| ID Code | 4101-0036 |
|---|---|
| Artifact Name | Statue of Kobo Daishi |
| Donor | Hiroko Murakami |
| Receiving Date | 2010/10/28 |
| Size (W×H×D) (mm) | 160×145×60 |
| Distance from the Hypocenter(m) | 1500 |
| Number | 1 |
| Location | Misasa, Gion areas |
| Description | Statue of Kobo Daishi, which became a keepsake of father Donated by Hiroko Murakami 1,500m from the hypocenter Kusunoki-cho 1-chome The donor's father Tokuju Kunimoto (then, 59) experienced the atomic bombing in front of Yokogawa Station (1,750m from the hypocenter) as he was distributing rice porridge. As he was outside, he suffered severe burns from his head down the right half of his body. His daughter Hiroko (then, 14) and wife Yoshiko (then, 51) searched desperately together for Tokuju, and they finally found him 3 days later. They somehow managed to live in the burnt ruins of their home, and Hiroko and her mother did their best to nurse Tokuju back to health, but he passed away on October 3. This statue was on the first floor of their house, and was dug out from the ruins around one month after the bombing. The burned parts of the statue exactly match Tokuju's burns, and Yoshiko continued to look after the statue, saying that while the remains of many people were never found, they were able to reunite with Tokuju while he was still alive, and although it was a short time, she thought that it was thanks to this statue that they were able to do so. Comment from daughter Hiroko: My father was a very kind man. He was large in size, and I used to climb on his stomach and play with him. When we found my father at the relief station, there was a rice ball at his pillow. This was at a time when it was a luxury to eat white rice, and he had left it there without eating it because he wanted to give it to me. I too had brought him a rice ball that I had received somewhere else and saved for him. This was love between parent and child. When he saw us, he asked us to take him home. We put him on a large two-wheeled cart that we had borrowed and brought him home to the ruins of our house. There were maggots festering in his wounds and he was in great pain. |