Tsutomu Yamaguchi, the man who survived both atomic bombs

Tsutomu Yamaguchi, the man who survived both atomic bombs

On a business trip he survived the Hiroshima bomb, went home to Nagasaki, and was there three days later for the second bomb — the only person officially recognized by Japan as a survivor of both.

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Show notes

Tsutomu Yamaguchi survived the Hiroshima blast after returning to the city center for a forgotten identification stamp.

A supervisor in Nagasaki dismissed Yamaguchi's account of the Hiroshima explosion as mathematically impossible moments before the second bomb.

Reinforced stairwells at the Mitsubishi office created a shock cocoon that saved Yamaguchi from the second detonation.

Yamaguchi suffered from acute radiation poisoning, permanent hearing loss, and cataracts while working as a post-war translator.

Japan officially recognized Yamaguchi as the only double survivor on March twenty-fourth, two thousand nine.

Before dying at age ninety-three, Yamaguchi advocated for nuclear abolition during a two thousand six United Nations speech.

In this episode
  1. 01Intro1 min
  2. 02The Forgotten Hanko3 min
  3. 03The Impossible Report3 min
  4. 04The Shock Cocoon2 min
  5. 05The Niju Hibakusha3 min
  6. 06Outro1 min
Sources
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