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Tsutomu Yamaguchi survived both Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings in 1945 and was officially recognised as the sole double survivor of the blasts
Tsutomu Yamaguchi remains the only person officially recognised by the Japanese government as a ‘Niju Hibakusha’, that is, a person affected by both bombs. (News18)
On August 6, 1945, near the end of the Second World War, the United States dropped the first atomic bomb ever used in warfare on Hiroshima, Japan. The blast instantly killed nearly 80,000 people. Three days later, on August 9, a second atomic bomb struck Nagasaki, causing around 40,000 deaths. Remarkably, one man survived both attacks: Tsutomu Yamaguchi.
Officially recognised as the only survivor of both bombings, Tsutomu Yamaguchi passed away in 2010 at the age of 93.
Who Was Tsutomu Yamaguchi?
At the time of the Hiroshima bombing, Tsutomu Yamaguchi was 29 years old and working as an engineer for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. He was on a three-month business trip in Hiroshima, with August 6 marking his last day in the city.
Over the summer, he and his colleagues had been working on plans for a new oil tanker. Eager to return to his wife, Hisako, and young son, Katsutoshi, Tsutomu Yamaguchi was preparing to leave the city.
How Did He Survive Hiroshima?
On the morning of August 6, Tsutomu Yamaguchi saw an American B-29 bomber release a small object attached to a parachute, the atomic bomb known as ‘Little Boy’. Moments later, a bright magnesium flash lit the sky. Tsutomu Yamaguchi jumped into a ditch for cover but was lifted into the air and thrown into a nearby potato field by the blast.
When he regained consciousness, the once bright morning had turned dark, his face and hands badly burnt, and his eardrums ruptured. Ash fell heavily as a mushroom cloud hovered over the devastated city.
He made his way to the Mitsubishi shipyard ruins, where he found two colleagues, Akira Iwanaga and Kuniyoshi Sato, who had also survived. That night, they sheltered in an air raid bunker, and the next day, hearing the railway station was operational, they left Hiroshima.
How Did He Survive Nagasaki?
Despite severe injuries, Tsutomu Yamaguchi returned home and was treated at a local hospital on August 8. His wounds were so severe that his family initially did not recognise him; his mother even mistook him for a ghost due to his bandaged appearance and fever.
Remarkably, on August 9, he got out of bed and went to work at Mitsubishi’s Nagasaki office. During a meeting, as he recounted the Hiroshima bombing, the sky suddenly lit with a bright white glow.
Tsutomu Yamaguchi fell to the ground just before the shockwave shattered the office windows, scattering glass and debris. Later, he told The Independent, “I felt the mushroom cloud was following me from Hiroshima.”
Official Recognition And Legacy
In 2009, a year before his death, Tsutomu Yamaguchi stated, “My double radiation exposure is now an official government record. It can educate the younger generation about the horrific history of atomic bombings after my death.” Tsutomu Yamaguchi passed away in 2010 from stomach cancer at 93.
While it is believed around 165 people experienced both bombings, Tsutomu Yamaguchi remains the only person officially recognised by the Japanese government as a ‘Niju Hibakusha’, that is, a person affected by both bombs.
Japan is the only country to have suffered atomic bomb attacks. According to The Washington Post, roughly 140,000 people died in Hiroshima and 70,000 in Nagasaki.
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