The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum is home to hundreds of artifacts, photographs and personal testimonies from those affected by the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945 at the end of World War II.
Opened in August 1955, the museum serves as both a memorial to the victims and an educational center dedicated to promoting peace and the abolishing all nuclear weapons.
At 8:15 a.m. Aug. 6, 1945, the atomic bomb, nicknamed Little Boy, was dropped on Hiroshima by the United States. The attack killed tens of thousands of people instantly and marked the beginning of the nuclear age. Authorized by U.S. President Harry S. Truman, the bombing was intended to force Japan’s surrender and bring World War II to an end. Decades later, the event remains one of the most debated military decisions in history.
The city’s residents had no warning of the tragedy heading toward them. Many were beginning an ordinary summer morning. They ate breakfast, prepared for work,\ and spent time with their families. Children were playing outside with friends or riding tricycles through their neighborhoods.
One of those children was Shinichi Tetsutani, who was only 3 years and 11 months old. He was riding his tricycle approximately one mile, or 1,500 meters, from the hypocenter when the atomic bomb exploded above the city. His sisters, Michiko, 7, and Yoko, 1, were also killed by the blast. The sisters were found with burns under their collapsed house.
Among the museum’s many exhibits, Shinichi’s tricycle and metal helmet stand out because of the heartbreaking story. According to information displayed alongside the artifacts, Shinichi suffered severe burns across his body and died later that night.
As his condition worsened, he repeatedly begged for water. At the time, many caregivers believed giving water to burn victims could worsen their condition. Following that, Shinichi’s father, Nobuo Tetsutani, pleaded with his son to hold on rather than give him the water he requested in desperation to save him.
“I made him go without water,” Nobuo said. “And he died anyway.”
When Valeria Cerecer-Vargas, an advertising junior, learned of this detail, she was in disbelief.
“Hearing about the gruesome details and seeing this graphic content, you can’t help but feel a sense of deep nausea that just sits in the pit of your stomach,” Cerecer-Vargas said. “Especially seeing what happened to the children… you can’t help but feel devastated.”
Nobuo later recalled that his son’s burns were so severe, his eyes were barely visible on his swollen face. The memory haunted him for decades. In the testimony shared with the museum, he described waking up every single night after the bombing, as he could not keep still. Unable to sleep, he mourned the loss of his children and relived the events of that day over and over again.
Incapable to bear the thought of his son being buried alone, Nobuo placed Shinichi’s metal helmet on his head and buried him in the family’s backyard alongside his tricycle so that he could continue riding it even after death. Forty years later, when Shinichi’s remains were moved to the family grave, Nobuo exhumed the burial site and discovered that his son’s skull remained intact inside the helmet. He later donated both artifacts to the museum, ensuring that future generations would remember Shinichi’s story.
Today, the tricycle remains one of the museum’s most visited and emotionally powerful artifacts. While many exhibits share photographs and historical information about the bombing, Shinichi’s story gives visitors a personal connection to the tragedy. The small tricycle serves as a reminder that the victims of the atomic bomb were not just numbers in a history book, but real humans with families, dreams and everyday lives.
The exhibit transforms a significant historical event into a deeply human story of loss, grief and remembrance. Through artifacts like Shinichi’s tricycle, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum continues to educate future generations about the consequences of nuclear warfare and the importance of pursuing peace.
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