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Sumiteru Taniguchi

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Sumiteru Taniguchi
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.
Born(1929-01-26)26 January 1929
Fukuoka, Empire of Japan
Died30 August 2017(2017-08-30) (aged 88)
Nagasaki, Japan
NationalityJapanese
Other names谷口 稜曄
Known foratomic bombing survivor; anti-nuclear weapons activist

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]

Early life

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Taniguchi Sumiteru was born in Fukuoka, Japan in 1929. His mother died when he was a year and a half old. After this, his father decided to relocate elsewhere for work and ended up being a locomotive operator in Manchuria. Taniguchi and his two brothers went to live with his mother's family in Nagasaki where he was raised by his aunt. In early 1943, Taniguchi began working as a carrier for the Nishiura-Kami post office in Nagasaki.[3] He continued this into 1945 when the nuclear explosion took place.[4]

Atomic bombing of Nagasaki

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On the morning of 9 August 1945, the 16-year-old Taniguchi was approximately 1,800 metres (5,900 ft) north 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.[3][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 the tunnel of Mitsubishi Sumiyoshi Tunnel Arms Factory located about 200 meters away from where he was at the time of the blast,[6] where a female survivor assisted in cutting off loose portions of skin and rubbed machine oil on his damaged arm.[7]

Recovery

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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.[3] 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.[7]

In November, Taniguchi was transferred to Omura Navy Hospital, where he spent the next 21 months lying on his stomach due to the severe third degree 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."[7] In October 1945, 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 sustained by survivors of the bombings.[7] Taniguchi's business card featured this photograph with the caption, "I want you to understand, if only a little, the horror of nuclear weapons."[8]

The color photograph(s) of Sumiteru Taniguchi's red back are from motion picture film taken by (attributed to) Lieutenant Herbert Sussan.[9] 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.[7]

By May 1947, Taniguchi could finally sit up, and on 20 March 1949, he was discharged from the Omura hospital.[3] He returned to work back at the post office in Nagasaki shortly upon discharge despite needing to receive medical treatment and doctors advising him that he would not be able to.[10] 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. Taniguchi also had multiple skin grafting surgeries on his back and left arm.[11]

Activism

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Taniguchi devoted his life to informing people of the consequences of the 1945 atomic bombing and campaigning against nuclear proliferation.[3] He made frequent public appearances to speak to student groups and participate in demonstrations calling for nuclear disarmament.[12] 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.[13]

Death

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Taniguchi died of duodenal papilla cancer[14] in Nagasaki on 30 August 2017 at the age of 88.[15][16][17]

References

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  1. ^ Rich, Motoko (13 August 2017). "Sumiteru Taniguchi, 88, Who Survived Nagasaki to Become Activist, Dies". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 31 August 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  2. ^ Schudel, Matt (2 September 2017). "Japanese survivor of Nagasaki atomic attack bared his scars to plead against nuclear war". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Interview with Sumiteru Taniguchi Japanese Citizen, Nagasaki". People's Century: Fallout. PBS. 15 June 1999. Archived from the original on 12 January 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2007.
  4. ^ "NAHP Sumiteru Taniguchi, Former Chairman of Nagasaki Council of A-Bomb Sufferers". Archived from the original on 29 September 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2020 – via www.youtube.com.
  5. ^ Sprangens, John Jr. (27 August 1979). "'People were not like humans'". Corsicana (Texas) Daily Sun. Archived from the original on 5 February 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2007.
  6. ^ "Peoples Century | Fallout | Sumiteru Taniguchi". PBS. Archived from the original on 12 January 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
  7. ^ a b c d e "Bound by the bomb. 'I spurred myself to stay alive'". Tri-City Herald Archive. 6 August 1995. Archived from the original on 6 October 2008. Retrieved 13 August 2007.
  8. ^ "6 months after the Nagasaki bomb". Mainichi Daily News. 3 November 2006. Archived from the original on 12 March 2016. Retrieved 13 August 2007.
  9. ^ Mitchell, Greg (5 August 2011). "The Great Hiroshima Cover-Up—And the Greatest Movie Never Made". Uruk Net. Archived from the original on 31 August 2017. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
  10. ^ "The National Peace Memorial Halls for the Atomic Bomb Victims in Hiroshima and Nagasaki". Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. Archived from the original on 30 March 2023. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  11. ^ "Nagasaki atomic bomb survivor Sumiteru Taniguchi dies at 88". BBC News. 30 August 2017. Archived from the original on 23 November 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  12. ^ "Atomic Bomb Survivor Dies After Life Fighting to Ban Nukes". Newser. 30 August 2017. Archived from the original on 6 December 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  13. ^ "White Light, Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki – Subject Bios". HBO. Archived from the original on 22 May 2009. Retrieved 13 August 2007.
  14. ^ Motoko Rich (31 August 2017). "Sumiteru Taniguchi, 88, Who Survived Nagasaki to Become Activist, Dies". New York Times. Archived from the original on 31 August 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  15. ^ "A-bomb survivor Sumiteru Taniguchi dies of cancer at 88". Mainichi Daily News. 30 August 2017. Archived from the original on 3 September 2017. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  16. ^ "Postman who survived Nagasaki bombing dies aged 88". The Guardian. Agence France-Presse. 30 August 2017. Archived from the original on 21 July 2023. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  17. ^ washingtonpost.com: Japanese survivor of Nagasaki atomic attack bared his scars to plead against nuclear war Archived 26 January 2021 at the Wayback Machine

See also

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