“Please learn the history. To keep us from creating any more hibakusha, to preserve this green earth.

Saito Sumito
2017.6.24″

“My mother passed away last December. She lived for 101 years and 27 days. At the funeral, her seven grandchildren crowded around her. “Grammy, you can finally see them again. They’ve been waiting for you.”

My mother had three children prior to the atomic bomb: a 10 year old, a six year old, and a three year old. She was working at a coal distribution company near Nagasaki Station when the bomb was dropped. She was crushed underneath the dilapidated building but miraculously found by her younger sister, who pulled her out of the rubble. My mother’s left ear had been torn off and she had to hold it up against the side of her head. “How are the kids?” she asked incessantly as the two of them headed back toward her house in Urakami.

Sure enough, her house was in smithereens. However, my mother later found her entire family safe and sound in a nearby air raid shelter. This was extremely rare for someone living in this area. “Don’t you go around telling your neighbors that everyone survived the bomb,” my dad warned his children.

Within a week, however, all three children began to develop dark spots on their skin and vomited massive amounts of blood. They died shortly after. My father’s health also deteriorated and he passed away on September 17.

For the 68 years between the bombing and her funeral, my mother never once forgot about her previous family. She was never openly critical of the atomic bomb or war, but she was a strong-willed woman who despised any act of discrimination.”