the philosophical and theological section of our Mission had been evacuated
to this place from Tokyo. The Novitiate is situated approximately two
kilometers from Hiroshima, half-way up the sides of a broad valley which
stretches from the town at sea level into this mountainous hinterland, and
through which courses a river. From my window, I have a wonderful view
down the valley to the edge of the city.

Suddenly--the time is approximately 8:14--the whole valley is filled by a
garish light which resembles the magnesium light used in photography, and I
am conscious of a wave of heat. I jump to the window to find out the cause
of this remarkable phenomenon, but I see nothing more than that brilliant
yellow light. As I make for the door, it doesn't occur to me that the
light might have something to do with enemy planes. On the way from the
window, I hear a moderately loud explosion which seems to come from a
distance and, at the same time, the windows are broken in with a loud
crash. There has been an interval of perhaps ten seconds since the flash
of light. I am sprayed by fragments of glass. The entire window frame has
been forced into the room. I realize now that a bomb has burst and I am
under the impression that it exploded directly over our house or in the
immediate vicinity.

I am bleeding from cuts about the hands and head. I attempt to get out of
the door. It has been forced outwards by the air pressure and has become
jammed. I force an opening in the door by means of repeated blows with my
hands and feet and come to a broad hallway from which open the various
rooms. Everything is in a state of confusion. All windows are broken and
all the doors are forced inwards. The bookshelves in the hallway have
tumbled down. I do not note a second explosion and the fliers seem to have
gone on. Most of my colleagues have been injured by fragments of glass. A
few are bleeding but none has been seriously injured. All of us have been