The man who survived the atomic bomb - TWICE!

Eighty years ago today the Allies dropped the first of two atomic bombs on Japan and ended the Second World War. Now the Hollywood director behind Titanic and Avatar is determined to pass on the baton of history entrusted to him by Tsutomu Yamaguchi, a Hiroshima and Nagasaki survivor, on his deathbed

- By Peter Sheridan

BLINDING flash stunned Tsutomu Yamaguchi moments before the powerful blast tore apart the Japanese city of Nagasaki. Thousands were simply vaporised, leaving only silhouettes burned into walls. Many more would die of their injuries within weeks. The city was levelled. Many buildings disintegrated into dust.

It was 80 years ago this week that America dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and then Nagasaki, killing more than 200,000 people and finally forcing Japan to surrender, ending the Second World War.

But for Yamaguchi, the bomb dropped on Nagasaki was a nightmarish déja-vu — having barely survived the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima three days earlier, which left him half-deaf, his skin blistered and burned.

It took another 64 years before Yamaguchi was officially recognised by the Japanese government as the nation’s sole “nijyuu hibakusha” — a survivor of both atomic bombs.

Yet he had not been alone in surviving both blasts: an estimated 160 others had the tragic misfortune of being in both cities when struck by the deadliest weapon ever unleashed.

Their stories offer a sober reminder of the terrible cost of war, and the suffering that endures long after hostilities have ceased.

“Having been granted this miracle, it is my responsibility to pass on the truth to the people of the world,” said Yamaguchi, who died from stomach cancer in 2010 aged 93.

Reflecting on a world still riven by conflicts, he lamented: “I can hardly see any improvement in the situation.”

The horror suffered by Yamaguchi and his fellow blast survivors is now to become a major movie from Hollywood mogul James Cameron, who directed blockbuster hits including Titanic, The Terminator and the Avatar franchise. The film will be based on Charles Pellegrino’s books, Ghosts of Hiroshima, published this week, and his 2015 book The Last Train From Hiroshima.