80 Years On: People Pass on Stories of U.S. "Mock Atomic Bombs"

   Fukushima, Aug. 7 (Jiji Press)--People in Fukushima Prefecture and other parts of Japan are working to pass down the stories of "pumpkin" bombs dropped on 18 prefectures in the country by the United States, or mock-ups of the atomic bombs that devastated the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.
   Over 400 people were killed by 49 such "mock atomic bombs" dropped between July 20 and Aug. 14, 1945, to rehearse the atomic bombs used against Hiroshima, western Japan, on Aug. 6 and Nagasaki, southwestern Japan, three days later in the final stages of World War II. The rehearsed conventional weapons were named for their shape and similar in appearance to the atomic bombs.
   The pumpkin bomb attacks were long a secret and therefore relatively unknown. Eighty years since the bombings, efforts are underway to keep survivors' memories alive, with studies being conducted in many areas in Japan.
   On July 20, 1945, the first of the U.S. pumpkin bombs was dropped on the northeastern prefecture of Fukushima, killing Takao Saito, a 14-year-old boy. His older sister, Michi, now 98, said that she still remembers the sheer power of the explosion. "My mother and I who were nearby were blown away (in the blast)."
   Takao was killed after he took over weeding chores in a rice field from Michi due to rain. "He was such a sweet and curious boy, and the way he died was heartbreaking," she said.

(2025/08/07-08:30)

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