Photos of Nagasaki taken 11 days after A-bomb by 'Mr. Tornado' newly found

NAGASAKI--Recently discovered photographs taken by a man who went on to become one of the world's foremost tornado researchers depict the terrible devastation here just over a week after the city's 1945 atomic bombing.

The pictures, which show a desert of rubble and collapsed buildings near the blast epicenter, appear to have been taken 11 days after the U.S.-built “Fat Man” bomb was dropped on Aug. 9, 1945. The photographer was Tetsuya Fujita (1920-1998), an emeritus professor of meteorological studies at the University of Chicago in later life.

Fujita’s sister-in-law, Yaeko Fujita, 79, who lives in Kita-Kyushu, found 37 pictures in a cardboard box in her home’s warehouse in March. She also found five maps indicating the locations where the photos were taken.

The family of the late Fujita plans to donate the pictures to the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum as rare evidence showing the powerful destructive force of the world's second atomic bombing.

According to officials of the museum, they are the third oldest photos taken in the aftermath of the bombing. More than 100 pictures taken on the day following the bombing by media staff members of the former Imperial Japanese Army are recognized as the oldest pictures, followed by 11 photos taken a week later by army physicians who came to Nagasaki for rescue activities.

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_affairs/AJ201310250066