Atomic Bombing

On August 6, 1945, the US B29 bomber Enola Gay entered the skies over Hiroshima and dropped an atomic bomb from an altitude of 9,600 meters. An enormous cloud was generated by the sudden atmospheric changes caused by the explosion and rose to the stratosphere. Below that amazing mushroom cloud, the city of Hiroshima had been obliterated and vast numbers of injured victims were in desperate need of help. Ninoshima residents began learning about the injured victims about two hours after the explosion.Among the Ninoshima residents, 108 were in Hiroshima for school or work at the time of the bombing, and died in a month's time.

7(right) The rising mushroom cloud Photo / Nobuhiko Kodaira August 6, 1945, about 15 minutes after explosion Approx. 6 km from the hypocenter, Kanawajima Island 8(above) The enemy plane dropping the A-bomb seen from Ninoshima Drawing and text / Kanetake Uchiyama August 6, 1945, Officers quarters, Marine Medical Headquarters, Aza Higashi-otani, Ninoshima-cho " A light flashed behind the plane. I thought it had dropped something. A few seconds later, there was an enormous roar like the explosion of a gigantic bomb. Soon, a mushroom cloud billowed up into the sky above Hiroshima. I was taking a late breakfast as the officer on duty, but I was looking into the sky, so I got a good look at the enemy plane."

9 As soon as we saw the flash, the whole area grew dark Drawing / Hiroko Kanemasu August 6, 1945, Ninoshima Elementary School, Aza Yajita, Ninoshima-cho The northern edge of the island was closest to the hypocenter-8.3 kilometers away. The south side was 11.5 kilometers. Ninoshima Elementary School was on the west side, opposite the quarantine station.

10 The mushroom cloud seen from Ninoshima Drawing and text / Toshifumi Goto August 6, 1945, Aza Daio, Ninoshima-cho "A flash of silver light like tens of thousands of cameras going off at once lit up the whole area. Surprised, I turned around and in the next instant, I heard a boom seemed powerful enough to shove the Earth off its axis. Then, a giant pillar of smoke rose rapidly into the sky. The air-raid sirens screamed throughout the island as the big bomber flew away to the south high in the sky." Excerpt from the memoir "Alas, Such Misery"

Ninoshima and the Atomic Bombing Island of Final Rest 　Military City Hiroshima and the Ninoshima Quarantine Station 　Atomic Bombing 　Relief Activities Immediately after the Bombing 　Ninoshima Overflowing with Injured 　Anguished Voices Calling for Water; Family Members Searching for Loved Ones 　Sending off the Dead 　The Closing of the Emergency Field Hospital, then the Quarantine Station 　A-bomb Orphans 　Ninoshima of the Sleeping Dead 　Conclusion 　Return to TOP