2025-08-07 https://metro.co.uk/2025/08/06/survived-hiroshima-atomic-bomb-80-years-ago-felt-like-hundreds-needles-stabbing-23844770/ HaiPress
It’s been 80 years since the world entered its nuclear era. Have we not learned the dangers? (Picture: Metro)
‘I didn’t hear any sound. The world around me turned bright white. Immediately after that,the blast came.’
These are the words of Yoshito Matsushige,who was 32 and living in Hiroshima,Japan,in August 1945. He was at home,nearly two miles away from the blast centre,when the first atomic bomb detonated at 8.14 am.
The clear blue skies on that morning suddenly turned a sickly shade of purple and grey after the bomb was dropped,marking a dangerous new time in human history: the nuclear age.
Days later,a second would explode in Nagasaki,250 miles south. Warning leaflets had been dropped on both cities before the detonation,but were widely confiscated by authorities,leaving locals widely unaware of the horrors which awaited them.
It’s been 80 years since the world changed. The few remaining survivors of the blasts in Japan are entering the twilight of their lives and telling their testimonies to ensure the horrors which they witnessed never repeat themselves.
Yoshito,who died aged 92 in 2005,struggled with his emotions to capture the only known photographs of the aftermath of Hiroshima.
But eight decades after the bombs went off,talks of potential nuclear attacks are still dominating news headlines.
‘Average citizens are the primary victims of war,always,’ Nagasaki survivor Takato Michishita told TIME.
‘Dear young people who have never experienced the horrors of war – I fear that some of you may be taking this hard-earned peace for granted.’
Thousands of children were made orphans in a millisecond (Picture: Bettman Archive)
‘I had finished breakfast and was getting ready to go to the newspaper when it happened. There was a flash from the indoor wires as if lightning had struck. I didn’t hear any sound. The world around me turned bright white. Immediately after that,the blast came.’
Yoshito said: ‘I was bare from the waist up,and the blast was so intense,it felt like hundreds of needles were stabbing me all at once. I pulled my camera and the clothes issued by the military headquarters out from under the mound of debris,and I got dressed.’
He wandered towards the Miyuki bridge,where many victims,mostly junior high girls from nearby schools,had gathered after being told to evacuate buildings.
How many people were killed in Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
As soon as the first bomb detonated in Hiroshima,70,000 died instantly. The death toll rose to 140,000 by the end of the year.
In Nagasaki,40,000 died instantly. Later,the toll rose to around 70,000 from those who died from injuries and radiation exposure.
In total,the nuclear bombs killed an estimated 250,000 people and left thousands of others with long-term conditions.
‘Many of the victims collapsed as soon as they reached the bomb shelter entrance,forming a massive pile of contorted bodies. The stench and heat were unbearable.’
Survivor Kayano Nagai saw the atomic bomb in Nagasaki when she was just four years old.
‘I remember the cicadas chirping. The atom bomb was the last thing that happened in the war,and no more bad things have happened since then,but I don’t have my Mummy any more.’
Nearly half of the city was destroyed. Nagasaki was,quite literally,a nuclear wasteland. Rescue and medical care were nearly impossible.
Nagasaki became a shell of a city after the bombing (Picture: Bettman Archive)
Roughly 100,000 survivors of the atomic bombings are still alive today.
‘It’s more important than ever that we listen to the remaining survivors,’ Florian Eblenkamp,advocacy officer with The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) told Metro.
‘Their message is clear: these weapons must be abolished. If we want to honour their legacy,that’s what we should focus on. We can’t continue to gamble with the fate of humanity.’
One of the forgotten details of the bombings in Japan is that of the thousands killed,38,000 were children.
Nuclear weapons and the threats they carry are seen by most as an abstract idea – a far-fetched,last-ditch option in conflict.
Florian argues the most significant message to remember on the 80th anniversary is that these weapons are not abstract,deterrents or a political pawns.
‘These are big bombs that kill for generations and whose effects are so widespread that they don’t stop at national borders,’ he said.
Russian authorities recently threatened the US with Soviet-era weapons (Picture: EPA)
Nuclear threats continue even now. This week,Russia issued a warning to the world after Trump deployed nuclear submarines in the region of Russia.
After being told to ‘watch his words’ by Trump,former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev shocked many when he reminded the US of Russia’s nuclear strike capabilities.
‘Remember how dangerous the fabled ‘Dead Hand’ can be,’ Medvedev wrote on Telegram,referencing Soviet-era Doomsday nuclear weapons.
Other countries are continuing to build their nuclear arsenal and carry out test launches.
Last year,North Korea carried out the country’s longest ballistic missile test,with a flight time of 87 minutes,while warning its ‘enemies’ of attack.
For the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki,the world stopped in August 1945. But the world is advancing its nuclear programmes,using the threat of these weapons of mass destruction as pawns in political games.
Florian explained: ‘We need to reject this idea that weapons of mass destruction are necessary for a country’s defence. But look at the reality of the world: many of the countries that have nuclear weapons or are now involved in active conflict.
‘Possessing nuclear weapons doesn’t guarantee peace in your country. It’s naive to think that you can just continue possessing nuclear weapons and nothing will happen.’
Experts now say the risk of nuclear war is higher than ever,Florian says,and the world is now at a critical crossroads.
‘We have to decide: is this a stable model for international geopolitics,or is it time to face the truth and reject these weapons as too dangerous to handle by anyone?’