REMAINS OF HIROSHIMA NUKE VICTIM AT RESEARCH LAB RETURNED TO KIN

By The Financial District
Dec 15, 2020
2 min read

The Hiroshima Municipal Government has verified the identity of one individual among the remains of Hiroshima atomic bombing victims found in material related to Yoshio Nishina (1890-1951), who was a physicist with Japan's major research institute Riken, the city announced, Misa Koyama reported for Mainichi Shimbun.

The crushed bones were wrapped in weighing paper that had a name that can be read as "Kikuo Michihara" written on it. Although the name that was written on the paper was one kanji character different from the actual name, it has been confirmed that the remains belonged to Kikuma Michihara, who was from the Hiroshima Prefecture village of Yoshiwa, currently the city of Hatsukaichi. Local authorities returned the remains to Michihara's 83-year-old younger sister Kiyoko Iwata, a resident of Hatsukaichi.

According to the Hiroshima Municipal Government, when it contacted Iwata after obtaining information that she may be a bereaved family member, it learned that her older brother Kikuma Michihara, who had belonged to the Imperial Army's Chugoku region troops 104th unit based in the city of Hiroshima, had passed away at age 18 at the Hiroshima First Army Hospital Ujina branch on Aug. 31, 1945 -- 25 days after the atomic bomb was dropped on the city.

Iwata, who received her late brother's remains in front of the memorial tower for atomic bomb victims at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, where the city had stored the remains, commented, "Although I was surprised to learn that the investigative team had collected some of my brother's remains, if they had played a role in assisting investigations, my brother's remorse may have been lifted a bit. I'd like to tell him, 'Welcome home.' All I want now is for him to rest at ease in his hometown's grave."