Below is the transcript of the conversation taken from Hiroshima Peace Media Center
Part 1: “An impact so great I wondered if the earth had broken apart”
What was the situation at the time of the disaster?
At the time of the explosion it never occurred to me it was a nuclear test. I knew nothing about the atomic bomb or radioactivity then. I thought it was an explosion under the seabed or an underwater volcanic eruption because around that time an island had been formed overnight as the result of an underwater volcanic eruption.
But at the time of the flash, oddly enough there was no sound. The light slowly turned the whole sky, which was still dark, completely red like the sunset, but the light didn’t die out. I was surprised and wondered what had happened. I thought perhaps the universe had changed in some strange way. Everyone was just staring silently, wondering what had happened.
After that I went to the stern of the boat and was eating breakfast. Then, when I was about halfway through my breakfast, the sound reached us. It wasn’t a big boom that came from across the sea. It rose up from the bottom. It was a loud, low rumble that came from below. Everyone was startled, and the men who were walking on deck lay down flat like you would if a bomb were dropped. I was eating breakfast, so I just flung my dishes away and escaped into the cabin. I wondered if the earth had broken apart and what would happen next.
After about 15 minutes dawn broke and the sky lightened. On the horizon in the direction the light had come from I could see a cloud like five thunderclouds one on top of the other. It was the mushroom cloud from the H-bomb test. It was like a bigger version of the mushroom cloud you often see in films and photographs. It rose way up into the sky. It’s said that it went up 34,000 meters, so the top of the mushroom cloud must have reached the stratosphere.
About an hour and a half later the sky, which had been clear, was clouded over by the mushroom cloud, and then white stuff started falling. We were under southern skies, so I knew it couldn’t be snow. I wondered what it was. We had already started hauling in our long lines as usual, so we just kept on working while brushing the stuff off our heads. It didn’t flutter down like snowflakes; it stuck to us. I licked some that had stuck to my face, but it didn’t dissolve. It was gritty like sand. But at that time I had no idea there was radiation in the white powder. I just remember that a lot of white stuff got in my eyes and it was hard to work.
What was the situation at the time of the disaster?
At the time of the explosion it never occurred to me it was a nuclear test. I knew nothing about the atomic bomb or radioactivity then. I thought it was an explosion under the seabed or an underwater volcanic eruption because around that time an island had been formed overnight as the result of an underwater volcanic eruption.
But at the time of the flash, oddly enough there was no sound. The light slowly turned the whole sky, which was still dark, completely red like the sunset, but the light didn’t die out. I was surprised and wondered what had happened. I thought perhaps the universe had changed in some strange way. Everyone was just staring silently, wondering what had happened.
After that I went to the stern of the boat and was eating breakfast. Then, when I was about halfway through my breakfast, the sound reached us. It wasn’t a big boom that came from across the sea. It rose up from the bottom. It was a loud, low rumble that came from below. Everyone was startled, and the men who were walking on deck lay down flat like you would if a bomb were dropped. I was eating breakfast, so I just flung my dishes away and escaped into the cabin. I wondered if the earth had broken apart and what would happen next.
After about 15 minutes dawn broke and the sky lightened. On the horizon in the direction the light had come from I could see a cloud like five thunderclouds one on top of the other. It was the mushroom cloud from the H-bomb test. It was like a bigger version of the mushroom cloud you often see in films and photographs. It rose way up into the sky. It’s said that it went up 34,000 meters, so the top of the mushroom cloud must have reached the stratosphere.
About an hour and a half later the sky, which had been clear, was clouded over by the mushroom cloud, and then white stuff started falling. We were under southern skies, so I knew it couldn’t be snow. I wondered what it was. We had already started hauling in our long lines as usual, so we just kept on working while brushing the stuff off our heads. It didn’t flutter down like snowflakes; it stuck to us. I licked some that had stuck to my face, but it didn’t dissolve. It was gritty like sand. But at that time I had no idea there was radiation in the white powder. I just remember that a lot of white stuff got in my eyes and it was hard to work.
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