Diary of a teenage A-bomb victim donated to Hiroshima museum
A diary and other items belonging to a teen girl who died during the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima were donated to a local memorial museum earlier this month.
After donating her possessions to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, Yo Hosokawa — the 66-year-old nephew of Yoko Moriwaki, who perished soon after the blast at the age of 13 — said that the items "should become the memory of mankind."
They are a "proof that Yoko lived her life to the fullest during the war," said Yoshifumi Ishida, director of the museum. "I hope that many people see them and feel the inhumanity of atomic bombs."
On Aug. 6, 1945, Moriwaki, then a was a first-year high school student, was about 800 meters from the center of the explosion. She died during the night from radiation exposure.
Her entries in the diary started on the day she started high school. Her last entry was made on the day before the bombing, saying: "Evacuation preparations will begin tomorrow. I will work hard."
On the page after her last entry, there is a message from her father, Ataru, who only knew of her death upon returning from China after the war ended. In his message, he wrote that he hoped she could rest in peace.
The contents of the diary were translated into English and became known overseas as well.
On June 7th, his aunt's birthday, Hosokawa visited her grave, where he reported his donation of her effects.
"The 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing offers a good opportunity for passing the baton from a personal memory box to the world and the future," Hosokawa said. "I want people to feel the regret of a victim whose small life was suddenly ended."
