Shuntaro Hida

was a Japanese physician who was an eyewitness when the Little Boy atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima by the Enola Gay on 6 August 1945. He treated survivors as a medical doctor and wrote about the effects of radiation on the human body.

Medical officer Hida was born on the 1 January 1917, in Hiroshima. He studied medicine under the Imperial Japanese Army, graduating in 1944. Hida was serving as a medical officer and was 28 years old when the Little Boy bomb was dropped. He had been assigned to Hiroshima Military Hospital. He was therefore approximately 6 kilometers from ground zero when the bomb was dropped and he looked up and saw the Boeing B-29 Superfortress aircraft which he described as appearing like a "tiny silver drop". He was dazzled by the flash and was stuck by the heat from the blast. It took several moments for the blast to hit him and when it did, Hida was thrown back around 10 meters. The ride to the Hiroshima Military Hospital took three hours, but when he arrived the building was consumed by fire. He decided to return to Hesaka, assuming that he may be able to care for survivors there, as it was the closest village. A field hospital has been set up at the local school and he began working around the clock to treat survivors. He also sought compensation from the United States government and advocated the abolition of nuclear weapons.

In Media

2005 Hiroshima: He is interviewed in the BBC drama documentary and shares his experiences which are re-enacted in a dramatic reconstruction of events. 2015 Als die Sonne vom Himmel fiel (The Day The Sun Fell / 太陽が落ちた日): A documentary in which he is interviewed.