"A Personal Record of Hiroshima A-bomb Survival"by The late Mr.Takeharu Terao, a COARA member.
He released a memoir under the name of "A Personal Record of Hiroshima A-bomb Survival" on the "Cafe COARA conference room" of COARA, one of the personal computer communication network, in August 1991. The account, hereinafter called the memoir, appealed to many members of the net. Here I would like to re-post it as the legacy of him in a home page format which includes then time logs on the net as faithfully as possible. Mr.Terao's teaching career spanned throughout his life until his retirement in 1986 as the first principal of the then newly founded Beppu Hamurodai high school. The article re-posted here includes a record of his experience of a hibakusha, many responses from COARA and WATARASE NET members. To talk about an experience of hibakusha is not only a recording of the situation then, but also a confession of the past that should have been erased from memory. It was also a struggle for survival for 46 years(then time) with scars in physical and mental life. He wished to erase the memory, but he knew, as a teacher, he should hand it down to the next generation. The memoir was written through the mental conflict. The cold war era is over and total elimination of nuclear weapons is under discussion. Even now, however, China and France repeatedly conduct the nuclear tests. A vast amount of nuclear arsenals still exists on the earth. I would like convey a cry of the heart of the late Mr. Terao to all the people on the planet earth. As one of his students in Oginodai high school, as a member of COARA, and as an ordinary citizen, hereby I post the memoir again. I owe all the responsibility of editing, relocating, and selecting of the netters' responses. Original memoir is written in three parts. I reconstructed the memoir and the responses/comments including Mr.Terao's own into five parts. Thanks to the members of COARA and WATARASE net who cooperated with me to repost the then logs and pictures. I also thank Mrs. Nagao, one of COARA members, who painted the title image, Mr.Ken'ichi Nagao and Mr.Satoru Miyazaki who translated the memoir into English. Ryoji Matsumura (responsible for planning and compiling) |
