(33)Were any international students killed by the atomic bomb in Hiroshima?

The number of Chinese and other students is not clear

The year 1945, when the atomic bomb was dropped, was a dangerous time in Japan, with many cities experiencing air raid attacks. Were there students from abroad in Hiroshima at such a time? I spoke with the historian Shigeaki Mori, 71, who has spent about 20 years researching foreign victims of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.

Mr. Mori told me there were some international students attending Hiroshima Bunrika University and Hiroshima Teacher's College--so it was true!

Both the university and the college were later integrated into Hiroshima University. According to Hiroshima University, it is believed that 37 students from China, including what was formerly Manchukuo, as well as Mongolia, were attending the university at that time. There were also nine students from present-day Malaysia and other parts of Southeast Asia. Students from Southeast Asia were called "Southeast Asian Special Students" and were selected and supported by the Japanese government in order to train future leaders who would cooperate with Japan.

It was revealed that eight of these "Special Students" were exposed to the bombing and two of them died. However, it is unclear whether any of the students from China and Mongolia were in Hiroshima on August 6.

One document detailing damage to Hiroshima University (published in 1975) states that a total of six people from these two countries experienced the bombing and three of them were killed. However, according to records of the Hiroshima city government involving A-bomb casualties, there were twelve or thirteen international students, and between four and six of these (from Manchuria and Mongolia) were killed in the bombing. So the figures do not agree.

One reason why the facts are not clear is because many documents burned up in the atomic bombing and professors who were in charge of supervising international students were killed. Yoshiro Egami, 80, who was a former staff member of Hiroshima University, has been researching international student survivors since 1982 and found that twelve Chinese students were in Hiroshima at the time of the bombing and six of them died.

Memorial service for Nik Yosof at Kozen Temple. (Photo provided by Hiroshima University, August 2003)

On the other hand, the facts regarding the "Southeast Asian Special Students" are more definite because they all lived together in a dormitory called Konan, which was located in the city center. The dormitory was a wooden two-story building with 21 rooms and a resident advisor.

The daughter of the former resident advisor, Katsuko Kitagawa, 69, who lived at the dormitory for about four months from the end of 1944, recalled those days, saying "All the students were cheerful and they sang songs from their countries. We played together like brothers and sisters."

In those days, people were suffering from a serious food shortage. The family of Masao Hanaoka, 58, now a representative of the Hiroshima-Brunei Friendship Association, lived near the dormitory. He heard from his father, a Hiroshima Bunrika University student at the time, that his family often welcomed those students to their home and offered them meals. I imagine those who lived far away from their home countries must have appreciated the friendly support of the local people.

The ashes of one of the students, Nik Yusof from Malaysia, are kept at Kozen Temple, in Itsukaichi (on the outskirts of Hiroshima City). The grave was built 45 years ago by the chief priest at that time. Every summer, Hiroshima University personnel and overseas students hold a memorial service at the grave.

The person who organizes the memorial service, honorary professor Yoshinobu Kanno, 78, says "We must not forget the fact that a young man with big dreams of supporting his country lost his life here, in a single bomb blast." (Toshiko Bajo, Staff Writer)