Ayako Aoyama, née Suda: “Our father’s quick thinking saved all six of us”

• The night before the bomb fell, we could tell that several B-29s were flying nearby. Father said they were probably going toward Niigata to carry out an air raid.
Research note: the Suda family lived west of Yunomami in Sekinami, Kitaibaraki. These aircraft were probably the B-29s involved in the Isohara air raid late on July 19, 1945.

• On the day the bomb fell, six of us had come early in the morning to weed the rice field. Only our eldest sister, Toyoko Suda, then 14, was not with us.
Research note: their rice field lay along the stream immediately north of the impact site.

• When the bomb struck, Father, Rizo Suda, Mother, Kiku, the second daughter, Ayako Aoyama, then 12, and the third daughter, Katsuko Suda, were weeding in the middle of the long, narrow field. The fourth daughter, Mitsue Akatsu, then seven, was carrying her two-year-old sister Chii Koiso on her back at a thatched rest hut at the northern end. She also carried bush-clover leaves on her back to avoid being targeted by U.S. aircraft.

• We knew a single B-29 was coming from the west. Then we saw it lower its altitude, drop a bomb and turn. Father shouted at us to get out of the field and lie against the bank, and the four of us took cover against the high bank of the terraced rice field. There was an incredible noise. So many clods of mud-like material flew up that everything went dark, then they fell around us. They landed immediately to my left and right, but none hit me. All six members of the family escaped without a single injury. Father’s instructions saved us, but it felt miraculous. Looking around, we saw small bomb fragments scattered everywhere. My sisters and I were terrified and cried. At that time of year, we normally brought lunch and weeded from early morning until dark, but Father said, “Let’s go home today,” and we left.
Research note: they are thought to have been weeding about 200 meters from the impact point.

• Father had served in the military but had returned home after becoming ill. Living in the hills, we had not built an air-raid shelter and did not feel much danger from air raids. Father was different. I think we would have been hit without his warning. He said, “They probably threw away a spare one-ton bomb in the hills on the way back from bombing Niigata.”

• I told friends at Sekinami Elementary School and others about what happened.

• Water filled the bomb crater until it looked like a lake. The surface was deep blue, and young people often came to fish.