Hada witnessed some of the catastrophic injuries from the atomic bomb.
"Many fled over Mount Konpira to our community. People with their eyes popped out, their hair dishevelled, almost all naked, badly burned with their skin hanging down.
"My mother grabbed towels and sheets at home and, with other women in the community, led the fleeing people to the auditorium of a nearby commercial college where they could lie down.
"They asked for water. I was asked to give them water, so I found a chipped bowl and went to the nearby river and scooped water to let them drink.
"After drinking a sip of water, they died. People died one after another.
"It was impossible to know who those people were. They didn't die like human beings."
Japan surrendered unconditionally on 14 August.
On the same day, US President Harry Truman gave an address to a crowd gathered outside the White House in which he said: "This is the day we have been waiting for since Pearl Harbor. This is the day when fascism finally dies, as we always knew it would."
The following day, Japan's Emperor Hirohito was heard on the radio for the first time ever in a broadcast in which he blamed the use of "a new and most cruel bomb" for Japan's unconditional surrender.
He added: "Should we continue to fight, it would not only result in the ultimate collapse and obliteration of the Japanese nation, but would lead also to the total extinction of human civilisation."
British Prime Minister Clement Atlee said: "The last of our enemies is laid low."
He added that special thanks went to the US "without whose prodigious efforts the war in the East would still have many years to run".
After the surrender of Japan, two days of national holiday were announced for celebrations in the UK, the US and Australia.
Millions of people from the Allied countries took part in parades and street parties on Victory over Japan (VJ) Day on 15 August.
In London, the Royal Family greeted cheering crowds from the balcony of Buckingham Palace.
The official surrender documents were signed by Japan on 2 September aboard the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
The Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima, seen below in August 2020, was one of the few buildings to survive the bomb and has been preserved as a memorial.
The dome is located in the city's Peace Memorial Park and has been named as a Unesco World Heritage site.
Comments