Mr. Kosuke Shishido - Atomic Bomb Survivor - Wyoming City Schools

Voices of an A-Bomb survivor
Interview of an A-Bomb survivor: Mr. Kosuke Shishido
Date: May 8, 1995
Place: Room 817, Information Sciences Building,
Hiroshima City University
Interviewer: Mitsuru Ohba
Mr. Shishido is a business consultant who lives in
Yokohama. He was a Colonel in the Japanese army at the
time of the Bomb. He was a staff member of the area
headquarters. He served as the president of the Chugoku
Renovation Foundation immediately after his military
service. He has published five books; two of them are
related to the Atomic Bomb being dropped on Hiroshima.
1. Where were you at the time the bomb was dropped?
I was in a shelter near Miyukibashi bridge which was about 2 miles away (South East) from
the center of the explosion. It was Monday; many people were on their way to their offices. I
had stayed in my office (military headquarters) the previous night. A few B29 bombers flew
over the area several times and flew away without bombing cities in the area. We were puzzled
as to what their mission would be. The last B29 bomber flew over the city at 7:00 a.m. that
morning. I left my office soon after that to go home to sleep.
2. What happened to you when the explosion occurred?
I felt a huge explosion (sound, vibration and wind) near by. I thought a large conventional
bomb had been dropped near the shelter. Later, I heard that many people on the street saw two
B29s fly over the city. Those people saw a huge fire-ball in the sky soon after. It took a few
moments for those people to feel the strong wind. Then people realized that they had been
bombed.
3. What did you see when you came out of the shelter?
I saw many people coming out of the center of the city. They were asking for help. Their skin
was melted and hung around their arms. I realized something unusual had happened. I cannot
describe what I really saw because it was like hell on the earth.
4. What did you see after that?
Unfortunately it was high tide and so the river was too deep to cross. People rushed to the
narrow bridges to escape. I saw many people falling down to the river. Soon after the river was
filled with burning logs. It was like a river of fire. People who fell in the river died in the river
of fire. We could not help.

5. What was the major physical effect of the bomb?
The bomb generated a very strong wind at the moment of its explosion. The wind reflected
when it hit the mountains surrounding the city. The houses and building near the mountains
were destroyed by the reflected wind. Actually, I felt a strong wind twice; and the second one
was stronger than the first.
6. What do you want to tell the world?
I personally do not blame the U.S.A. It was a war. Japan might have done a similar thing in
different situation. However, I believe it was a sin to kill so many people instantly. On the
basis of my research, I have concluded that the major reasons why the bomb was dropped on
Hiroshima are as follows. There was a group of people (military people and scientists) who
wanted to experiment with the bomb that they had developed. Some high level people in the
government wanted to show the world the military power of the country (in the sense of using
A-bomb politically). Some people who played a significant role in the development of the first
A-bomb in history wanted to kill as many people as possible to get even with Japan for Pearl
Harbor and the Philipinnes war (the city of Hiroshima is surrounded by mountains; the
geographic condition amplifies the effect). The project that developed the first two A-bombs
had spent a significant amount of money and they needed a justification (termination of the
war). We are not so strong in the sense that we can control ourselves; we cannot sometimes
control our reasoning. Dropping the bomb was not a necessary condition to terminating the
war. The Japanese government should have clearly expressed its intention to terminate the war
before the bomb was dropped. It was a shame.