6 August 1945
Tsutomu Yamaguchi was in Hiroshima on a business trip for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries when the United States dropped the world's first atomic bomb on the city at 8:15 in the morning. He was approximately three kilometres from the hypocentre — close enough for the blast to rupture his eardrums, burn his arms and face, and temporarily blind him.
He spent the night in an air raid shelter. The following morning he walked through the ruins of the city to the train station and boarded a train home to Nagasaki.
9 August 1945
Three days after surviving Hiroshima, Yamaguchi was back at his desk in Nagasaki. He was describing what he had witnessed to his supervisor when the second bomb dropped at 11:02 in the morning. He was again approximately three kilometres from the hypocentre. He survived again.
His supervisor reportedly did not believe his account of what had happened in Hiroshima. The second explosion rendered the question moot.
The Rest of His Life
Yamaguchi lived until 2010. He was 93 years old. He suffered significant health consequences from his radiation exposure throughout his life but continued to work, raise a family, and eventually became an outspoken advocate for nuclear disarmament.
He is the only person officially certified by the Japanese government as a survivor — known as a hibakusha — of both atomic bombings. There were other individuals present in both cities during both attacks, but Yamaguchi is the only one who received formal dual certification.
The Mechanism
What makes Yamaguchi's story so striking is not merely the statistical improbability of his survival, but the specific chain of ordinary decisions that placed him in both cities at both moments. He went to Hiroshima for a business trip. He went home to Nagasaki because it was where he lived. There was no special knowledge, no premonition, no error. He was in the wrong place twice because of entirely rational choices that happened to intersect with two of the most destructive events in human history.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Tsutomu Yamaguchi?
Tsutomu Yamaguchi was a Japanese naval engineer who survived both the Hiroshima atomic bomb on 6 August 1945 and the Nagasaki atomic bomb on 9 August 1945.
How did he survive both bombs?
In both cases Yamaguchi was approximately three kilometres from the hypocentre — close enough to sustain serious injuries but far enough to survive. He was the only person officially certified by the Japanese government as a dual survivor.
How long did Tsutomu Yamaguchi live?
Yamaguchi lived until January 2010, dying at the age of 93.
Were there other survivors of both bombings?
There were other individuals present in both cities during both attacks. Yamaguchi is the only one who received formal official certification as a survivor of both atomic bombings from the Japanese government.