Donated by Mihoko Naito , Akira Hirakawa
1,350m from the hypocenter
Sumiyoshi Bridge

Koharu Hirakawa (then, 50) was a teacher at Hijiyama Elementary School. She was exposed to the bomb in front of the Sumiyoshi Bridge in a truck carrying bags for her pupils who were leaving for their evacuation locations. When the bomb detonated, the bags ignited, and the head teacher instructed everyone to flee. He thought Koharu had fled with the others, but she was never seen again. In December 1945, her brother Akira (then, 21), when he attended her father's memorial service, put a bowl he found in her totally destroyed house into a box of pawlonia wood in place of her remains. At that time, it was reported that Koharu's bag had been found. In it were her savings bonds and other valuables and the business cards of her two sons.