Standing at the front of a dimly lit room in the basement of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, Teruko Yahata's voice broke as she recalled the morning her world changed, on August 6, 1945.
"All of a sudden, the entire sky flashed and was illuminated in bluish-white, as if the heavens had become one huge, fluorescent light," the 85-year-old, speaking in English, told an audience of British tourists on a recent Tuesday.Yahata is a 'hibakusha', a survivor of the atomic bomb dropped on the city of Hiroshima by the United States. The bomb killed tens of thousands instantly; scores more suffered long-lasting injuries.
Yahata, who was eight when she witnessed the nuclear destruction of her hometown, started travelling the world in 2013 to tell her story through an interpreter, but felt the experience lacking. Resolving to learn English, she began taking classes at the YMCA as she headed into her 80s, and by 2021, was giving her presentations exclusively in English.
Yahata's English ability is mostly limited to reading the script, but the impact of her spoken words on the audience is undeniable, moving some to tears.
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