Eight Dead Boys in a Circle

[Trascription]

On the morning of August 6, I was waiting for the streetcar at Tokaichi Station for a long time. The streetcar that had been delayed due to the air-raid warning, finally arrived. I squeezed into the packed streetcar and was riding through Dobashi. Suddenly, there was an orange flash for a split second, followed by a thundering loud explosion. It felt as if the streetcar had been blown off its rails. I jumped out and ran about enclosed by the darkness and terrifying sound that followed.

In the sudden darkness, there appeared a living hell. Clothes having been torn off their bodies, people were half-naked and badly burned. There were cries and shouts all around. I saw some younger female students surrounding a soldier begging for help. Their skin was burned and dangling from the tips of their fingers. But the soldier himself was also badly burned, and there was nothing he could do to help them. He was trying his best to comfort them with kind words.　

At night I looked beyond the bamboo forest and watched the city of Hiroshima burn. I could see the bright red flames and feel the hot breeze that carried the stench of human bodies burning. I didn’t sleep a wink.

Once the fire subsided in Hiroshima, my sister and I went to check on the state of our house in Hiratsuka. The city was permeated with the stench of burned flesh, and the rivers were filled with dead bodies. Near Aioi Bridge, I was shocked and stunned by the sight of eight dead schoolboys who lay their faces down in a circle holding tightly to one another’s hands. I imagined they must have called out each other’s names as they were dying.