Episode 4

A highly personal account of life in Hiroshima after the atomic bomb is dropped on August 6th 1945. Kiyoshi Tanimoto is a pastor who helped his family and local church members amidst the chaos and devastation.

The first atomic bomb was unleashed on Hiroshima at 8.15 in the morning on August 6th, swiftly followed by another bomb dropped on Nagasaki three days later. The bombs put an end to the war, but they killed between 60 and 80 thousand people. Tens of thousands more died from the effects of radiation sickness in the months and years after.

Eighty-one years later, Kiyoshi Tanimoto’s historic memoir has come to light- his account records the minutes, days, months and years following the blast. Kiyoshi, who was 37 at the time and who died in 1986, recorded every detail of what he witnessed - the initial death and destruction and the struggles to survive that he, his family and church community went through to rebuild their lives.

The foreword by his daughter, Koko Kondo, now in her 80s, reveals Kiyoshi’s lifelong work to promote his message of peace as he eventually went on to tour America.

In Episode Four, Kiyoshi celebrates a first Christmas since the blast in the remains of the church with his friends, family and congregation.

Read by Mark Takeshi Ota and Naoko Mori
Abridged and produced by Jo Rowntree and Lisa Lipman
Sound engineer: Jon Calver
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4