Ms. Kimiko Une

Ms. Kimiko Une is a sweet 94-year-old woman with a grieving heart. Her testimony as a Hibakusha follows the sorrowful memory Une-san experienced when she was only sixteen years old. Despite her cheerful smile and kind, sweet eyes, the horrific memory of the atomic bomb is still instilled in her. Please read this attentively to honor Ms. Kimiko’s testimony. 

Before the bombing on August 6th, 1945, Une-san worked in a factory one station away from Hiroshima City. When the bright pika light of the A-Bomb flashed, all the employees faced the windows to see the large grey mushroom cloud form. In the blink of an eye, the force from the atomic bomb shattered all the windows of the factory. Fortunately, Une-san was uninjured by the broken glass; unfortunately, though, her family suffered from the fatal effects of the atomic bomb. After the bombing, no one was allowed access to Hiroshima City, the site target of the atomic bomb. Une-san spent those days alone in fear and worry for her family members trapped and injured in Hiroshima City. Ten days later, when Une-san was finally able to enter the city, she found both her older sisters with their limbs severely burned while her parents had passed away from the direct radiation. Une-san morosely described, “When I touched the bones of my parents, they instantly withered into ashes. That’s how harmful the radiation and heat were.”

From listening to Ms. Kimiko Une’s heartwrenching experience, we learned the atomic bomb poses not only a physical threat but also emotional harm because it causes people to suffer the loss of friends and family close to their hearts. Une-san leaves us with an understanding message full of hope: “The most depressing thing that can happen in a person’s life is when they lose those that they hold most dear. In a world with nuclear weapons, we will lose everything significant in our lives. Humans must learn to have compassion.”