Messages from the Heaven of Hiroshima
My Dear Son
Written by Father of Hiroaki
This is a story written by a father who suddenly lost his dear son from the atomic bombing. He wrote down all the last words of his son, which were filled with his love towards his family and friends.
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[Trascription]
On the morning of August 6th, the day of the atomic bomb, my son, Hiroaki left our house in Kusatsu around 6:30 to get to school by 7:00. Later that day I went searching for him with two other fathers from the same town, Mishima and Tamura, whose sons were also first year students at Hiroshima First Middle School. We searched for our sons around the sweet-potato field in the schoolyard, calling out “Are there any students of the First Middle School?” People there were lying in groups of two or three. Several were dead already. I heard some faint replies amid the gasping voices, but I could not see my son anywhere. This continued through the night, leaving me anxious and despairing for him.
On August 7th, the next day, I heard that many students of the First Middle School had been moved to the vicinity of Ninoshima, so I immediately headed in that direction. After going through a quarantine station on a pier I saw a huge mass of students, male and female, who had been evacuated there. It looked like a living hell, with dead bodies piled up like a mountain in the vast field in hot summer. Tags had been attached to each of them, bearing names and addresses. I worked my way through the mass of wailing crowds, who were hovering between life and death. Searching like a madman, I was shouting, “Are there any students of the First Middle School?” At last, I found Hiroaki in the farthest corner of a military barracks, lying on his side on a wooden floor. With nothing but his underpants left, he had burns all over his body. By now they were blistering, and his face was completely swollen. At first I couldn’t recognize him, but from the name still written on his underpants, and on the tag that the soldiers had attached, I finally confirmed that this was my dear son.
“Hang in there, Hiroaki! Daddy’s here for you. I know they’ll make you better,” I yelled near his ear. He opened his eyes slightly and seemed to nod. His entire face was burned, as well as places on his hands, arms, chest, back, and legs. The skin on both hands hung like tattered rags, dangling in the air. Hiroaki was barely conscious. All around him were other 13- and 14-year-old boys and girls, who were dying, one after another, calling out their parents’ names. I remained by his pillow, scribbling as fast as I could the words he was speaking while delirious from the fever and toxins in his body.
“Ahh, so hot! I’m burning all over.
Hurry! Hurry! Get away!” “Teacher…Teacher, where are you? Hurry, let’s get away! Hurry, hurry!”
“Ahh, please, sir, please help me! What happened to Tamura and Mishima? Let’s go home. Is there a Miyajima Train?”
“Grandma! Mom! I just want to go home.”
“Teacher, please let me go home! I just want to see Mom once more.”
“Officer, am I still alive?” “Dad, is our family still alive?”
“Grandma, I am so happy you've survived!”
Hiroaki’s delirium continued through August 8th and 9th. At last, he said, “I’m not going to make it. I’m going to die,” and then fell silent. On the 10th his condition suddenly worsened. His grandmother cradled him in her arms, her very first grandchild who was now dying, and she cried into his ear, “Hiroaki, please say ‘Grandma’ once more.” Faintly he answered, “Grandma…” We moistened his mouth with cool water as his breathing grew heavy. Gradually his hands and feet became cold until finally he passed away.
[日本語原文]
私の愛しい息子
八月六日の原爆の朝、弘明は、朝七時までに登校しなければならないので、草津の自宅を６時半ごろに出た。 あの日（八月六日）私は、同郷(どうきょう)の三島、田村と三人で、ともに広島一中の子供三人を探しに出た。一中のグランドの芋畑の中で「一中の生徒はいないか」と連呼（れんこ）した。そこかしこからかすかな返事が聞こえたが、皆息絶え絶えだった。二、三人が固まって横になっているが、すでに息の絶えているものも数名いた。しかし、探し求める我が子の姿は発見できない。不安と絶望の一夜は明けた。
翌八月七日、一中の生徒は、似島（にのしま）方面へ多数送られたという情報を得たので、私は早速似島に渡った。検疫所の桟橋を渡ると、物すごいほどの一般男女学生が避難し、生地獄そのままの情況をだった。死体が、広い夏の草原に山ほど積まれ、それぞれに荷札のようなもので、住所氏名がくくりつけてある。 うめき叫ぶ生死の境をさまよう群衆の中を、私は狂人の如く（ごとく）「一中の生徒はいないか」と絶叫して尋ね廻った。
弘明は、一番奥の兵舎の一隅の板張りの上に横臥（おうが）していた。パンツ一枚である。全身火傷で、わが子の日常の姿は全く認められず、火ぶくれになって顔面はふくれ上がり、パンツのネームと軍の荷札の名前によって、ようやくわが子であることを確認する。 「弘明や、お父ちゃんが来たんだ、しっかりせよ。きっと早く治してやるから」と、力強く耳元で叫ぶと、少しばかり目をあけてうなずいたようだ。顔面は全部火傷、手、腕、胸、背、足のそこここに火傷し、手の皮は両手ともブラブラで、ボロを付けたようにぶらさがっていた。 弘明は昏睡状態だった。、周囲では、十三、四才の同年配ぐらいの少年少女が、両親の名を呼んでいるうちに、次々にものを言わなくなって絶命（ぜつめい）する。 弘明が、熱と毒素にうなされて無意識のうちに言ったことを、私はその枕のそばで速記した。
「ああ、あついあつい、身体がやけるで」
「早う逃げようや」
「どこですか、先生！ 先生！」「早く逃げましょう。早く早く」
「兵隊さん、助けてくださいや、田村や三島はどうしたのかのー？ 一緒に早く家に帰りたいのー。（＝帰りたいなあー）宮島電車はありますか」
「あばあちゃん、おかあさん、早く帰りたいの(＝帰りたいよ)」
「先生、帰らして下さい。母を一目だけでよいですから…」
「兵隊さん、僕はまだ生きとるのですか」
「お父ちゃん、家の者の命はありますか」
「おばあちゃん、よう助かったの！(＝よう助かったね！)」
八月八日、九日となるにつれて、ほとんど昏睡状態を続け、九日にはもう、 「もうわしゃだめじゃ、死ぬるんだろうて（＝死んでいくようだ）」と言って、物を言わなくなった。 八月十日の夜になって容体が急変し、祖母は抱き起すようにして、今永眠せんとする初孫に向かい 「弘明やー。おばあちゃんと言ってちょうだいやー」と耳の傍らで叫べば、ごくかすかな声で 「おばあちゃん」と返事をする。 冷たい水で口をうるおす。次第に呼吸困難になり、手先、足先から次第に冷たくなり、遂に永眠した。