Black Rain

Shigematsu continues his diary entry from August 11. He shares a meal with the factory manager and then performs another funeral service. After the service, he discusses the need for coal with his manager and then returns to the temporary home near the factory where he is staying with his family. Shigeko and Yasuko eat the toasted rice cakes brought as a gift from Shigeko's brothers, Masao Watanabe and Yoshio Takamaru (who is Yasuko's “real father” [117]). After an emotional reunion, Watanabe recounts how he expected the family to be dead but was alerted to their current status by a neighbor. The two brothers walked most of the way to the factory, and they are delighted to see their family members still alive.

The next say, Shigematsu wakes early to write a letter for the two brothers to take back to the small village where their families live. Writing the letter is emotionally overwhelming, however, so he takes the train into Hiroshima instead to inquire about coal for the factory. He passes rotting corpses and thousands of notes from desperate people searching for relatives. He sees a man trying to break open a safe but decides the man does not “look like a thief” (124).