Tsutomu Yamaguchi
Encyclopedia
was a Japanese national
who survived both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings
during World War II
. Although at least 160 people are known to have been affected by both bombings, he is the only person to have been officially recognized by the government of Japan
as surviving both explosions.
A resident of Nagasaki, Yamaguchi was in Hiroshima on business for his employer Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
when the city was bombed at 8:15am on August 6, 1945. The following day he returned to Nagasaki and, despite his wounds, returned to work on August 9, the day of the second atomic bombing. In 1957 he was recognized as a hibakusha
(explosion-affected person) of the Nagasaki bombing, but it was not until March 24, 2009 that the government of Japan officially recognised his presence in Hiroshima three days earlier. He died of stomach cancer
on January 4, 2010.
in the 1930s and worked as a draftsman designing oil tankers.
with an overdose of sleeping pills in the event that Japan lost.
dropped the Little Boy
atomic bomb near the centre of the city, only 3 km away. Yamaguchi recalls seeing the bomber and two small parachutes, before there was "a great flash in the sky, and I was blown over" The explosion ruptured his eardrums, blinded him temporarily, and left him with serious burns over the left side of the top half of his body. After recovering he crawled to a shelter, and having rested he set out to find his colleagues. They had also survived and together they spent the night in an air-raid shelter
before returning to Nagasaki the following day. In Nagasaki he received treatment for his wounds and, despite being heavily bandaged, he reported for work on August 9.
dropped the Fat Man
atomic bomb onto Nagasaki. His workplace again put him 3 km from ground zero
, but this time he was unhurt by the explosion. However, he was unable to seek treatment for his now ruined bandages, and suffered from a high fever for over a week.
in 1957, Yamaguchi's identification stated only that he had been present at Nagasaki. Yamaguchi was content with this, satisfied that he was relatively healthy, and put the experiences behind him.
As he grew older, his opinions about the use of atomic weapons began to change. In his eighties, he wrote a book about his experiences (Ikasareteiru inochi ) and was invited to take part in a 2006 documentary about 165 double A-bomb survivors (known as nijū hibakusha in Japan) called Twice Survived: The Doubly Atomic Bombed of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which was screened at the United Nations
. At the screening he pleaded for the abolition of atomic weapons.
Yamaguchi became a vocal proponent of nuclear disarmament
. In an interview he said "The reason that I hate the atomic bomb is because of what it does to the dignity of human beings." Speaking through his daughter during a telephone interview he said, "I can't understand why the world cannot understand the agony of the nuclear bombs. How can they keep developing these weapons?"
On December 22, 2009, Canadian movie director James Cameron
and author Charles Pellegrino
met Yamaguchi while he was in a hospital in Nagasaki, and discussed the idea of making a film about nuclear weapons. "I think it's Cameron's and Pellegrino's destiny to make a film about nuclear weapons," Yamaguchi said.
.
His wife also suffered radiation poisoning from black rain
after the Nagasaki explosion and died in 2008 (at 88) of kidney
and liver cancer
after a lifetime of illness. All three of his children reported that they suffered from health problems that they thought were inherited from their parents' exposure.
. He died on January 4, 2010 in Nagasaki
at the age of 93.
featured Yamaguchi in its comedy program QI
, referring to him as "The Unluckiest Man in the World." Stephen Fry
, the host of QI, and celebrity guests drew laughter from some members of the audience in a segment that included examples of black humor such as asking if the bomb had “landed on him and bounced off." A clip from the episode was uploaded by the BBC after the show as , but was later deleted. A BBC spokesperson told Kyodo News
that "We instructed our crew to delete the file since we have already issued a statement that the content was not appropriate."
The episode triggered criticism in Japan. Toshiko Yamazaki, Yamaguchi's daughter, appeared on NHK
's national evening news and said: "I cannot forgive the atomic bomb experience being laughed at in Britain, which has nuclear weapons of its own. I think this shows that the horror of atomic bomb is not well enough understood in the world. I feel sad rather than angry." Commentators in the UK and elsewhere complained that some Japanese viewers had failed to understand the context of the clip, which they considered respectful towards Yamaguchi because it focused on the failures of the British rail system
in comparison to the Japanese one, and highlighted the irony
of Yamaguchi's situation rather than attempted to insult anyone. Other commentators, particularly on one right-wing UK newspaper site, took the view that Japan's wartime activities should have been acknowledged by the Japanese side.
The Embassy of Japan in London wrote to the BBC protesting that the programme insulted the deceased victims of the atomic bomb. It was reported that Piers Fletcher
, a producer of the programme, responded to complaints with "we greatly regret it when we cause offence" and "it is apparent to me that I underestimated the potential sensitivity of this issue to Japanese viewers."
On January 22, 2011, the BBC and Talkback Thames jointly issued a statement. In addition to the joint statement, the BBC delivered a letter from Mark Thompson
, Director-General of the BBC, to the Japanese Embassy.
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
who survived both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
During the final stages of World War II in 1945, the United States conducted two atomic bombings against the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, the first on August 6, 1945, and the second on August 9, 1945. These two events are the only use of nuclear weapons in war to date.For six months...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Although at least 160 people are known to have been affected by both bombings, he is the only person to have been officially recognized by the government of Japan
Government of Japan
The government of Japan is a constitutional monarchy where the power of the Emperor is very limited. As a ceremonial figurehead, he is defined by the 1947 constitution as "the symbol of the state and of the unity of the people". Power is held chiefly by the Prime Minister of Japan and other elected...
as surviving both explosions.
A resident of Nagasaki, Yamaguchi was in Hiroshima on business for his employer Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
, or MHI, is a Japanese company. It is one of the core companies of Mitsubishi Group.-History:In 1870 Yataro Iwasaki, the founder of Mitsubishi took a lease of Government-owned Nagasaki Shipyard. He named it Nagasaki Shipyard & Machinery Works, and started the shipbuilding business on a full scale...
when the city was bombed at 8:15am on August 6, 1945. The following day he returned to Nagasaki and, despite his wounds, returned to work on August 9, the day of the second atomic bombing. In 1957 he was recognized as a 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"...
(explosion-affected person) of the Nagasaki bombing, but it was not until March 24, 2009 that the government of Japan officially recognised his presence in Hiroshima three days earlier. He died of stomach cancer
Stomach cancer
Gastric cancer, commonly referred to as stomach cancer, can develop in any part of the stomach and may spread throughout the stomach and to other organs; particularly the esophagus, lungs, lymph nodes, and the liver...
on January 4, 2010.
Early life
Yamaguchi was born on March 16, 1916. He joined Mitsubishi Heavy IndustriesMitsubishi Heavy Industries
, or MHI, is a Japanese company. It is one of the core companies of Mitsubishi Group.-History:In 1870 Yataro Iwasaki, the founder of Mitsubishi took a lease of Government-owned Nagasaki Shipyard. He named it Nagasaki Shipyard & Machinery Works, and started the shipbuilding business on a full scale...
in the 1930s and worked as a draftsman designing oil tankers.
Second World War
Yamaguchi "never thought Japan should start a war". He continued his work with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, but soon Japanese industry began to suffer heavily as resources became scarce and tankers were sunk. As the war ground on, so despondent was he over the state of the country that he considered killing his familyFamilicide
A familicide is a type of murder or murder-suicide in which at least one spouse and one or more children are killed; or in which a parent or parents and possibly other relatives such as siblings and grandparents are killed. In some cases all of the family members' lives are taken...
with an overdose of sleeping pills in the event that Japan lost.
Hiroshima bombing
Yamaguchi lived and worked in Nagasaki, but in the summer of 1945 he went to Hiroshima for a three month business trip. On August 6 he was preparing to leave the city with two colleagues, Akira Iwanaga and Kuniyoshi Sato, and was on his way to the station when he realised he had forgotten his hanko, and returned to his workplace to get it. At 8:15 he was walking back towards the docks when the American bomber Enola GayEnola 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...
dropped the Little Boy
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 near the centre of the city, only 3 km away. Yamaguchi recalls seeing the bomber and two small parachutes, before there was "a great flash in the sky, and I was blown over" The explosion ruptured his eardrums, blinded him temporarily, and left him with serious burns over the left side of the top half of his body. After recovering he crawled to a shelter, and having rested he set out to find his colleagues. They had also survived and together they spent the night in an air-raid shelter
Air-raid shelter
Air-raid shelters, also known as bomb shelters, are structures for the protection of the civil population as well as military personnel against enemy attacks from the air...
before returning to Nagasaki the following day. In Nagasaki he received treatment for his wounds and, despite being heavily bandaged, he reported for work on August 9.
Nagasaki bombing
At 11 am on August 9, Yamaguchi was describing the blast in Hiroshima to his supervisor, when the American bomber BockscarBockscar
Bockscar, sometimes called Bock's Car or Bocks Car, is the name of the United States Army Air Forces B-29 bomber that dropped the "Fat Man" nuclear weapon over Nagasaki on 9 August 1945, the second atomic weapon used against Japan....
dropped the Fat Man
Fat Man
"Fat Man" is the codename for the atomic bomb that was detonated over Nagasaki, Japan, by the United States on August 9, 1945. It was the second of the only two nuclear weapons to be used in warfare to date , and its detonation caused the third man-made nuclear explosion. The name also refers more...
atomic bomb onto Nagasaki. His workplace again put him 3 km from ground zero
Ground zero
The term ground zero describes the point on the Earth's surface closest to a detonation...
, but this time he was unhurt by the explosion. However, he was unable to seek treatment for his now ruined bandages, and suffered from a high fever for over a week.
Later life
After the war Yamaguchi worked as a translator for the occupying American forces and then became a schoolmaster before he later returned to work for Mitsubishi. When the Japanese government officially recognized atomic bombing survivors as hibakushaHibakusha
The surviving victims of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are called , a Japanese word that literally translates to "explosion-affected people"...
in 1957, Yamaguchi's identification stated only that he had been present at Nagasaki. Yamaguchi was content with this, satisfied that he was relatively healthy, and put the experiences behind him.
As he grew older, his opinions about the use of atomic weapons began to change. In his eighties, he wrote a book about his experiences (Ikasareteiru inochi ) and was invited to take part in a 2006 documentary about 165 double A-bomb survivors (known as nijū hibakusha in Japan) called Twice Survived: The Doubly Atomic Bombed of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which was screened at the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
. At the screening he pleaded for the abolition of atomic weapons.
Yamaguchi became a vocal proponent of nuclear disarmament
Nuclear disarmament
Nuclear disarmament refers to both the act of reducing or eliminating nuclear weapons and to the end state of a nuclear-free world, in which nuclear weapons are completely eliminated....
. In an interview he said "The reason that I hate the atomic bomb is because of what it does to the dignity of human beings." Speaking through his daughter during a telephone interview he said, "I can't understand why the world cannot understand the agony of the nuclear bombs. How can they keep developing these weapons?"
On December 22, 2009, Canadian movie director James Cameron
James Cameron
James Francis Cameron is a Canadian-American film director, film producer, screenwriter, editor, environmentalist and inventor...
and author Charles Pellegrino
Charles R. Pellegrino
Charles R. Pellegrino is the controversial author of several books relating to science and archaeology, including Return to Sodom and Gomorrah, Ghosts of the Titanic, Unearthing Atlantis and Ghosts of Vesuvius....
met Yamaguchi while he was in a hospital in Nagasaki, and discussed the idea of making a film about nuclear weapons. "I think it's Cameron's and Pellegrino's destiny to make a film about nuclear weapons," Yamaguchi said.
Recognition by government
At first Yamaguchi did not feel the need to draw attention to his double survivor status. However as he aged he felt that his survival was destiny and so in January 2009 he applied for double recognition. This was accepted by the Japanese government in March 2009, making Yamaguchi the only person officially recognised as a survivor of both bombings. Speaking about the recognition Yamaguchi said, "My double radiation exposure is now an official government record. It can tell the younger generation the horrifying history of the atomic bombings even after I die."Health
Yamaguchi lost hearing in his left ear as a result of the Hiroshima explosion. He also went bald temporarily and his daughter recalls that he was constantly swathed in bandages until she reached the age of 12. Despite this, Yamaguchi went on to lead a healthy life. However, late in his life he began to suffer from radiation-related ailments including cataracts and acute leukemiaLeukemia
Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...
.
His wife also suffered radiation poisoning from black rain
Nuclear fallout
Fallout is the residual radioactive material propelled into the upper atmosphere following a nuclear blast, so called because it "falls out" of the sky after the explosion and shock wave have passed. It commonly refers to the radioactive dust and ash created when a nuclear weapon explodes...
after the Nagasaki explosion and died in 2008 (at 88) of kidney
Kidney cancer
Kidney cancer is a type of cancer that starts in the cells in the kidney.The two most common types of kidney cancer are renal cell carcinoma and urothelial cell carcinoma of the renal pelvis...
and liver cancer
Liver cancer
Liver tumors or hepatic tumors are tumors or growths on or in the liver . Several distinct types of tumors can develop in the liver because the liver is made up of various cell types. These growths can be benign or malignant...
after a lifetime of illness. All three of his children reported that they suffered from health problems that they thought were inherited from their parents' exposure.
Death
In 2009, Yamaguchi learned that he was dying of stomach cancerStomach cancer
Gastric cancer, commonly referred to as stomach cancer, can develop in any part of the stomach and may spread throughout the stomach and to other organs; particularly the esophagus, lungs, lymph nodes, and the liver...
. He died on January 4, 2010 in Nagasaki
Nagasaki
is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Nagasaki was founded by the Portuguese in the second half of the 16th century on the site of a small fishing village, formerly part of Nishisonogi District...
at the age of 93.
BBC controversy
On December 17, 2010, the BBCBBC
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...
featured Yamaguchi in its comedy program QI
QI
QI is a British comedy panel game television quiz show created and co-produced by John Lloyd, hosted by Stephen Fry, and featuring permanent panellist Alan Davies. Most of the questions are extremely obscure, making it unlikely that the correct answer will be given...
, referring to him as "The Unluckiest Man in the World." Stephen Fry
Stephen Fry
Stephen John Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also...
, the host of QI, and celebrity guests drew laughter from some members of the audience in a segment that included examples of black humor such as asking if the bomb had “landed on him and bounced off." A clip from the episode was uploaded by the BBC after the show as , but was later deleted. A BBC spokesperson told Kyodo News
Kyodo News
is a nonprofit cooperative news agency based in Minato, Tokyo. It was established in November 1945 and it distributes news to almost all newspapers, and radio and television networks in Japan. The newspapers using its news have about 50 million subscribers. K. K. Kyodo News is Kyodo News' business...
that "We instructed our crew to delete the file since we have already issued a statement that the content was not appropriate."
The episode triggered criticism in Japan. Toshiko Yamazaki, Yamaguchi's daughter, appeared on NHK
NHK
NHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee....
's national evening news and said: "I cannot forgive the atomic bomb experience being laughed at in Britain, which has nuclear weapons of its own. I think this shows that the horror of atomic bomb is not well enough understood in the world. I feel sad rather than angry." Commentators in the UK and elsewhere complained that some Japanese viewers had failed to understand the context of the clip, which they considered respectful towards Yamaguchi because it focused on the failures of the British rail system
Rail transport in Great Britain
The railway system in Great Britain is the oldest in the world, with the world's first locomotive-hauled public railway opening in 1825. As of 2010, it consists of of standard gauge lines , of which are electrified. These lines range from single to double, triple, quadruple track and up to twelve...
in comparison to the Japanese one, and highlighted the irony
Irony
Irony is a rhetorical device, literary technique, or situation in which there is a sharp incongruity or discordance that goes beyond the simple and evident intention of words or actions...
of Yamaguchi's situation rather than attempted to insult anyone. Other commentators, particularly on one right-wing UK newspaper site, took the view that Japan's wartime activities should have been acknowledged by the Japanese side.
The Embassy of Japan in London wrote to the BBC protesting that the programme insulted the deceased victims of the atomic bomb. It was reported that Piers Fletcher
Piers Fletcher
Piers Fletcher is a television producer and researcher, mainly working for the British panel game QI, broadcast on the BBC.Before working in television, Fletcher served in the British Army, where he was in charge of the northernmost Observation Post in Hong Kong, meaning that if China invaded, he...
, a producer of the programme, responded to complaints with "we greatly regret it when we cause offence" and "it is apparent to me that I underestimated the potential sensitivity of this issue to Japanese viewers."
On January 22, 2011, the BBC and Talkback Thames jointly issued a statement. In addition to the joint statement, the BBC delivered a letter from Mark Thompson
Mark Thompson
Mark John Thompson is Director-General of the BBC, a post he has held since 2004, and a former chief executive of Channel 4...
, Director-General of the BBC, to the Japanese Embassy.