| Original caption: “A mother and child in pain as they wait for their turn to receive treatment.” Kio Tanaka (1915 – December 9, 2006) nurses Yoshihiro Tanaka (May – August 21, 1945) while they wait for medical treatment at the first-aid station in front of Michinoo Railway Station. Tanaka lived 2,000 yards (1.8 kilometers) from the hypocenter with her family; her husband, 3 children ages 6, 5, and 4 months, his parents, and her brother. Her husband worked at the Mitsubishi Shipyards, while Tanaka and her in-laws were farmers. On August 9, 1945, Tanaka’s husband and his mother left Nagasaki to go fishing, and Tanaka and her father-in-law were in a rice paddy 550 yards (500 meters) from their home when the “Fat Man” device exploded. The house was destroyed and on fire. Yoshihiro was burned and black. Her 6-year-old son came home with burns, and her 5-year-old daughter had just come home when the bomb detonated and was also badly burned. Her father-in-law’s clothes were on fire too; he put it out and yelled to Tanaka that her kimono was also burning. She was too concerned with her children to notice. She tried to treat everyone’s burns as best she could, and they spent the night in the bomb shelter outside their ruined home. Her burnt back was so painful that she could not sleep. In the morning, they heard that there was a first-aid station at Michinoo Station so she put the children on a cart and the whole family walked to Michinoo Station. They passed dead horses and human corpses. After a long, painful walk they arrived around 1200 Hours on August 10. Tanaka and her family were given space on a straw mat. Yoshihiro would not nurse; he lacked the strength. As the doctor told that her baby might die, Yosuke Yamahata (August 6, 1917 – April 18, 1966) took 5 photographs of Tanaka nursing. She gave him permission. Tanaka and the burned children were given rice balls. There was no medicine or treatment available, so the family returned to the bomb shelter. They were bedridden and in terrible pain. Her eldest son stopped eating and died on August 12; Yoshihiro died on August 21. Her husband and mother-in-law who escaped the bomb, found a board and made a coffin for the 2 children who were then cremated. She had 2 more children and continued to farm until age 80. | |
| Image Filename | wwii2143.jpg |
| Image Size | 355.53 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 1849 x 2941 |
| Photographer | Yosuke Yamahata |
| Photographer Title | Mainichi Shinbun |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | August 10, 1945 |
| Location | |
| City | Nagasaki |
| State or Province | Nagasaki |
| Country | Japan |
| Archive | |
| Record Number | |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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