Shuntaro Hida
Encyclopedia
Dr Shuntaro Hida was an eyewitness to the dropping of the Little Boy
Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima by the Enola Gay
on 6 August 1945. He treated survivors as a medical doctor and wrote about the effects of radiation
on the human body.
The night before the bomb was dropped 28 year old Dr Hida left the Hiroshima Military Hospital where he was stationed as an army medical officer to attend to a sick child in the village of Hesaka. He was therefore approximately 6 Kilometres from ground zero
when the bomb was dropped and he looked up and saw the Boeing B-29 Superfortress aircraft which he described as appearing like a 'tiny silver drop'. He then felt the heat and blast from the explosion and saw the mushroom cloud
over the city. As a medical doctor he treated the wounded and saw the short and long term effects of radiation on the human body.
After the war he continued to treat atomic bomb survivors (known as Hibakusha
) for many years and he became the Director of the Hibakusha Counselling Centre. He also sought compensation from the United States
government and advocated the abolition of nuclear weapons. In 2005 he was interviewed for the BBC
drama documentary Hiroshima
and his experiences were re-enacted in a dramatic reconstruction of events. He was also interviewed for the documentary White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
in 2006.
Dr Shuntaro Hida appears in the documentary Atomic Wounds by Journeyman Pictures. "At 89, Doctor Hida, a survivor of the 1945 atomic bomb at Hiroshima, continues to care for some of the other quarter of a million survivors. Atomic Wounds retraces his dedicated journey and highlights how the terrible danger of radiation was concealed by successive American administrations in the 50's - 70's so that nuclear power could be freely developed, with no concern for public health."
Little Boy
"Little Boy" was the codename of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 by the Boeing B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay, piloted by Colonel Paul Tibbets of the 393rd Bombardment Squadron, Heavy, of the United States Army Air Forces. It was the first atomic bomb to be used as a weapon...
Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima by the Enola Gay
Enola Gay
Enola Gay is a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, named after Enola Gay Tibbets, mother of the pilot, then-Colonel Paul Tibbets. On August 6, 1945, during the final stages of World War II, it became the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb as a weapon of war...
on 6 August 1945. He treated survivors as a medical doctor and wrote about the effects of radiation
Radiation
In physics, radiation is a process in which energetic particles or energetic waves travel through a medium or space. There are two distinct types of radiation; ionizing and non-ionizing...
on the human body.
The night before the bomb was dropped 28 year old Dr Hida left the Hiroshima Military Hospital where he was stationed as an army medical officer to attend to a sick child in the village of Hesaka. He was therefore approximately 6 Kilometres from ground zero
Ground zero
The term ground zero describes the point on the Earth's surface closest to a detonation...
when the bomb was dropped and he looked up and saw the Boeing B-29 Superfortress aircraft which he described as appearing like a 'tiny silver drop'. He then felt the heat and blast from the explosion and saw the mushroom cloud
Mushroom cloud
A mushroom cloud is a distinctive pyrocumulus mushroom-shaped cloud of condensed water vapor or debris resulting from a very large explosion. They are most commonly associated with nuclear explosions, but any sufficiently large blast will produce the same sort of effect. They can be caused by...
over the city. As a medical doctor he treated the wounded and saw the short and long term effects of radiation on the human body.
After the war he continued to treat atomic bomb survivors (known as Hibakusha
Hibakusha
The surviving victims of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are called , a Japanese word that literally translates to "explosion-affected people"...
) for many years and he became the Director of the Hibakusha Counselling Centre. He also sought compensation from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
government and advocated the abolition of nuclear weapons. In 2005 he was interviewed for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
drama documentary Hiroshima
Hiroshima: BBC History of World War II
Hiroshima is a dramatized BBC television special documentary film that premiered on August 5, 2005, marking the eve of the sixtieth anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. The program was also aired on the Discovery Channel in the United States. The documentary features reenactments using...
and his experiences were re-enacted in a dramatic reconstruction of events. He was also interviewed for the documentary White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is an HBO documentary film that was directed and produced by Steven Okazaki and was released on August 6, 2007 on HBO, marking the 62nd anniversary of the first atomic bombing...
in 2006.
Dr Shuntaro Hida appears in the documentary Atomic Wounds by Journeyman Pictures. "At 89, Doctor Hida, a survivor of the 1945 atomic bomb at Hiroshima, continues to care for some of the other quarter of a million survivors. Atomic Wounds retraces his dedicated journey and highlights how the terrible danger of radiation was concealed by successive American administrations in the 50's - 70's so that nuclear power could be freely developed, with no concern for public health."