This painting by Ikeda Zenko and Ikeda Chieko illustrates the hell they witnessed at Hiroshima. Their one year old son was burned to death on that day (August 6th). At Sakae-bashi (bridge) the couple saw tens of thousands of people jumping into the river to avoid the fire storms raging through the city. Many were blind, horribly maimed, and in shock from the bomb blast. Most were naked since their clothes had been burned off of them.

The rivers running through Hiroshima and Nagasaki were like a magnet to the bomb victims, who sought relief from their horrific burns and a refuge from the choking smoke of the devastated city. Too weak to swim or survive their fatal wounds, untold thousands perished in the river waters. Bodies filled the waterways for days, until the tide took them all out to sea.