One Sunny Day: A Child's Memories of Hiroshima

by Hideko Tamura Snider

Book Overview

"Every year when the days begin to stretch and the penetrating heat of summer rises to a scorching point, I am brought back to one sunny day in a faraway land. I was a young child waiting for my mother to come home. On that day, however, the sun and the earth melted together. My mother would not come home. . . ."

Hideko was ten years old when the atomic bomb devastated her home in Hiroshima. In this eloquent and moving narrative, she recalls her life before the bomb, the explosion itself, and the influence of that trauma upon her subsequent life in Japan and the United States. Her years in America have given her unusual insights into the relationship between Japanese and American cultures and the impact of Hiroshima on our lives.

This new edition includes two expanded chapters and revisions throughout. A new epilogue brings the story up to date, covering Hideko's work as an anti-nuclear activist, including her visit to the Enola Gay at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. This poignant story of courage and resilience remains deeply relevant today, offering a profoundly personal testimony against the ongoing threat of nuclear warfare.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0870712330
• ISBN13: 9780870712333
• Release Date: November 2023
• Publisher: Oregon State University Press
• Length: 296 Pages
• Weight: 0.13 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.2" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

Poignant and Powerful

Hideko Snider tells her story of survival of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, the loss of her mother, adaptation to a new culture and her search for emotional and spiritual peace. The book is poignant, tender, and compelling. It is a powerful statement, well written and touching, of the triumph of hope over horror. This is a story which needs telling, especially in a world faced with the ever-increasing spread of nuclear weapons.

Amazing Woman

I have not received my book in the mail yet, but I have attended a presentation from Hideko at Western Washington University and from the one hour I had the privilege of being in her presence I already know that this book could be nothing short of amazing. I would recommend this book to anyone, the story that Hideko has to tell is indescribable and very relevant even 60+ years after.