Hiroshima teens relay atom bomb horror with art

Trudging through the ruins of Hiroshima after the US atom bombing four days before in 1945, five-year-old Masaki Hironaka clutched his mother's hand and silently vowed to protect her.

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It’s one of many scenes from 80 years ago this August still etched in the octogenarian’s memory — and now depicted vividly by Japanese teenagers on canvas. For almost 20 years, Motomachi High School in Hiroshima has tasked its art students with interviewing hibakusha — atom bomb survivors — and turning their harrowing testimonies into paintings. Showcased recently by the school ahead of the August 6 anniversary were 15 new artworks, including of scorched soldiers writhing in pain, and a horror-stricken girl surrounded by an inferno. “I think the painting very accurately captures my feelings at the time,” Hironaka said, nodding with satisfaction at one such piece that immortalised an “unforgettable page of my life”. “It’s authentic, and very well drawn.”

Schoolgirl Hana Takasago’s evocative art shows a young Hironaka looking up at his mother as they plod through what remains of Hiroshima on August 10, 1945, with fires still lingering. A few days before, his father had come home heavily burned by the blast and asked Hironaka to yank out a glass shard stuck deep into his flesh.