Folk Figure. He was one of a select few to survive the World War II atomic bombings of both Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. He was in Hiroshima on business for the Mitsubishi shipbuilding company as a tanker designer, when the first atomic bomb was detonated over the city of Hiroshima during the early morning hours of August 6, 1945. Suffering extensive burns to his upper body from the blast, he spent the night in a bomb shelter before returning to Nagasaki the following morning. Three days later on August 9th, a second atomic bomb was dropped over the City of Nagasaki killing an estimated 70,000 Japanese citizens. The two combined American atomic bombs killed an estimated 210,000 people, with tens of thousands dying from cancer related deaths over the following months and decades from the effects of radiation exposure. He survived both bombings, having been less than two miles from the blast epicenter. Over the next decade he was required to change bandages multiple times a day, to deal with the burn and blister injuries he suffered from the intense heat wave. Following the war he worked as a translator for American occupying forces in Japan, and became a vocal critic of atomic weapons. In 2009 he was diagnosed with stomach cancer, a disease which eventually claimed his life at the age of 93. At the time of his death, he was the only person to have been officially certified by the Japanese Government as a survivor of both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings.

Folk Figure. He was one of a select few to survive the World War II atomic bombings of both Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. He was in Hiroshima on business for the Mitsubishi shipbuilding company as a tanker designer, when the first atomic bomb was detonated over the city of Hiroshima during the early morning hours of August 6, 1945. Suffering extensive burns to his upper body from the blast, he spent the night in a bomb shelter before returning to Nagasaki the following morning. Three days later on August 9th, a second atomic bomb was dropped over the City of Nagasaki killing an estimated 70,000 Japanese citizens. The two combined American atomic bombs killed an estimated 210,000 people, with tens of thousands dying from cancer related deaths over the following months and decades from the effects of radiation exposure. He survived both bombings, having been less than two miles from the blast epicenter. Over the next decade he was required to change bandages multiple times a day, to deal with the burn and blister injuries he suffered from the intense heat wave. Following the war he worked as a translator for American occupying forces in Japan, and became a vocal critic of atomic weapons. In 2009 he was diagnosed with stomach cancer, a disease which eventually claimed his life at the age of 93. At the time of his death, he was the only person to have been officially certified by the Japanese Government as a survivor of both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings.

Bio by: Nils M. Solsvik Jr.