The Tricycle of a 3-Year-Old Shinichi Tetsutani, Who Died 1,500 Meters From the Hypocenter of Hiroshima Atomic Bombing

This small, rusted tricycle belonged to a 3-year-old boy named Shinichi Tetsutani, who lived in Hiroshima, Japan.

On the morning of August 6, 1945, Shinichi was riding this tricycle in his yard when the atomic bomb was dropped over the city. He was just 1,500 meters from the blast’s center. The explosion destroyed almost everything around him in an instant. His mother found him near his tricycle, suffering from severe burns and other injuries. He died that night.

The tricycle ridden by Shinichi Tetsutani when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, is seen exhibited at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.

Shinichi’s two sisters – Michiko (7) and Yoko (1) – had been trapped under their house and burned to death, so his parents could not face cremating him and decided to bury him with his tricycle in their garden, so he could ride it even after his death.

40 years later his father decided to move his son’s remains to the family gravesite and donated the tricycle to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, where it has been on display since 1991.

Treasured by the citizens of Hiroshima, Shinichi’s tricycle leaves a lasting impression on visitors from around the world and serves as a symbol of hope and resilience.

Michiko and Shinichi Tetsutani

“This should never happen to children. Please work to create a peaceful world where children can play to their heart’s content.” – Nobuo Tetsutani, Shinichi’s father

70 Years After the Atomic Bombs: Pictures of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Then and Now

On August 6, 1945, the US dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, killing about 140,000 by the end of the year, out of the 350,000 who lived in the city. Three days later, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. Below are 15 vintage pictures of the aftermath of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings and pictures of the same locations today.

On 6 August, 1945, a US plane dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, the first nuclear weapon has been used in war. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, ending World War II. The Atomic Bomb Dome, now a UN World Heritage Site, has become the iconic image of Hiroshima. In this 1 July, 2015 photo, a visitor photographs the Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima, western Japan. (AP)

Two people walk on a cleared path through the destruction resulting from the 6 August detonation of the first atomic bomb in Hiroshima, western Japan. (AP)

A new city rose from the ashes, however, and it is now a buzzing modern metropolis. (AP Photo)

In this 8 August, 1945 file photo, soldiers and civilians walk through the grim remains of Hiroshima, two days after the atomic bomb explosion of 6 August, 1945. The building on left with columned facade was the Hiroshima Bank. To its right, with arched front entrance, was the Sumitomo Bank. (AP)

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Amazing Snapshots of Everyday Life of Hiroshima, Japan in 1958

A collection of photographs taken by the French actress Emmanuelle Riva, shot while she was in Hiroshima shooting the Alain Resnais film Hiroshima, Mon Amour (1959).

In this arresting shot, Riva captures a child gazing directly at the camera.

A baby’s pushchair and crib stand on the street, as children play in the background.

Two girls read in the street outside simple wooden constructions.

A child rides on the back of a bicycle on an unpaved road.

Elementary school students’ uniforms are similar to those often worn today.

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Hiroshima Aftermath, Japan, 1945

On August 6, 1945, the U.S. bomber Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb named “Little Boy” on Hiroshima, a Japanese city with a population of about 300,000. The force of the atomic blast was greater than 20,000 tons of TNT. According to U.S. statistics, 60,000-70,000 people were killed by the bomb. Other statistics show that 10,000 others were never found, and more than 70,000 were injured. Nearly two-thirds of the city was destroyed.

Three days later, on August 9, the day after the U.S.S.R. declared war on Japan, another atomic bomb called “Fat Man” was dropped on the city of Nagasaki, which had a population of 250,000. About 40,000 people were killed by the Nagasaki bomb, and about the same number injured. On August 14, Japan agreed to the Allied terms of surrender.

Photographer Wayne Miller shot this story for the U.S. Navy in mid-September, 1945.

JAPAN. Hiroshima. September 8, 1945. Center of atomic bomb blast. Japanese soldier walks through site where army barracks once stood in the center of town.

JAPAN. Hiroshima. September 8, 1945. Destruction caused by the atomic bomb blast.

JAPAN. Hiroshima. September 8, 1945. The epicenter of the atomic blast. Army barracks once stood at this site in center of the city.

JAPAN. Hiroshima. September 8, 1945. Destruction caused by the atomic bomb blast.

JAPAN. Hiroshima. September 8, 1945. Japanese workers begin cleaning a bombed building. It is just a small part of the devastation caused by the atomic bomb blast.

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Hiroshima and Nagasaki: Haunting Black and White Photos From the Ruins in 1945

On August 6, 1945, during World War II (1939-45), an American B-29 bomber dropped the world’s first deployed atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The explosion wiped out 90 percent of the city and immediately killed 80,000 people; tens of thousands more would later die of radiation exposure.

Three days later, a second B-29 dropped another A-bomb on Nagasaki, killing an estimated 40,000 people. Japan’s Emperor Hirohito announced his country’s unconditional surrender in World War II in a radio address on August 15, citing the devastating power of “a new and most cruel bomb.”

Urakami Cathedral (Roman Catholic), Nagasaki, September, 1945.

Nagasaki, September, 1945.

Hiroshima streetcar, September, 1945.

A photo album, pieces of pottery, a pair of scissors — shards of life strewn on the ground in Nagasaki, 1945.

Hiroshima, 1945.

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Rare Photo of the Mushroom Cloud Over Hiroshima Found in a Japanese Elementary School

The atomic bombings of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan were conducted by the United States during the final stages of World War II in 1945. These two events represent the only use of nuclear weapons in war to date.

In the center of Hiroshima, in a part of the city totally destroyed by the explosion and ensuing fires, a long-lost photograph taken shortly after the blast has been discovered among a collection of articles about the bombing.

The picture is a rare glimpse of the bomb's immediate aftermath, showing the distinct two-tiered cloud as it was seen from Kaitaichi, part of present-day Kaita, six miles east of Hiroshima's center. Reprints of the image did appear in a 1988 Japanese-language publication, but the whereabouts of the original were unknown. There are only a couple of other photos in existence (two, possibly three) that capture the cloud from the vantage point of the ground; and, according to the Japanese paper Asahi Shimbun, there is only one other photograph that provides as clear a picture of the separated tiers of the cloud, and that is a photo taken from the Enola Gay as it zipped away.

(via The Atlantic)

Wonderful Color Photos of Japan in 1960

A small collection color photos of Tokyo and Hiroshima in 1960.

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