NINOSHIMA, Japan (AP) — When the first atomic bomb detonated 80 years ago on Aug. 6, thousands of the dead and dying were brought to the small, rural island of Ninoshima, just south of Hiroshima, by military boats with crews that had trained for suicide attack missions.
Because of poor medicine and care, only a few hundred were alive when the field hospital closed Aug. 25, according to historical records. They were buried in various locations in chaotic and rushed operations.
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A local worker crosses the pier on a bicycle to catch a ferry in Ninoshima, an island where thousands of the dead and dying were brought after the first atomic bomb detonated 80 years ago, in western Japan, Monday, July 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
After planting chrysanthemum flowers and offering prayers, Rebun Kayo, a Hiroshima University researcher, pours water to prepare for his search for remains of victims of the 1945 Hiroshima bombing in Ninoshima in Hiroshima, western Japan, Tuesday, July 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
The cityscape of Hiroshima as seen from Ninoshima, an island where thousands of the dead and dying were brought after the first atomic bomb detonated 80 years ago, western Japan, Monday, July 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Rebun Kayo, a Hiroshima University researcher, takes the ferry to commute between Hiroshima and the island of Ninoshima to search for remains of victims of the 1945 atomic bombing in Ninoshima in Hiroshima, western Japan, Tuesday, July 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Paper cranes are placed as offerings near the site of a former hospital at Ninoshima, an island where thousands of the dead and dying were brought after the first atomic bomb detonated 80 years ago, in western Japan, Monday, July 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Tourists walk past the Atomic Bomb Dome on Wednesday, July 9, 2025 in Hiroshima, western Japan. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Tamiko Sora, an atomic bombing survivor in Hiroshima, holds a container containing fragments of human bone found on Ninoshima Island by Rebun Kayo, a Hiroshima University researcher, on Wednesday, July 9, 2025, in Hiroshima, western Japan. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Tamiko Sora, right, 83, an atomic bombing survivor in Hiroshima, puts her hands together in prayer after being shown a fragment of human bone found on Ninoshima Island by Rebun Kayo, left, a Hiroshima University researcher, on Wednesday, July 9, 2025, in Hiroshima, western Japan. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Workers build racks for cultivating oysters, a local specialty, off the coast of Ninoshima, an island where thousands of the dead and dying were brought after the first atomic bomb detonated 80 years ago, western Japan, Monday, July 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Kazuo Miyazaki, a local historian and head of the Ninoshima History Volunteer Guide Association, acts as a guide at Ninoshima, an island where thousands of the dead and dying were brought after the first atomic bomb detonated 80 years ago, in Hiroshima, western Japan, on Tuesday, July 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Rebun Kayo, a Hiroshima University researcher, searches for remains of victims of the 1945 Hiroshima bombing in Ninoshima in Hiroshima, western Japan, Tuesday, July 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Rebun Kayo, a Hiroshima University researcher, searches for remains of victims of the 1945 Hiroshima bombing in Ninoshima in Hiroshima, western Japan, Tuesday, July 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Decades later, people in the area are looking for the remains of the missing, driven by a desire to account for and honor the victims and bring relief to survivors who are still tormented by memories of missing loved ones.
Rebun Kayo, a Hiroshima University researcher, regularly visits Ninoshima to search for remains.
This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
A local worker crosses the pier on a bicycle to catch a ferry in Ninoshima, an island where thousands of the dead and dying were brought after the first atomic bomb detonated 80 years ago, in western Japan, Monday, July 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
After planting chrysanthemum flowers and offering prayers, Rebun Kayo, a Hiroshima University researcher, pours water to prepare for his search for remains of victims of the 1945 Hiroshima bombing in Ninoshima in Hiroshima, western Japan, Tuesday, July 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
The cityscape of Hiroshima as seen from Ninoshima, an island where thousands of the dead and dying were brought after the first atomic bomb detonated 80 years ago, western Japan, Monday, July 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Rebun Kayo, a Hiroshima University researcher, takes the ferry to commute between Hiroshima and the island of Ninoshima to search for remains of victims of the 1945 atomic bombing in Ninoshima in Hiroshima, western Japan, Tuesday, July 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Paper cranes are placed as offerings near the site of a former hospital at Ninoshima, an island where thousands of the dead and dying were brought after the first atomic bomb detonated 80 years ago, in western Japan, Monday, July 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Tourists walk past the Atomic Bomb Dome on Wednesday, July 9, 2025 in Hiroshima, western Japan. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Tamiko Sora, an atomic bombing survivor in Hiroshima, holds a container containing fragments of human bone found on Ninoshima Island by Rebun Kayo, a Hiroshima University researcher, on Wednesday, July 9, 2025, in Hiroshima, western Japan. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Tamiko Sora, right, 83, an atomic bombing survivor in Hiroshima, puts her hands together in prayer after being shown a fragment of human bone found on Ninoshima Island by Rebun Kayo, left, a Hiroshima University researcher, on Wednesday, July 9, 2025, in Hiroshima, western Japan. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Workers build racks for cultivating oysters, a local specialty, off the coast of Ninoshima, an island where thousands of the dead and dying were brought after the first atomic bomb detonated 80 years ago, western Japan, Monday, July 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Kazuo Miyazaki, a local historian and head of the Ninoshima History Volunteer Guide Association, acts as a guide at Ninoshima, an island where thousands of the dead and dying were brought after the first atomic bomb detonated 80 years ago, in Hiroshima, western Japan, on Tuesday, July 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Rebun Kayo, a Hiroshima University researcher, searches for remains of victims of the 1945 Hiroshima bombing in Ninoshima in Hiroshima, western Japan, Tuesday, July 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Rebun Kayo, a Hiroshima University researcher, searches for remains of victims of the 1945 Hiroshima bombing in Ninoshima in Hiroshima, western Japan, Tuesday, July 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
