Nagasaki, Japan (AP) – On the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, the Associated Press is reposting extraordinary photos of a survivor of an attack.
Sumiteru Taniguchi died in 2017 when the U.S. B-29 bombed a bomb in the city, and was 16 years old. The scar on his back was burned to death by an explosion and, on August 9, 1945, there was a silent witness in the flesh engraved with silent testimony.
Originally published in 2015 by Tokyo AP chief photographer Eugene Hoshiko, it shows the remnants of extreme trauma. Taniguchi thinks they are warnings, and the evidence shows freedom, so no one can say they have not seen the horrible outcome of the nuclear war.
Even after his death, Taniguchi’s legacy lasts. Just as Japan’s co-chaired by Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese survivor who exploded in the United States, helped militants push the nuclear weapons ending for decades.
When Nihon Hidankyo won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2024, many recall Taniguchi’s quiet, unwavering voice and scars he refused to hide.
Here is the original story from 2015, published on the 70th anniversary of the attack:
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Sumiteru Taniguchi struggled a little with his left arm, which never stood out, slowly stripping his sweatshirt from his fragile 86-year-old body, showing two visitors his scars in the atomic bomb attack on Nagasaki.
He has lived with them for 70 years, covering most of the wound nets on his back, and the remains of three ribs, half rotting, pressing permanently against his lungs, making it difficult to breathe. His wife still uses moisturizer every morning to reduce the irritation of scars. There is no day without pain.
He was 16 years old and was a letter when the powerful explosion caused him to throw it away from his bike. He was about 1.8 km (1.1 mile) from the epicenter of the “Fat Man” plutonium bomb that was detonated in Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, killing more than 70,000 people. Six days later, Japan surrendered and ended World War II.
He tried his best to speak in a faint voice, and spent three days in a nausea last month in the story that had been wandering for three days without realizing the severity of his injury. He felt like a piece of ragged cloth hanging from his back, shoulders and arms: that was his skin.
He will be lying on his stomach for the next 21 months and undergoing treatment for burns, broken down meat and exposed bones. In and out of consciousness, he could hear nurses passing by in the hallway asking each other if the boy was still breathing. He thought, “Kill me.”
Because he was lying for so long, as one of his teenagers grew up, it blocked the joints of the elbows, so he could not fully extend his arms.
Taniguchi hopes no one else has to suffer from nuclear weapons. He led a Nagakizaki survivor group against nuclear proliferation, although older age and pneumonia made it harder for him to play an active role. After so many years, his words were frustrated.
“I hope this is the end,” he said.
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This is a photo gallery curated by the Associated Press Photo Editor.
