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A-bomb Artifacts

ID Code 3101-0097
Artifact Name Junior high student's uniform
Donor Tadao Komoto
Receiving Date 1973/01/18
Size (W×H×D) (mm) 740×550
Distance from the Hypocenter(m) 700
Number 1
Location Yoshijima, Funairi, Kan-on areas
Description The school uniform Kajio was wearing when he was A-bombed
Donated by Tadao Komoto
Exposed to the bomb at Nakajima-shin-machi (now, Nakajima-cho), 700m from the hypocenter
Kajio Komoto (then,12), a first-year student at Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial School, was A-bombed while at a building demolition site, where he was working with other mobilized students. His father, Kitaru, and others frantically searched for him, but they were unable to find him. Three days later, only Kajio's school uniform was found. He probably had desperately attempted to go home. The uniform was found by the river several hundred meters north of the demolition site. In September, while his body was still missing, his family performed a funeral ceremony using the uniform in place of his remains. It was some time later that the family was notified that Kajio's remains had been found.

I waved goodbye to him at the corner. . . I never imagined that that would be the last time.
Mitsuko Ebihara (then,9), Kajio's younger sister, relates:
"My brother was gentle and only a few years older, and we were very close. We used to play together a lot, fishing and shooting marbles, both of which he enjoyed very much. To go to junior high school, he left our parents' home in Yamagata District and lived in Hiroshima City as a boarder. Around August 3, just before the atomic bombing, he came home for a short break. When he set out to return to Hiroshima, I asked him to bring me a gift next time and waved goodbye to him at the corner. . . I never imagined that that would be the last time I would see him alive. My mother was beside herself, frantically inquiring where he might be and every day desperately waiting for his return. In September, while we still didn't know where his body might be, we held a funeral, using this school uniform as his remains. I still recall how the back of the jacket was torn. I hope you can understand what the uniform speaks of: the terror of the atomic bomb and a great longing for an eternally peaceful world."

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