explains a bit of the science behind nuclear bombs in a pretty clear manner.
Highly recommended.
Highly recommended.
December 4, 2012
More people need to read about Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Sadly so many toss the word terrorist around. What compares to the A Bomb? The fallout continues to this day.
March 2, 2017
Intense and a must-read. I think an argument could be made that this should be required reading for every living human being.
December 1, 2013
Amazing first-person accounts from survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombs. Completely sobering and eye-opening.
January 23, 2016
Gruesome, but important, true stories from victims of the atom bombs dropped over Japan during WW2. We must never forget..
July 29, 2018
Individual stories from the survivors of the Atomic Bomb. Very good book and very interesting.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews