For Part 1:
LAST June 28, I was fortunate to have heard personally Ms. Katsuko Kuwamoto's testimony of her atomic bombing experience in Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945, at the Hiroshima Peace Hall in the exact same city where the atomic bomb was dropped some decades ago.
Kuwamoto's mother
After the explosion, Kuwamoto and her sister were immediately fetched from school by their aunt. They were anxious, as they had no idea what had happened to their mother, who had been in the city center — just 1.3 kilometers from ground zero. Despite their young age, they were determined to return home to search for her. However, their older cousin volunteered to go instead, hoping this would calm them.
Not long after he had set out — and just as everyone thought he must be nearing the center — he returned, panting. He explained that he couldn't get into the city center because what he saw was complete chaos: the city was engulfed in flames.
Earlier that same day, before the explosion, their mother — who usually rose early to go to the field — hadn’t been feeling well. She slept in a little longer than usual and had to prepare her breakfast before heading out. She was in the kitchen when the bomb exploded.
Their house, made of wood like many traditional Japanese homes, collapsed instantly with their mother still inside.
"The house debris must have saved my mother as she was covered on the ground," Kuwamoto said, as translated by her interpreter, Ms. Hiroko Kawata.
War shatters hope.
Pale and bluish
Her mother was awakened by a neighbor who called out her name, pleading for help. She got up immediately, only to be terrified by what she saw: the city was burning, and all survivors were forced to evacuate as quickly as possible.
The neighbor who had called to her, tragically, did not survive.
Alone and desperate to escape, her mother walked and walked, unaware of her own pain and thirst. Fortunately, she was found by someone who brought her to their home and took care of her. The person, who later told them that her mother looked extremely odd — her skin was pale with a bluish tint.
According to Kuwamoto, as explained by medical experts, this discoloration was due to prolonged radiation exposure from the atomic bomb. Her mother’s bone marrow had stopped producing red blood cells, which explained her pale, bluish appearance.
War brings disease.
Death, death everywhere
Three days later, after learning that the fires had subsided, Kuwamoto, her sister, their aunt, and other adult relatives went to the city center to search for their mother. What they witnessed was horrifying: death and destruction everywhere. They could no longer distinguish farmland from rose fields. Buildings had collapsed. Dead bodies lay scattered, most of them unidentifiable.
It was evident that the corpses belonged to people who had tried to flee but had died along the way. The bodies were bloated and disfigured, making it difficult to distinguish adults and infants, humans from animals,
Perhaps most disturbing of all was that flies seemed to be the only living beings that could locate the bodies. Wherever flies gathered, death was there.
No one can be prepared for the aftermath of war.
Bittersweet reunion
The man who had rescued their mother went in search of her family, believing she was close to death. He told them she might only have hours left.
When they arrived at his home, they were heartbroken by what they saw: it was raining, and although their mother was indoors, she was soaking wet. The roof had been damaged by the explosion, and she lay on a bed with an umbrella covering her upper body, while her lower half was drenched. She was shivering.
They brought her back to their aunt’s house, where the severity of her condition became clear. Kuwamoto said that every time her mother tried to speak, she would vomit blood. They feared she wouldn’t survive for more than a few days.
Then, one day, a man on a bicycle came looking for them. When they stepped outside, they were stunned — it was their father! Kuwamoto and her sister had never expected to see him again, let alone alive.
When their father saw their mother’s condition, he immediately began searching for ways to heal her. At the time, doctors could only offer limited pain relief, but no cure.
One day, he returned home filled with hope, saying he had heard from someone that a blood transfusion might help. As luck would have it, he and their mother shared the same blood type. They went through with it — and miraculously, she improved day by day.
Although their mother survived, the radiation had already "seeped into her body." Over the years, several illnesses surfaced, and one of them eventually claimed her life a decade later.
Lessons from war
When interviewed by journalists from the seven-member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), including the Philippines, Kuwamoto said she held no grudges against the person who dropped the bomb. She understood he was merely following orders. Soldiers at the front lines are there because they are commanded to be — not because they choose to be.
In war, there are no winners — only losers.
Even those who seem to have suffered less still endure immeasurable loss, and death is irreversible.
It is not those who declare war who are powerful, but those who can prevent it. Declaring war is easy. Preventing it is the real challenge.
Real power lies with those who can prevent war. CEA
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The author is the only journalist representing the Philippines, along with seven Asean countries, admitted to Journalists Invitation Program of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Mofa) of Japan. Along with her are journalists from Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Thailand.