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A-bomb Artifacts

ID Code 3501-0050
Artifact Name Wristwatch
Donor HAMADA Ryoko
Receiving Date 2014/9/3
Size (W×H×D) (mm)
Distance from the Hypocenter(m) 680m
Number 1
Location Kokutaiji, Senda areas
Description Jacket, wristwatch, ID card
Donated by Ryoko Hamada
Hajime Hamada (then, 17) was exposed to the atomic bomb on the second floor of his work place, the Chugoku Power Distribution Company. He was hurled to the ground by the blast, but returned to his house in the suburbs on August 8.
 He was not injured when he came home. However, he soon began to lose his hair and became sick, and eventually died on the evening of August 19.
(From the account of Ryoko, a younger sister of Hajime and Michiko)
I was born after the war, so I never met my brother or sister. I've always thought about how much more secure I would have felt if they had both been alive.
I've always seen my parents lamenting the death of my brother and sister, and not a day has passed without thinking of them.
My mother read Buddhist sutras every morning and evening and visited the temple to listen to the monk's Buddhist sermons until she died. She would say to my brother and sister in front of the Buddhist altar, "I'm coming to you soon."

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