An extraordinary true story of survival, resilience, and hope from one of the most devastating moments in human history.
"I looked around for some sign of life. There was none… only destruction, smoke and fire."
On August 6, 1945, the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Shinji Mikamo was fourteen years old, working on the roof of a building when the blast struck. He survived — burned, broken, and utterly alone in a landscape of unimaginable devastation.
Against all odds, Shinji rebuilt his life. He fought to recover from his injuries, emigrated to America, raised a family, and — decades later — finally found the strength to tell his story to his daughter, Akiko.
This is that story. Told with extraordinary tenderness and clarity by Dr Akiko Mikamo, The Hiroshima Boy is a heartbreaking, ultimately uplifting memoir of survival, of fathers and daughters, and of the enduring human will to live and to forgive. Essential reading on one of the defining events of the twentieth century — and on what it costs, and what it means, to carry that history forward.
About the author
Dr Akiko Mikamo is a Japanese-American clinical psychologist, peace educator, and the daughter of Shinji Mikamo. Born in Hiroshima and now based in the United States, she is the founder of the U.S.-Japan Psychological Services Network and has dedicated her career to cross-cultural understanding, trauma recovery, and peace-building. She is the author of Rising from the Ashes: A True Story of Survival and Forgiveness from Hiroshima, on which this book is based, and is a sought-after international speaker on the legacy of Hiroshima.
