NAGASAKI--A writer who survived the atomic bombing of this southern city believes sharing the stories of postwar orphans will help people understand the plight of children who lost their parents to the war in Ukraine.

Fumino Tsuru, 81, will soon republish a book originally released 14 years ago, based on the accounts of people who grew up at an orphanage in Nagasaki shortly after the city was leveled by an atomic bomb blast 77 years ago.

“My heart is aching because the situation of Ukraine, which is being reduced to ashes, reminds me of the aftermath of the attack on Nagasaki,” Tsuru said. “I would like readers to imagine the pain orphans feel.”

The Nagasaki prefectural government opened the orphanage known as Koyoryo in 1948, three years after the Aug. 9 bombing, about 3 kilometers north of ground zero, in what is now called the Iwayamachi district.

The orphanage's dormitory accommodated 92 children in its first year.

A former resident recalled in Tsuru’s book that “the happy life at the dormitory was like a dream for me.”

“They (staff members) worked hard every day to comfort kids who had gone through a living hell.”

The first director of the dormitory was the late Chiyo Mochida. The children there loved her so much that they called her “mother.”

“She not only came to classes on open school days and for athletic meets, but she also ran to children for apologies when they caused trouble to others,” another former resident noted.

Tsuru published the book, featuring stories from those who lived at Koyoryo when they were children, and put it on the market in 2008. She hails from Nagasaki and resides in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture.

As the smallest child in her family with five kids, Tsuru was 4 when the atomic bomb detonated over the city. Her father was crushed to death under a building that was destroyed by the blast. Her 16-year-old eldest brother was badly burned and perished within a few days.

When she began going to elementary school, Tsuru found that some of her peers were from Koyoryo. But none of them showed up at alumni gatherings after graduation. Tsuru noticed this and started to wonder whether they were “leading happy lives.”

In 2005, Tsuru telephoned Mochida’s oldest son, Takeshi, 88, and told him that “tracing the dormitory residents’ lives will contribute to preserving important postwar records.”

Tsuru was given the contact information for some former residents and succeeded in gathering memoirs from eight of them.

One worked for a provider of medical supplies, while another became a hairstylist. But others were struggling and faced a social stigma.

“No matter how seriously I work, people doubt me every time a problem transpires,” one former orphan wrote. “I feel a sense of despair about the fact that those in society will never fairly evaluate me.”

Many said they did not want to remember their earlier days as orphans, and that they were trying to prevent their spouses from learning about their past.

“The lives of the dormitory’s residents appeared difficult both before entering it and after leaving the facility,” said Tsuru.

Kenta Fukushima, 39, president of the Hamamatsu-based publishing firm Perfect Day for Reading, came up with the idea of reviving the book after he learned about Tsuru’s work.

Minako Adachi, 44, the second daughter of Kazuhiko Yamada, 75, who lives in Chiba Prefecture and sent his memoir for the 2008 publication, provided a message for the republished version.

Yamada’s mother was exposed to radiation in Nagasaki. She gave birth to Yamada and then disappeared, leaving her son behind. Yamada was raised at Koyoryo as a second-generation hibakusha.

“Spending days in the dormitory was fun,” said Yamada. “I never envied other families.”

Asked about having his own family, which includes two daughters and four grandchildren, Yamada said he is content with his present life.

“The mother (Mochida) rigorously raised me,” he said. “I am now as happy as in the past.”

Yamada visited Nagasaki this summer with his relatives to see his old friends from the dormitory.

The reintroduced edition of “Issho Kenmei Kyo made Ikitekitato!” (Living each day to the fullest until today!) is expected to hit bookstore shelves as early as this fall.

The Koyoryo has now moved to Omura, Nagasaki Prefecture, and operates as a children’s nursing home run by a social welfare corporation. It accommodates about 40 children.