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# Kiyoshi Tanimoto
**Kiyoshi Tanimoto (1909–1986)** was a Japanese Methodist minister, humanitarian, and author whose life became inseparable from the history of Hiroshima.
After studying theology at **Kwansei Gakuin University**, he received a scholarship to attend the **Candler School of Theology at Emory University** in Atlanta, Georgia. Returning to Japan in 1943, he became pastor of **Nagarekawa Methodist Church** in Hiroshima, where he devoted himself to serving the local community.
On August 6, 1945, Tanimoto survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. In the hours and days that followed, he risked his own life rescuing the injured, carrying survivors to safety, comforting the dying, and offering hope in a city devastated by unimaginable destruction.
In 1946, amid the ruins of Hiroshima where more than **140,000 people** had lost their lives by the end of the year, Tanimoto met American journalist **John Hersey**. Their meeting led to Hersey's landmark article *Hiroshima*, published in *The New Yorker*, introducing Tanimoto and five other survivors to readers around the world. The article became one of the most influential works ever written about the human consequences of nuclear war.
Tanimoto later helped organize medical treatment in the United States for the **Hiroshima Maidens**, a group of young women severely disfigured by the atomic bomb. His work became a symbol of reconciliation, compassion, and friendship between Japan and the United States.
His diaries and writings bear witness to the resilience of the human spirit, the power of faith, and the enduring importance of peace. More than eighty years after the bombing, his words continue to inspire readers around the world with a timeless message of hope, humanity, and reconciliation.
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