“I thought the world was exploding. I can remember it as if it were yesterday.”
-Inosuke Hayasaki
地球が爆発しているんじゃないかと思った。その時のことは今でも昨日のことのように覚えている。
I received the sad news that Mr. Inosuke Hayasaki passed away on April 28th. Mr. Hayasaki was 14 years old when the atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. He was working at a Mitsubishi arms factory 1km away from the hypocenter. I photographed him solemnly standing at the hypocenter, underneath the exact point where the bomb detonated over Nagasaki. It’s usually a place that a few random people walk through to get from one part of Nagasaki to another. That early morning in December, we were alone. Only the birds were criss crossing from one tree to another while we quietly photographed.
His portrait was taken years after my book, From Above, was published. But it was exhibited at the Nagasaki Peace Memorial Hall for Atomic Bomb Victims in 2017.
Tags: From Above, Hibakusha, Inosuke Hayasaki, Nagasaki