Ishibumi by Hiroshima Television Corporation, tranlated by Yasuko Claremont and Roman Rosenbaum (POPLAR Publishing)

It is my belief that almost everyone in the world has knowledge of the atomic bombings of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and August 9, respectively. We also know from our history classes and history books that an estimated 140,000 to 200,000 people were killed. What we weren’t taught in our history classes though was that ninety-percent of the victims were civilians and a number of them were school-age children. 

Ishibumi tells the story of what happened to the three hundred and twenty-one students who were enrolled in Hiroshima Middle School. The story was first aired as an hour documentary in 1969 on Hiroshima Television. An estimated one-third of the class is believed to have died instantly. The rest of the students died slow and painful deaths. 

We know this to be true as the stories compiled here are from the reflections and letters from the students’ parents, relatives, and friends. All the students were between the ages of twelve and fourteen. It is based on eyewitness accounts as well. 

The title, Ishibumi, written as 碑 in kanji characters, means “stone monument”. The title is taken from the last character of the cenotaph, written in Japanese as 慰霊碑 (ireihi). It is dedicated to the three hundred twenty-one students who perished after the atomic bomb was dropped on the city. Students, faculty, and other non-military citizens were gathered on the banks of the Honkawa River when the bomb exploded. They were only 600 meters away from the hypocenter. 

Many of the students' parents went looking for their kids amidst the fire and rubble. Some were fortunate enough to find them and help them to safety, only to see them die shortly afterwards. Some of the children survived but died a day or two after the bombing. 

The father of a boy named Fumio Katayama wrote, “Since I was burned as well I could not carry him on my back and had to make him walk. We returned to our house in Hijiyama. We had to make a two-hour detour to avoid the city districts that were ablaze. Three days later on the ninth at four o’clock in the morning he died.”

The reader will also learn that many of the parents’ recollections of severely burned children who made it to make it home or to one of the numerous first-aid stations called out to their mothers and fathers, and asked about their friends while they lay dying. What’s really significant and some readers may find hard to understand is that although these children knew they were going to die, they continued to sing military songs, the Japan and national anthem and shouted out, “Long live the Emperor!”.

It’s heartbreaking and inspiring at the same time. Their pride for their country and the Emperor is impressive because you have to remember that these kids were only twelve or thirteen at the time. The book also includes many pictures of the students who died. It is a reminder to the world that, “In war, no one wins.” Even today, the debate still continues—was it necessary to drop the atomic bomb to end the war? Was it a crime against humanity? And will we ever be able to live in a world without atomic or nuclear weapons? ~Ernie Hoyt