On Aug. 6, 1945, a young Army surgeon witnessed the huge column of flame rising at 8:15 a.m. above Mount Akikofuji on Ninoshima Island in the Seto Inland Sea, near Hiroshima. Soon after, the island, which held a quarantine hospital, was inundated with victims of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.

The surgeon, who treated survivors at a medical unit over the next few weeks, depicts what he saw in a straightforward and poignant manner.

"Atomic Bomb Victims on Ninoshima -- Diary of a Young Surgeon," written by Mitsuru SUZUMURA, was originally published in 1986 in Japanese.

  

His son, Hiromi SUZUMURA, has translated it into English.