Takeshi Tanemori and sister

Mark Worden (Standard British accent):

The November issue of Speak Up features an interview with Hiroshima survivor Takashi Tanemori. In this out-take he talks about his father, who was one of the bomb’s 140,000 victims:

Takashi Tanemori (Japanese accent):

Before the bombing of Hiroshima on August 6th 1945, we lived in… in… in the heart of Hiroshima city, it was our entire family, complete family, of grandparents on my father’s side, parents and four sisters and my younger brothers. We had a big family, but I felt it was a complete family. My father was somewhat pacifist and he does not believe in the war but yet, as a Japanese man, he was loyal to the Japanese nation, but also he honored himself as a man. That was most impressive (in) my mind because he was always true to his own heart. Whatever he has promised, even at his cost, we say, he carried out the promise he made. He often said to me, “Takashi, what you say to others, or what you do to others, or anything outside, that’s only the extension of yourself. Now, whatever you promise, you do it, carry out, at… even at your expenses (sic)." But also, he always, always emphasised: “Do not waste the time of other people!” So I remember one day I asked, “What do you mean by that?" He said, “Takashi, when you told the people you’ll be there at 7 o’ clock, you better be there (at) 7 o’clock, even you may get five minutes or 10 minutes earlier, but never, never five minutes late." I said, “What, but Daddy!” He said, “Takashi, when you waste the five minutes of the time of the one who’s waiting for you, he lost five minutes (of) his life."

(Takashi Tanemori was talking to Talitha Linehan)