Reiko Fuchimoto, who was exposed to the atomic bomb dropped and detonated by the U.S. military over Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, received treatment for the wound that formed from her right cheek to her ear at a special relief hospital set up at Shinseizen National School in Nagasaki City in late September.

　　Reiko Fuchimoto, who was exposed to the atomic bomb dropped and detonated by the U.S. military over Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, received treatment for a wound from her right cheek to her ear at a special relief hospital set up at Shinseizen National School in Nagasaki City in late September.The city center where the atomic bomb exploded was filled with people who could no longer move. Reiko Fuchimoto was loaded onto a truck and received treatment at a hospital in Tokitsu Town, Nagasaki Prefecture. After that, she attended the Shin-Kozan Special Hospital until January 1946.

　　During the summer, Reiko's wound festered, throbbing with pulsing pain. Once healed, she became self-conscious about the scar. She pinned her hair back so it wouldn't be visible even in the wind. Five years later, she married her husband through an arranged meeting. On the night ten days after their wedding, her husband noticed the scar. He said, “I didn't know you had a scar like this.”Reiko Fuchimoto resolved, “If he asks for a divorce, I'll agree.” But the next day, and the day after that, her husband said nothing. Eventually, he never said anything. Reiko Fuchimoto stated, “I regret not properly telling him about the scar, but I think it turned out for the best. Now, I no longer feel hatred toward America or the atomic bomb. I just don't want it to happen again.”

　This photograph was taken by Yasuo Tomishige, a photographer with the Asahi Shimbun Western Headquarters Photo Department. On August 9th, when the atomic bomb exploded over Nagasaki, he was stationed in Fukuoka City. He entered Nagasaki City immediately after the war ended and again around September 22nd. He photographed the immediate aftermath of the bombing and the treatment of atomic bomb sickness at the Shinmeisen Temporary Relief Hospital. Sixty-six of these photographs are preserved at the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum in Nagasaki City.