Eiichi Matsumoto (松本 栄一, Matsumoto Eiichi, 1915–2004) was a Japanese photographer.
During World War II he served as staff photographer in the Publications Division, Asahi Shimbun Tokyo Head Office. covering the firebombing of several Japanese cities. After the war ended, the newspaper decided to print a special edition on the atomic bombing in its magazine Scientific Asahi. An Asahi reporter and Matsumoto went to Hiroshima and Nagasaki to take photos, He photographed Nagasaki from August 25th to September 15th, 1945 and Hiroshima from September 18th to 25th. Matsumoto’s photographs were subject to media constraints on showing graphic images of the human casualties. One photo of a grave site taken by Matsumoto led to the prefecture digging for and finding human remains in Shukkeien Garden in July 1987. Of the photos he took of Hiroshima, the Asahi Shimbun still possesses 157.
Shadow of the Soldier Remaining on the Wooden Wall of the Nagasaki Military Headquarters 1945A police station on Sept. 15 in Shimoyanagi-cho, Hiroshima. The clock stopped at the time of the bomb blast.A family cremating its dead in Nagasaki in September 1945.Credit...A Young Girl who Lost Her Hair 1945
A Head Wound Being Treated 1945
A Woman with Severe Burns 1945A Woman with Severe Burns 1945
Atomic Dome, formerly called Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall, 260 meters from the Hiroshima atomic bomb epicenter, is seen in September 1945 in Hiroshima, Japan. Bones and ashes left after cremation of Nagasaki atomic bomb victims in August 1945 in Nagasaki, Japan. Detail: Bones and ashes left after cremation of Nagasaki atomic bomb victims in August 1945 in Nagasaki, Japan. Canna blooming in the rubble
Approx. 820m from the hypocenter, Moto-machi
Even in the burned plain, roots of plants and trees were still alive. This canna sprouted and bloomed in the burned ruins near the Artillery First Reserve of the Chugoku Regional Military Headquarters. Eiichi Matsumoto: "I just had a feeling there was something strange about this, so I snapped the shutter."
