A Japanese painter sketched the ruins of the Hiroshima atomic bomb in September 1945. The American military atomic bomb survey team photographed the Japanese painter.

　　　　　　Undisclosed photos of Japanese

 　　　　　　　A-bomb survivors

　　　U.S. Atomic Bomb Surveys

The National Archives College Park, Maryland

　　　　　　　　　　February 22, 2024              

                                            SC-473752

TR-15644

473752 September 1945

SUBJECT:

CAPTION:

JAPANESE ARTIST SKET SCETCHES RESULTS OF HIROSHIMA ATOMIC BOMB BLAST.

LOCATION: HIROSHIMA, JAPAN

PHOTOGRAPHER: MILLER, WAYNE, LI. TAKEN BY (UNIT)

LOCAL NO: TR-15644

CLASSIFICATION: RELEASED

Postscript: Keizo Takamasu, aged 45, took up his paintbrush in the ruins left by the atomic bomb. He was a teacher at the Hiroshima Prefectural School for the Deaf in the center of Hiroshima, and was searching for his remaining relatives when he was photographed by Miller Wayne of the US Army. His eldest son, who was with him, wrote in his diary at the time that it was September 9th, 1945. Keizo Takamasu made a sketch of Hachobori, and 17 other pictures were left behind. These were the “Sketch of the Hiroshima Atomic Bomb” that he drew in the early stages of the war. In order to avoid air raids, he moved to Yoshida-machi, about 45km north of the city, with his eldest son and eldest daughter in April 1945. From Yoshida-machi, they could see the mushroom cloud of the atomic bomb over Hiroshima, and his father, Keizo Takamasu, sketched it. He had also drawn a picture scroll of the Great Tokyo Fire of September 1, 1923, which killed around 140,000 people. On August 14, 1945, Keizo Takamasu and his two children entered Hiroshima City to check on the situation at their home and school, and were exposed to radiation. However, they were unable to obtain an A-bomb Survivor's Health Handbook.