Hiroshima, 8:15: A Newly Discovered Memoir and Eyewitness Account from a Survivor

This is a newly discovered firsthand account of the Hiroshima bombing and its aftermath from one of the survivors. This lost classic brings unprecedented immediacy to our understanding of this world-changing event.

"The whole city was covered with dark clouds, and conflagrations were breaking out in various directions. Could all of this have happened at once? It was then that black drops of rain, as big as blackberries, began to fall – rain caused by the atomic bomb. I wondered what had happened to my home and church. With a pale face, I ran down the Koi highway…"

When the atomic bomb fell on Hiroshima at 8:15 am on August 6, 1945, Methodist minister Kiyoshi Tanimoto was just beginning his day by helping a neighbour on the outskirts of the city. The events that followed were full of horror, but through his courageous determination to save his family, church, and city from total devastation, Tanimoto became internationally recognized as a hero of Hiroshima. In 1946, he was featured in American journalist John Hersey’s seminal book Hiroshima, which catapulted Tanimoto into global fame. Now, for the first time, his manuscript written in his own words has been discovered.

With a powerful introduction from Tanimoto's daughter, Koko Kondo, a renowned peace activist, Hiroshima, 8:15 is a remarkable eyewitness account of this devastating moment in history. Written in the immediate aftermath of the bomb, the manuscript had been lost for many decades and was only recently discovered in a university archive.

Today, over eighty years later in a world fraught with conflict, Tanimoto’s story is a moving and powerful reminder of how the strength, love, and resilience of the human spirit will always triumph over the things that divide us.

Specifications:

• Author: Kiyoshi Tanimoto
• Foreword by: Koko Tanimoto Kondo
• Binding: Hardcover
• Pages: 224
• Dimensions: 14.5 x 2.2 x 22.3 cm
• Weight: 330 g
• Language: English
• Publisher: Ebury Press
• Publication Date: August 6, 2026
• ISBN-10: 1529992737
• ISBN-13: 978-1529992731

Hiroshima, 8:15 offers a unique and deeply personal perspective on one of history's most significant events, making it an essential read for anyone interested in World War II history and the enduring power of the human spirit.