Message by an Atomic Bomb Survivor Sumiteru Taniguchi President, Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivors Council In the atomic bombing of August 9, 1945, when I was 16, I was riding a bicycle 1.8 km from the hypocenter. With my back burned by heat rays reportedly as hot as 3,000 or 4,000ｰC, intense enough to melt stone or iron, and by the invisible radiation, I and my bicycle together were flung through the air approximately 4 m by blast winds of 250 or 300 m per second, and then hurled onto the ground. Even when I lay down on the ground, I felt a great shaking like an earthquake for a while, making me cling to the ground so I wouldn't be blown away. When I raised my head, I found the buildings demolished and the children who had been playing nearby blown away like dust. Wondering whether a big bomb had been dropped nearby, I thought that I would die, struck by the fear of death. I encouraged myself, thinking that I'd never end my life that way and would never die there. When the situation started settling down after a while, I somehow stood up, finding all the skin of my left arm, hand and fingers shredded and hanging like a dust cloth. I touched my burned back with my hand, also finding the hand covered with something slippery and black. The frame and wheels of my bicycle were bent. Nearby houses had been destroyed and flames were spreading almost all around places in the mountains and among the houses. Many children who were blown away perished. While some of the bodies were charred, others seemed to sustain no injuries at all. Without shedding even one drop of blood, these children might have died before feeling any pain. (1) Photographed in the middle of September 1945 (2) Photographed on January 31, 1946 This photograph was taken around the middle of September 1945. (Photo 1) This photograph was taken about half a year later, on January 31, 1946.(Photo 2 I couldn't move a little. I couldn't sit or lie down. Hovering between life and death, I couldn't even die. A year and nine months later, I was able to somehow move my body; three years and seven months later, I was out of the hospital. So far, I've had so many hospitalizations and surgeries. Now, over a half century has passed since the "peace"was restored. However, the world today seems to be forgetting the past anguish. I'm terrified with such an oblivious attitude. I'm terrified that this attitude could lead to the new acceptance of nuclear arms. I'm not a guinea pig. Of course, I'm also not on exhibition. However, now that you've seen my body, please don't look away. Please look carefully again. I'd like to believe your stern but warm eyes staring at me. Nuclear weapons and humanity cannot coexist. No one else must experience the torment that I have suffered throughout my life. I hope that all the people in the world can live a peaceful and happy life. To ensure our lives as human beings, we must never allow even a single nuclear weapon to exist on the earth. Not until I see the world without nuclear weapons can I die in peace. Nagasaki must forever remain the last place to ever have to suffer nuclear destruction. To ensure that survivors of the Nagasaki atomic bomb are the final victims of nuclear weapons, let us all spread the voice of eliminating nuclear weapons around the world.