“I believe that the atomic bomb was dropped not on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but on humanity as a whole.
War is an act of international terrorism. It drives people to lunacy and denies human existence through atrocities like the atomic bomb.
I will continue to communicate my plight for a world free of nuclear weapons through my own recollections of the atomic bomb. I hope that my words speak to the logic and sensibility of people.
I consider this a mission bestowed upon me as I approach the “finale” of my life. I plan to cherish these remaining days to fulfill this final task.

2017.6.10. Hiroshima
Hosokawa Kohji”

“If you and I were sitting within 1.3km of the bomb drop, this table, these chairs – everything – would be hurled into the air and flung across the room. We would both be brutally injured.

I was 17 when the bomb was dropped. It was my first day back at the office at the Hiroshima Teishinkyoku after spending the summer in Kyushu at one of our construction sites. The concrete walls of our building must have impeded some of the air blast. I walked out injured, but alive.

Back then, students aged 12 and up were sent to work on tatemono sokai sites (mass demolition of buildings to create fire breaks). August 6, 1945 was my younger sister Yoko’s first day. ‘Ittekimasu! (I’m off to work!)’ she said cheerfully as she left the house that morning. She never came home. Her site was located about 700m from the hypocenter. She was 12 years old.

Although she was my half-sister, I adored Yoko. She was a kind, precocious child. Yoko’s mother was never the same after her daughter’s death. Time did not heal her wounds. Yoko wrote in her diary from April of 1945 to August 5, 1945, the day before the bombing. I have since compiled her diary entries into a book called ‘Yoko’s Diary.'”

六月五日（火）晴れ

今日も、今も、沖縄では、激しい戦いが続けられている。また、米、英の女学生も、何か一心にしていると思う。私たちは、米英の女学生に負けてはならない。断じて負けてはならない。

今日も、勉強していると、阪神地区へ敵機がたくさん来襲している。私と同じ女学生も、敵弾に当たり、桜の花のように、散っていった人があるかも知れない。

同胞よ、きっと、きっと、かたきは討ちます。安心して、地下に眠ってください。

起床　五時十五分
就床　二十時
学習時間　一時間
手伝い　食事の支度

June 5 (Saturday) Sunny

Today, at this very moment, the war rages on in Okinawa. Schoolgirls in the US and Britain are likely striving for greatness. Us Japanese schoolgirls cannot be defeated by them. We absolutely cannot fall behind.

Even today, as I study, enemy planes are attacking the Hanshin region. Perhaps there is a schoolgirl there like myself who has been struck by an enemy bullet and fallen gracefully like the petals of a cherry blossom.

I will avenge your death, dear comrade. Rest peacefully.

Hour of rising: 5:15am
Bedtime: 8:00pm
Hours spent studying: 1 hour
Chores accomplished: Meal preparation