Tsutomu Yamaguchi was recently recognised by Japanese authorities as being within three-kilometres of ground-zero when the bombs went off at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Now 93 and increasingly frail, Mr Yamaguchi, a native of Nagasaki in south-west Japan, wants his story to be a reminder of the horror of nuclear weapons.
Our North Asia correspondent Mark Willacy visited Mr Yamaguchi and filed this report for AM.
(Sound of praying)
MARK WILLACY: Every morning Tsutomu Yamaguchi gives thanks before the Lord Buddha for his miraculous life.
More than anyone he appreciates the Buddhist principles of suffering and rebirth.
(Sound of bell ringing)
TSUTOMU YAMAGUCHI (translated): I thought the sun had fallen from the sky. There was a tremendous sound and a flash of light above me. I had no idea what it was.
MARK WILLACY: What it was was the world’s first atomic bomb attack.
Tsutomu Yamaguchi was preparing to leave Hiroshima on the morning of the 6th of August, 1945. The Nagasaki native had been there for months designing oil tankers for his employer Mitsubishi.
When the US B-29 bomber the Enola Gay dropped the bomb, the 29-year old Mr Yamaguchi was within three kilometres of ground-zero.
(Sound of atomic bomb exploding)
TSUTOMU YAMAGUCHI (translated): My hair was burned, my face was burned and so too was my upper body. Only my legs would move. I managed to get to the main train station. The next day I made it home to Nagasaki.
MARK WILLACY: There Tsutomu Yamaguchi’s burns were treated, and swathed in bandages he hauled himself into work and reported to his supervisor.
TSUTOMU YAMAGUCHI (translated): I was telling my company supervisor in Nagasaki that one bomb had destroyed all of Hiroshima. He told me I was crazy. Just as he said that - the bomb fell on Nagasaki.
MARK WILLACY: The blast gravely injured his supervisor but once again Tsutomu Yamaguchi escaped with his life, returning to his wife and 6-month old son.
Like thousands of others he was recognised as a survivor of Hiroshima, but authorities did not accept his claim of having lived through the Nagasaki bomb, saying he was already entitled to full health and welfare benefits.
But almost 64 years after the bombs and after a recent media furore, the Nagasaki City Council caved in.
For Tsutomu Yamaguchi’s family, this recognition has nearly come too late. His daughter Toshiko Yamazaki says her father has not got long to live.
TOSHIKO YAMAZAKI (translated): He has cancer which is spreading throughout his body. He’s so old, so we’ve been told it’s better for him not to have surgery. Also my father has told me he just wants to die naturally.
MARK WILLACY: But before he dies, Tsutomu Yamaguchi wants the world to hear his message about nuclear weapons, even though that involves dredging up painful memories.
TSUTOMU YAMAGUCHI (translated): Japan can’t rid the world of nuclear weapons by itself. The whole world needs to hold hands and prevent this type of war. Mr Obama is now the US President and I listened to his speech. Maybe there is hope.
MARK WILLACY: Tsutomu Yamaguchi is certainly someone who knows about hope. And when it comes to nuclear disarmament, he’s never given up praying for another miracle.
http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2009/s2574387.htm
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