On August 6, 1945, Masao Ito, then four years old, was riding his tricycle near his home in Hiroshima, Japan, when a bomb fell from the sky, changing his life forever. He survived the first atomic bomb dropped by the United States and made it home, but the horror was just beginning.
His father, who worked closer to the center of the city, searched for his 12-year-old older brother in an apocalyptic landscape. When he found him, he was so badly burned that his parents refused to let Masao see him. His brother died a few days later at home. Masao’s 10-year-old sister was at a nearby relative’s house, which was totally destroyed by the bomb.
Masao, now 82, recounts how people fleeing the epicenter made their way to the periphery, where his house was located, but died one after another. The bodies had to be moved because of the August heat, but there was no cemetery to take them to. They were taken to an open space and stacked without coffins. Gasoline was then used to burn them. Masao remembers it being a horrible scene with an unbearable smell—a scene he wishes he could forget.
After going through many hardships, Masao became a volunteer guide at the Peace Memorial Museum in Hiroshima and has been actively against nuclear weapons for almost twenty years. He is one of the Hibakushas, the survivors of the atomic bombings that claimed the lives of 140,000 people in Hiroshima and 74,000 in Nagasaki. This week, G7 leaders will meet in Hiroshima to talk with them.
Masao hopes to convey the message that it is better not to have nuclear weapons, as their possession may tempt their use or cause accidents. Although he admits that a world without nuclear weapons seems utopian, with regular threats from Russia and North Korea, he believes the G7 can send a clear message from Hiroshima to world leaders: if there are nuclear weapons, any city can become Hiroshima; are they willing to accept that?
Masao’s childhood was devastated by the bomb; his father died due to radiation, and the family business was ruined. Over time, however, his anger and resentment were transformed as he began to understand the meaning of “love your enemies” that he found in the Bible. Now, as he guides visitors, especially young students, he tells them that it is up to them to bring about a world without nuclear weapons, as he cannot continue indefinitely.