The Luckiest or Unluckiest Man in the World? Tsutomu Yamaguchi, double A-bomb victim

It is amazing that after surviving both A bomb blasts in 1945, three Japanese men, Mr Yamaguchi, Mr Sato and Mr Iwanaga, are still alive.
It must be bitter sweet to have witnessed such destruction and loss of life yet lived through it and 60 years later, still kickin'.

The Luckiest or Unluckiest Man in the World? Tsutomu Yamaguchi, double A-bomb victim

Mr Yamaguchi and his friends are freaks of history, victims of a fate so callous and improbable that it almost raises a smile. In 1945, they were working in Hiroshima where the world’s first atomic bomb exploded 60 years ago this morning, on 6 August 1945. 140,000 people died as a result of the explosion; by pure chance, Mr Yamaguchi, Mr Sato and Mr Iwanaga, were spared. Stunned and injured, reeling from the horrors around them, they left the city for the only place they could have gone – their home town, Nagasaki, 180 miles to the west. There, on 9th August, the second atomic bomb exploded over their heads.

In a century of mass killing, the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki marked the beginning of a new age. The end of the world was transformed from an imaginative notion, the fancy of poets and prophets, into a real and living possibility. Three men survived the beginning of the end of the world, not once, but twice. Sixty years later, all three of them are alive.

Additional link to a 2005 article about these three men.
To hell and back

Freakish coincidence, if I beleived in coincidences. Wow, to pass through hellfire twice and live to tell the tale. These guys should be spokesmen for bombshelters or something.

I donno Rudy Giuliani was in NYC on 9/11 and on 7/7 while the London Bombings went down..

And I thought he was the only person that could have seen 2 terrorist acts in 1 life time.. well count that up as 4 people then.. My bad.

I know it's a personaly fantastic and horrific experience for these 3 guys - but statistically speaking it's not actually I wouldn't of thought this is all that shocking.

1.. There will always be survivors, for better or worse large numbers will survive the initial blast, then a lot will die, but a lot won't.

2.. Clearly both cities were very large, otherwise they would not of been targeted, now I'm not too sure of the proximity or the transport links but it's basically a given that large numbers of people would have reasons to travel between both cities in their normal life - just say family obligations to make it simple.

3.. The massive amount of individuals involved on the ground.

Statistically I would say 3 is normal, even sub normal.

I'm glad they survived the initial strikes, and all the health problems that would of followed - I feel for them, I just don't see any amazing luck on a larger scale - on the individual level, very lucky - larger scale very probable.

I read the entire article and their stories are amazing. It saddens me to know that his son died of cancer at age 59.

Although my beliefs on nuclear weapons are clear and precise, I do not know how I would deal with living though one, let alone two blasts.

[edit on 5/1/2009 by Tentickles]

Amazing story

But why is this story being told now ? (Not referring to the OP) . Hope its not a reflection on the time we are living in .

holy hell thats amazing. i mean its crazy enough to be in the two uncommon cities picked for attack, but to survive both bombs? its true that survivors are usually there, but u would expect that the radiation may have killed them. people who have been perfectly healthy and in the same time period have died for no reason at all. its not a matter of being lucky or unlucky, its just about bein a b.a.m.f., and these guys are the definition.

www.timesonline.co.uk...

Looks like he died at 92 from stomach cancer.

He survived both of the Special Weapons attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and stated "I hate the atomic bomb because of what it does to human dignity:.

No s**t sherlock. F**k with the bull and you get the horns.

In this case, payback was not one, but two mushroom clouds rising over the ruins of cities in your country. A country that declared war on us.

"The pursuit of victory without slaughter is likely to lead to slaughter without victory"
The Duke of Marlborough

Someone wake up our leaders please..

I can conceive of no situation where wholesale slaughter of innocents is justifiable, no matter the results. Humanity will continue to suffer as long as we compartmentalize ourselves. If you view humanity as one entity, one body, then it's clearly ridiculous to consider cutting off your right arm, to prevent your left arm from getting burned on the stove.

Anyone know why they didn't die from the radiation?

reply to post by craig732


People can have all sorts of cancers and other tumours that are not actually deadly - which is a bit of a problem now a days with the advanced scanning equipment they have... You could scan most people and find something - and once you know about it you will probably want to do something about it! - Even simply knowing something is there could play on your mind and cause your health to suddenly decline.

So given the numbers of people involved in the blasts then it is a statistical certainty that some will develop 'problems' that are in fact no real problem at all... The dude got luck simply put.