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A-bomb Artifacts

ID Code 4201-0094
Artifact Name Military sword
Donor Jyunko MATSUI
Receiving Date 2011/06/11
Size (W×H×D) (mm) 1020×50×50
Distance from the Hypocenter(m) 2200
Number
Location Minami, Ujina areas
Description Military sword, leather gaiters, eyewitness certificate
Donated by Junko Matsui
2,200m from the hypocenter Minami-machi 2-chome (now, Minami-machi 1-chome)
Toji Matsui (then, 23), the donor's husband, was an apprentice officer assigned to the Ship Communications Reserve who experienced the atomic bombing from the schoolyard at Minami Elementary School. He was blown back over 10m and writhed on the ground experiencing a heat so intense it was as if he had been doused in gasoline and lit on fire. When he regained consciousness, the left side of his face was burnt, his skin had turned a dark purple, and he had developed a blister so big that he could barely open his left eye. Toji was wearing this sword and these gaiters at that time. Despite the intense heat, he was put to work removing corpses. It was extremely miserable work, and he gradually became numb to it, unable to react to the tragedy of the victims and the putrid smell of their corpses. Moreover, since healthy people with no visible wounds suddenly started experiencing fever, purple spots, and hair loss before dying, a weary Toji nervously passed his days.

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