Lost memoir of Hiroshima survivor found after decades in US archive

The long-lost memoir of Kiyoshi Tanimoto, a survivor of the Hiroshima atomic bombing, has been discovered in a US archive and will be published for the first time this summer. The 230-page manuscript was written nearly 80 years ago by Tanimoto, a Methodist priest who witnessed the city's destruction on August 6, 1945. He survived because he was away transporting a wardrobe that day.

Returning to unimaginable horrors, Tanimoto initially believed words could not capture his experience. However, he eventually decided to write the memoir, as his daughter Koko Tanimoto Kondo said, "to help ensure that no one experienced it ever again." In the foreword, Kondo emphasizes the need for future generations to remember, writing that "memory is our hope for survival as human beings."

The memoir will be published on August 6, the anniversary of the bombing, by Random House in the US and Penguin worldwide. It has already been sold in most major territories. Tanimoto's story has also inspired a major feature film, with actor Takehiro Hira, known for Netflix's "Giri/Haji," set to portray him. Pre-production begins in November, with shooting scheduled for February 2027. The film is produced by Donald Rosenfeld, former president of Merchant Ivory Productions, whose classics include "Howards End."

Rosenfeld told the Guardian that the film and memoir publication are timely given current nuclear threats. "It's an in-depth look at what this terrible bomb did," he said. "It is so topical now with the Iran situation and North Korea. You can't imagine anything worse than Hiroshima, but it could be worse – supposedly 10,000 times stronger today. We really have to make sure it doesn't happen again."

The atomic bomb killed an estimated 120,000 people in the first four days. Three days later, a plutonium bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, killing about 73,000. Japan surrendered on August 15, ending World War II.