Who was Tsutomu Yamaguchi, and how did he survive both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings?

Tsutomu Yamaguchi is the only person officially recognized by the Japanese government as a nijyuu hibakusha (“double bombed person”). His story is a harrowing testament to both extreme misfortune and incredible survival instincts.

He didn’t just survive two nuclear blasts; he survived them while being at ground zero for both.

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The Two Explosions

Yamaguchi was a 29-year-old naval engineer for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. His survival was a result of split-second reactions and, frankly, a series of near-impossible coincidences.

• Hiroshima: The First Blast

August 6, 1945 | 8:15 AM

Yamaguchi was on his last day of a three-month business trip. He was walking to the shipyard when the “Little Boy” bomb detonated 3 kilometers away. He saw the flash, dove into a ditch, and was blown into a potato patch. He suffered ruptured eardrums and severe upper-body burns.

• The Return to Nagasaki

August 8, 1945

After spending a night in a dugout shelter, he navigated the ruined city to the train station. Despite his injuries, he boarded a train full of refugees headed to his hometown: Nagasaki.

• Nagasaki: The Second Blast

August 9, 1945 | 11:02 AM

Yamaguchi was at the Mitsubishi office reporting to his supervisor. Ironically, he was mid-sentence, describing the “single bomb” that destroyed Hiroshima—which his boss didn’t believe—when the “Fat Man” bomb detonated 3 kilometers from the office.

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How He Survived

Yamaguchi attributed his survival to his training and a bit of luck:

• The “Duck and Cover” Instinct: In Hiroshima, he saw the magnesium flash and instantly dove. This prevented him from being vaporized or blinded by the initial thermal radiation.
• Topography: In Nagasaki, the hilly terrain of the city and the specific layout of the Mitsubishi office helped shield him from the full force of the shockwave, though he was again badly burned.
• Medical Resilience: He suffered from acute radiation poisoning (losing his hair and falling into high fevers), but he eventually recovered and lived to be 93 years old.

The Bitter Irony: After surviving the first atomic bomb in human history, Yamaguchi took a train 300 kilometers south to what he thought was the safety of his home, only to arrive just in time for the second (and last) nuclear attack in history.