Doctor and hospital administrator Michihiko Hachiya was badly injured when an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. The doctor and his wife made their way to the Communications Hospital after the blast and remained there as patients for the next several weeks. The doctor kept a diary recording his observations, thoughts, and feelings as he recovered and resumed his duties while still in recovery.

Rumors are flying and facts are scarce since the bomb severed communication between Hiroshima and the rest of the world. The reader feels Dr. Hachiya’s bewilderment as he tries to figure out why patients with seemingly minor injuries were suddenly sickening and dying. The reader knows they’re victims of radiation poisoning, but Dr. Hachiya doesn’t know what the reader knows. He assembles data on the patients who died as well as on patients who recovered, and he discovers that a patient’s proximity to the epicenter of the explosion is predictive of the outcome of their disease.

This is as close to a primary source on the effects of the A-bomb on Hiroshima as you’ll get without being able to read Japanese. ( )

Dr. Michihiko Hachiya was home when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. He lived roughly a mile from the hypocenter, near the hospital where he was director. He and his wife were injured by debris, but made it out of their house before it collapsed. They headed for the hospital, but it was on fire. Colleagues saved them, and he underwent surgery. While recuperating in the burned out hospital, he began a diary, which he continued for the next seven weeks. In it he records his experiences, both as a patient and a doctor, as well as the stories of his colleagues and patients. It is a remarkable document both for its content and tone.

As Dr. Hachiya recovered, his scientific curiosity returned, and he began working with his colleague to discover who was dying and why. Some patients recovered from horrible burns, while others seemed fine at first but then succumbed rapidly. Without a microscope, he first postulated dysentery, because of the prevalence of diarrhea, and even germ warfare. But once they began doing autopsies and had a microscope they discovered the internal hemorrhaging and extremely low white blood cell and platelet counts, as well as damage to red blood cells. I found the evolution of his thinking in just a few weeks to be fascinating.

Equally interesting were his views on the Emperor, Japan's military leaders, and the American occupiers. But these larger issues take the backseat to his interest in his patients' stories and the details of life. His diary is foremost a warm tribute to his colleagues and friends, whose work throughout the disaster he admired, and to the triumph of life over death. His pleasure in small successes and little luxuries (a clean bathroom, tea, a letter delivered) offsets the grim horrors that surround him. Highly recommended reading. ( )

This slim volume is an amazing first-hand count of the days' aftermath of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima by doctor. Hachiya was both a victim and treated victims from the bombing, so there are personal details of the event itself and recovery from the terrible effects. The clarity with which Hachiya writes and the details of death, destruction, and the difficulties facing the survivors are gut-wrenching at times. The fact that this was a personal diary not meant for publication has an amazing literary quality that keeps you immersed in the narrative. Never feeling like a memoir or diary written by an amateur. This will be a hard read to forget anytime soon. ( )

Remarkable account of the aftermath of the atom bomb in Hiroshima from a doctor who is head of a hospital near the hypocenter of the bomb. ( )

A very detailed account written by a doctor. Dr. Hachiya gives a day by day account of the Hiroshima bombing and the six weeks that followed. He was one a hundreds of thousands injured in the bombing, yet he still managed to give aid to many. It is the actual experience of living in Hiroshima that brings this memoir to life. The people he encounters, the people he lost, and the trials and tribulations, the horrors, and the ever-present desire to carry on make this such a moving and important piece of history. ( )