Shoes

Setsuko Ota (then, 12), a first-year student at a girl’s school, was engaged in building demolition work* when she experienced the atomic bombing. Her mother, Yoshimi (then, 40) immediately went to look for her. Setsuko was lying with her classmates on a river bank near her workplace. Burned black, her mother knew it was her because of the name tag on her underwear. While her mother looked for the water she wanted, Setsuko died. Yoshimi and the other parents cremated the bodies of their children themselves and carried the ashes home. These things are what Setsuko had with her on that day.