Military Wiki
Sumiteru Taniguchi
Personal details
Born (1929-01-26)26 January 1929
Japan
Died 30 August 2017(2017-08-30) (aged 88)
Nagasaki, Japan
Nationality Japanese

Sumiteru Taniguchi (谷口 稜曄 Taniguchi Sumiteru?, 26 January 1929 – 30 August 2017) was a survivor of the 1945 atomic bombing of Nagasaki, a prominent activist for a treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons, and chairman of the Nagasaki Council of A-Bomb Sufferers.[1][2][3]

Atomic bombing of Nagasaki[]

In early 1943, Taniguchi began working as a carrier for the Nishiura-Kami post office in Nagasaki.[4] On the morning of 9 August 1945, the 16-year-old Taniguchi was 1,800 metres (5,900 ft) from the hypocenter, delivering mail on his bicycle without a shirt on due to the warm summer weather, when "Fat Man" exploded in the sky over Urakami. The bomb's heat flash heavily injured Taniguchi with near instant burns resulting, but the blast that arrived afterward did not cause any severe injuries to him, as he clung to the ground while buildings were blown down around him.[4][5] Heavy burns melted skin from his back and left arm, but Taniguchi states that he did not bleed or feel any pain due to the nerve endings being burned away. Tired and disoriented, he walked over to a nearby munitions plant, where a female survivor assisted in cutting off loose portions of skin and rubbed machine oil on his damaged arm.[6]

Recovery[]

Sumiteru Taniguchi back

Photograph of Taniguchi taken by USMC photographer Joe O'Donnell in January 1946, it has been featured in multiple exhibitions and is currently held by the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum Taniguchi's business card featured this photograph with the caption, "I want you to understand, if only a little, the horror of nuclear weapons."[7]

Come nightfall Taniguchi was carried to a hill to rest, where he was surrounded by confused and thirsty survivors. The next morning everyone but Taniguchi was dead. During the next two days rescue teams passed by without noticing him, as he was too weak to muster a call for help.[4] Taniguchi was finally rescued on 11 August and taken to a country clinic about 29 km (18 miles) away from Nagasaki. By mid-September he was moved to a primary school clinic in Nagasaki to receive the first course of medical treatment from a University Hospital team. The clinic was unsanitary and initial treatments proved inadequate as his wounds became infected and worsened.[6]

In November Taniguchi was transferred to Omura Navy Hospital, where he spent the next 21 months lying on his stomach due to the severe burns on his back. During this time Taniguchi developed severe bedsores on his chest. As he recalls, "holes opened between my ribs and the movement of my heart and other organs became visible through the skin."[6] In January 1946, U.S. Marine photographer Joe O'Donnell snapped a picture of Taniguchi's back while recording the aftermath of the bombing in 50 Japanese cities; this photograph is now exhibited in museums as a graphic depiction of the injuries suffered by survivors of the bombings.[6]

The color photograph(s) of Sumiteru Taniguchi's red back are from motion picture film taken by (attributed to) Lieutenant Herbert Sussan.[8] Sergeant Joe O'Donnell took an earlier black and white photograph and this is included in his book, Japan 1945: A U.S. Marine's Photographs from Ground Zero.[6]

By May 1947, Taniguchi could finally sit up, and on 20 March 1949, he was discharged from the Omura hospital.[4] His wounds were not treated properly until 1960, however, and continued to cause him great physical discomfort until his death. The improper burn healing and to some degree the delayed stochastic effects of radiation exposure during and after the bombings manifested in the growth of numerous burn keloid tumors.

From 2007 until his death, Taniguchi had undergone ten surgeries to remove benign growths.[9]

Activism[]

Taniguchi devoted his life to informing people of the consequences of the 1945 atomic bombing and campaigning against nuclear proliferation.[4] He made frequent public appearances to speak to student groups and participate in demonstrations calling for nuclear disarmament.[10] Taniguchi gave numerous interviews recounting his experiences and was featured in Steven Okazaki's 2007 documentary White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.[11]

Death[]

Taniguchi died of cancer in Nagasaki on 30 August 2017 at the age of 88.[12][13][14]

References[]

  1. Rich, Motoko (August 13, 2017). "Sumiteru Taniguchi, 88, Who Survived Nagasaki to Become Activist, Dies". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/31/world/asia/taniguchi-nagasaki-atomic-bomb.html. Retrieved October 23, 2017. 
  2. Schudel, Matt (September 2, 2017). "Japanese survivor of Nagasaki atomic attack bared his scars to plead against nuclear war". The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/japanese-survivor-of-nagasaki-atomic-attack-bared-his-scars-to-plead-against-nuclear-war/2017/09/02/dc70d3a0-8fed-11e7-8df5-c2e5cf46c1e2_story.html. Retrieved October 23, 2017. 
  3. Malm, Sara (30 August 2017). "Face of Nagasaki dies of cancer at 88: Postman whose badly burned body became an iconic image of the devastation caused by atomic bomb had passed away". The Daily Mail. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4835652/Postman-survived-Nagasaki-A-bomb-dies-88.html. Retrieved October 23, 2017. 
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 "Interview with Sumiteru Taniguchi Japanese Citizen, Nagasaki". People's Century: Fallout. PBS. 15 June 1999. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/peoplescentury/episodes/fallout/taniguchitranscript.html. Retrieved 13 August 2007. 
  5. Sprangens, John, Jr. (27 August 1979). "‘People were not like humans’". Corsicana (Texas) Daily Sun. http://www.enigmaterial.com/dateline/hn_34/hn_34_02.html. Retrieved 13 August 2007. 
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 "Bound by the bomb. 'I spurred myself to stay alive'". 6 August 1995. http://archive.tri-cityherald.com/BOMB/bomb24.html. Retrieved 13 August 2007. 
  7. "6 months after the Nagasaki bomb". Mainichi Daily News. 3 November 2006. http://nrdwr.com/weblog/Joe/NOV-2006. Retrieved 13 August 2007. 
  8. Mitchell, Greg (5 August 2011). "The Great Hiroshima Cover-Up—And the Greatest Movie Never Made". http://www.uruknet.info/?p=80252. 
  9. "Nagasaki atomic bomb survivor Sumiteru Taniguchi dies at 88". BBC News. 30 August 2017. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41094741. Retrieved 30 August 2017. 
  10. "Atomic Bomb Survivor Dies After Life Fighting to Ban Nukes". Newser. 30 August 2017. http://www.newser.com/story/247974/survivor-of-nagasaki-bomb-who-campaigned-to-ban-nukes-dies.html. Retrieved 30 August 2017. 
  11. "White Light, Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki – Subject Bios". http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/whitelightblackrain/subjects.html. Retrieved 13 August 2007. 
  12. "A-bomb survivor Sumiteru Taniguchi dies of cancer at 88". 30 August 2017. https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20170830/p2a/00m/0na/005000c. Retrieved 30 August 2017. 
  13. "Postman who survived Nagasaki bombing dies aged 88". 30 August 2017. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/30/postman-who-survived-nagasaki-bombing-sumiteru-taniguchi-dies-aged-88. Retrieved 30 August 2017. 
  14. washingtonpost.com: Japanese survivor of Nagasaki atomic attack bared his scars to plead against nuclear war

See also[]

  • Hibakusha
  • Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons - Preamble
All or a portion of this article consists of text from Wikipedia, and is therefore Creative Commons Licensed under GFDL.
The original article can be found at Sumiteru Taniguchi and the edit history here.