VIII: Business and Government Buildings
A Bank
Only a third mile from hypocenter stood a three-store ed concrete building housing the Hiroshima branch of the Bank of Japan on the first and second floors, and the local office of the Ministry of Finance on the third. Ryosuke Akai, an official of the Ministry, was seated at his desk about to begin work when the bomb exploded. Simultaneously with his thought, "What's up ?" a weird shock wind blasted in through the window to the south, throwing him across his desk and ten feet away. There was neither "Pika" nor "Don" for him. He fell on his back and felt a large shard of glass pierce his left elbow. When he tried to return to his desk, he found himself pinned down by the force of the wind, and could only crouch beneath the window sill. Looking out to see what was happening to the city, he watched a 400-year-old camphor tree, a natural monument standing in the garden of the adjoining Kokutaiji Temple, torn up by its roots and flung into the air.
Then the neighborhood became a sea of fire. The remaining camphor tree was soon aflame and a strong gust carried the fire into the third-floor window, driving Mr. Akai away. On that same floor nine persons who were too injured to escape, burned to death and three young women who had been on the roof area were carried off by the shock wind; three days later their bodies were found on another roof, 100 feet away.
On the first and second floors, although the shutters had not yet been opened for the day, windows and frames were shattered, and of the twelve bank employees there, five were instantly killed.
A Department Store
Fukuya Department Store was one of the few concrete buildings near the center to remain standing. Due to the firmly controlled economy and to rationing, it was no longer the busy mart. Of the two floors below ground and eight above, only about a third was being used as a store; the remainder was occupied by military and governmental bureaus.
Standing some 0.4 mile from center, only a bare shell survived the shock and raging fire which left charred bodies scattered here and there on the floors. For about six weeks the second and third floors of this ruin were used as an isolation hospital, but on September 17th a typhoon flooded the two basement floors and it took over a month to pump them out.
Prefectural Office
Of 1,107 people working at the Prefectural Office about 0.6 mile from hypocenter, 57 died instantly, 267 we badly injured, 529 were unaccounted for and 254 survived The two-storied wooden building, erected during the Meiii era fell in an instant and was consumed by fire.
Toshiyuki Ikada writes, "I had gone into the printing room to change into working clothes, and was just saying to myself, "Well, let's get to work,' when 'Pika-don !' I was thrown several feet and when I came to my senses, found myself under the shattered building with flames coming near. By struggling desperately, I managed to crawl out.
"The next day I came back to see what the fire had left. Pinned under the roof beams were the bodies of many who had burned to death. Some of their whitened bones were covered with lead from melted type. In the small lake in the garden countless bodies swollen and unrecognizable floated like frogs turned belly upward. Later they could be identified only by their belts, wrist watches or dentures."
Prison
The prison lay about 1.3 miles from the hypocenter. The prisoners that morning, following the warning siren and the all-clear, had been set to work. Of the 1,154 prisoners and 250 staff, 16 died instantly and about 600 were injured. Some had a third of their chests torn away, others their heads gouged out, leaving them bleeding and unconscious, or with faces swollen like a balloon, clothing and flesh torn to shreds.
Over half of the buildings were completely destroyed. The maximum security inmates and the seriously ill and injured were later housed in the half-destroyed cells, but the others were left free to move about inside the walls.
Heavy Industries
The Mitsubishi factory and shipyard, under Ministry orders issued in April to convert from ship engine building, was preparing to produce airplane parts and ordnance, including special one-man submarines. However, the work had been delayed by the need to retool, the lack of raw materials, and by an order to evacuate all machinery and equipment to a safer location. Some had been moved, but this work, too, was held up by the shortage of trucks and buses, and even of manpower. Most of the city, it seemed, was also trying to evacuate.
On August 6th, about 6,000 workers manned the two industries. Of these, some 3,200 were students impressed into service, and Koreans forced to work there are thought to have numbered about 1,000. When the bomb fell two miles away, the roofs fell in and wall planks flew in all directions. Indoors, only three people were killed instantly, but over 200 were injured by falling objects and flying glass.