Bomb survivor shares ’surreal, hellish’ memories
January 16, 2008 by JULIE LEUNG
Filed under Variety
A woman, buried up to her neck in rubble, about to be consumed by fire. A playmate holding his arms out because the skin had been burned off.
These are the images that remain etched in 73-year-old Takashi Teramoto’s mind as he recounts August 6, 1945 – the day the atomic bomb was dropped on his hometown of Hiroshima, Japan.
“I had dreams about that woman for a long time,” said Teramoto through his translator, Natsuki Okito.
Sitting in an Atlanta Barnes & Noble coffee shop on a clear blue Saturday afternoon, the hellish scenes Teramoto described seemed surreal.
“It’s really hard to communicate this to anybody because it is so outside their experience,” he said. “It’s hard for you to imagine a situation like that.”
In a mild-mannered tone, Teramoto related his memory of the exact moment the bomb dropped:
“I lived one kilometer from the hypocenter. I was writing a letter to my friend and I felt a flash behind me. I turned around to look at it and suddenly all went black. I don’t remember anything after that.”
“I think I ducked under the desk. It probably protected me from things that were falling,” he said.
“Inside other houses, people were blown against the wall. But I didn’t move. I don’t know why that happened. It’s incredible that the blast blew my house away, but I was just sitting there.”
Rescued by his aunt from the debris, Teramoto was carried to safety in the suburbs, he said.
However, 10-year-old Teramoto said he did not escape unscathed.
SURVIVOR VISIT
What: Hiroshima Atomic-Bomb Survivor Visit
When: 6:30 tonight
Where: University Chapel
Price: Free
More Information: uga.edu/jac/hiroshima
Out of the estimated 140,000 people killed from the bomb and its effects, Teramoto’s mother numbered among them, dying 10 days later from radiation poisoning, he said.
“It wouldn’t be true to say that I felt no resentment towards the U.S.,” he said. “My mother was killed. I lost many of my friends. My older brother also died from the radiation.”
Now 62 years later, Teramoto has overcome the resentment in order to relate his story to audiences worldwide, he said.
“I have learned to deal with the pain over the years. Now the stronger feeling is that this should never be repeated again.”
Teramoto’s crusade for nuclear disarmament will bring him to the University Wednesday night.
Accompanying Teramoto will be Steven Leeper, the first American to be placed in charge of the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation.
Leeper said eliminating nuclear weapons is the change the world needs to solve other global issues.
“A lot of people are talking about the war in Iraq, the economy, global warming and world poverty. These are tremendously important issues, but none of them can be solved if we don’t get rid of nuclear weapons first.”
According to Leeper, such a change must begin in the U.S.
Jason Garland, president of the University’s Japan Club and a senior comparative literature major from Athens, echoed Leeper’s sentiments.
“I hope that people who know very little about the event will walk away with a new perspective.”
For Teramoto, the viewpoint from Hiroshima is very clear.
“Survivors are dying every day,” he said.
“It is up to you and your generation to make the future of a peaceful world.”
