Newly Found Hiroshima Eyewitness Account Reveals Atomic Horror
A 400-page memoir by Japanese pastor Kiyoshi Tanimoto, who survived the 1945 Hiroshima bombing, has been published for the first time 81 years after the attack.
The extraordinary 400-page memoir, titled “Hiroshima, 8:15: The Lost Memoir,” was penned by Kiyoshi Tanimoto, a 36-year-old pastor who had studied theology at Emory University in Atlanta, according to Isabel Vincent writing in New York Post. The manuscript was released Thursday, marking more than eight decades since American forces dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima at 8:15 a.m. on August 6, 1945.
Tanimoto documented the moment of the blast in vivid detail, describing a sharp flash of light and a powerful wind blast accompanied by a tremendous explosion. At the time, he was on the city’s outskirts helping to relocate his church’s piano. His wife, Chisa Tanimoto, and their eight-month-old daughter were at home when the bomb struck, becoming partially buried under rubble. The infant’s cries alerted the mother, who frantically dug through the debris to rescue them both.
That baby, now 81 years old and known as Kondo, has dedicated most of her life to peace activism, advocating against nuclear weapons.
Discovery in Archives
The manuscript had been sent decades ago to Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter John Hersey, the first American journalist to document the atomic bomb’s impact on Hiroshima’s civilian population. The memoir was only recently unearthed by Hersey’s grandson, Cannon Hersey, and Japanese filmmaker Taku Nishimae while examining archived files. It remains unclear whether John Hersey, who interviewed Tanimoto in 1946, ever read the pastor’s complete account.
Scenes of Devastation
In harrowing passages, Tanimoto described rushing through the destroyed city to locate his family, stepping over the dead and dying. He wrote of people buried beneath collapsed structures everywhere, with no possibility for a single person to rescue them.
The minister documented survivors with skin fallen from their bodies, covered in festering burns infested with maggots that had to be extracted with pincers. A critical shortage of medical personnel meant patients died while others were being treated. Tanimoto himself experienced severe diarrhea and fever but emerged largely unharmed—unlike more than 140,000 residents who perished from burns, injuries, and what he termed “the atomic disease,” referring to radiation sickness.
No Resentment Toward America
Despite the catastrophic loss of life, Tanimoto became known as a “rescuing angel” for his relentless efforts aiding fellow survivors, though he rejected the heroic label. Notably, he harbored no bitterness toward the United States for deploying the weapon.
Tanimoto explained that the bomb’s immense destructive force led Hiroshima’s survivors to embrace the goal of eliminating all wars from the earth, rather than fostering resentment against America.
The pastor went on to have four more children—two daughters and two sons—and continued his ministry work.
Film Adaptation in Development
The memoir is being adapted into a feature film directed by Phil Joanou, with “Shogun” actor Takehiro Hira cast as Tanimoto. The production is scheduled for release at the 2028 Cannes Film Festival.
With information from New York Post
