BoBA ISML 2015 Predictions: Ruby Match Day 8

ARENA 01: [Sakura Chiyo] [Tōsaka Rin] Kirisaki Chitoge Illyasviel von Einzbern Sento Isuzu Itsuka Kotori Shiro
Pick: Rin Tohsaka by <=500
Over/Under: 12000
Over


ARENA 02: [Sora] Edward Elric Katsuragi Keima [Archer] Accelerator Kamijō Tōma Okazaki Tomoya
Pick: Archer by <=500
Over/Under: 12000
Over


ARENA 03: Terminus Est Akame [Latifa Fleuranza] Shichimiya Satone Nyarlathotep Kōsaka Kirino [Sengoku Nadeko]
Pick: Latifa Fleuranza by <=500
Over/Under: 12000
Under


ARENA 04: Shana, Louise Vallière [Onodera Kosaki, Charlotte Dunois]
by <=1000
Over/Under: 11000
Under


ARENA 05: [Aragaki Ayase, Gasai Yuno] Tokisaki Kurumi, Lucy
by <=1000
Over/Under: 11000
Under


ARENA 06: [Nibutani Shinka, Dekomori Sanae] Tsutsukakushi Tsukiko, Azuki Azusa
by <=1000
Over/Under: 11000
Under


ARENA 07: Nakano Azusa, Yui-nyan [Eucliwood Hellscythe, Yuzuriha Inori]
by <=1000
Over/Under: 11000
Under


ARENA 08: Tachibana Kanade, Nakamura Yuri [Shiina Mashiro, Aoyama Nanami]
by <=1000
Over/Under: 11000
Under

More Nutopia Sports shenanigans...

What the bloody hell, guys, I have a dynasty to update, hurry up and fix this shit you fucking idiots!

ISML 2015: Ruby Necklace and Pendant fields set

ISML 2015: Ruby Necklace and Pendant fields set

By Jo-Ryan Salazar
The Bedlam on Baltic Avenue
August 17, 2015

Match Day 7 of the 2015 International Saimoe League Ruby Period concluded and our Necklace and Pendant Fields have been determined. In the Nova Division, Yuuki Konno won a 3177-3047 thriller over Mirai Kuriyama, Miyuki Shiba defeated Azusa Azuki 3252-2849, Chitoge Kirisaki routed Kurousagi 4220-2477, Yukino Yukinoshita crushed Jibril 4500-2529, Yoshino whipped past Maki Nishikino 3438-2951 and Tina Sprout rolled past Terminus Est 2968-2619.

Latifa Fleuranza defeated Yaya 3145-2920, Marika Tachibana thumped Eli Ayase 3635-2552, Nico Yazawa won a 3026-2972 nailbiter over Yukina Himeragi, Kaori Miyazono prevailed over Akami 3158-2913, Stephanie Dola won the closest race of the night: a 3183-3156 barnburner over Tohka Yatogami and Isuzu Sento drove past Shino Asada 3411-3045.

Wrapping up Nova play, Chiyo Sakura routed Kurumi Tokisaki 3929-3114, Satone Shichimiya prevailed over Origami Tobiichi 3110-3041, Enju AIhara got past Kotori Minami 3411-2725, Yui Yuigahama hammered Tsukiko Tsutsukakushi 3680-2761, Misaki Shokuhou eked past Umi Sonoda 3095-3008 and Kosaki Onodera annihilated Shiro 3791-3148.

In the Stella Division, Haruhi Suzumiya dominated Nyarlathotep 3524-2504, Yuri Nakamura shot down Charlotte Dunois 3668-2462, Saberr slashed past Eucliwood Hellscythe 3394-3010, defending champion Kotori Itsuka whipped past Mashiro Shiina 3662-3168, Shinka Nibutani roasted Sena Kashiwazaki 3616-2619 and Inori Yuzuriha overpowered Yui Hirasawa 3616-2654.

Ayase Aragaki defeated Kuroyukihime 3641-3041, Mikan Yuuki coasted past C.C. 3139-2799, Rikka Takanashi leveled Kurisu Makise 3892-2696, Azusa Nakano romped past Taiga Aisaka 3580-3154, Illyasviel von Einzbern drubbed Eru Chitanda 3484-2872 and Shinobu Oshino cruised past Kotabo Hasegawa 3041-2857.

Wrapping up Stella plast, Yui-nyan rocked Hitagi Senjougahara 3586-2633, Holo chomped up Yuki Nagato 3522-2518, Konjiki no Yami obliterated Kirino Kousaka 3430-2564, Nanami Aoyama pulverized Shana 3722-2870, Rin Tohsaka routed Asuna Yuuki 4232-2753 and Momo Velia Deviluke stormed past Nadeko Sengoku 3327-2500.

In the Male Division, Touma Kamijiou broke Gintoki Sakata 2957-2872, Raku Ichijou defeated L Lawliet 3014-2734, Kiritsugu Emiya prevailed over his son Shirou 2799-2596, Tatsuya Shiba whipped past Rentarou Satomi 2859-2619, Tomoya Okazaki defeated Umetarou Nozaki 3035-2671 and Shidou Itsuka took down Ryuunosuke Akasaka 3010-2638.

Seiya Kanie dominated Gilgamesh 3016-2773, Mikoto Mikoshiba cruised past Izaya Orihara 2844-2596, Shizuo Heiwajima won a 2696-2665 thriller over Ayumu Aikawa, Yuzuru Otonashi routed Sorata Kanda 3655-2172, Edward Elric scored the Upset of the Round: a 2882-2832 nailbiter over Keima Katsuragi and Yuuta Togashi scored a 2947-2916 barnburner over Rintarou Okabe.

Wrapping up Male Division play, Yato slaughtered Ken Kaneki 3219-2149, Archer outlasted Accelerator 3528-2826, Ryuuji Takasu roared past Kyon 2939-2836, Sora slammeed Izayoi Sakamaki 3400-2498, Hachiman Hikigaya routed Koyomi Araragi 4193-1630 and Sadao Maou defeated Levi 3028-2732.

In special exhibition play, Isla defeated Urara Shirakishi 3394-2483 and Komachi Hikigaya rolled past Reina Kousaka 3154-2886.

BoBA ISML RUBY NECKLACE ODDS
As of 8:29 P.M. PT, August 17, 2015
Chiyo Sakura EVEN
Rin Tosaka 3-2
Chitoge Kirisaki 4-1
Illyasviel von Einzbern 5-1
Isuzu Sento 10-1
Kotori Itsuka 15-1
Shiro 25-1

BoBA ISML AQUAMARINE PENDANT ODDS
As of 8:29 P.M. PT, August 17, 2015
Sora EVEN
Edward Elric 2-1
Keima Katsuragi 6-1
Archer 8-1
Accelerator 15-1
Touma Kamijou 20-1
Tomoya Okazaki 35-1

Match Day 8 of the 2015 International Saimoe League Ruby Period is scheduled for Aug. 20, 2015. Vote for your favorite candidates at InternationalSaimoe.com and join the ongoing debate.

BoBA ISML 2015 Predictions: Ruby Match Day 7

ARENA 01: Kuriyama Mirai [Konno Yūki]
by  <=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 02: [Azuki Azusa] Shiba Miyuki
by  <=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 03: Kurousagi [Kirisaki Chitoge]
by  >=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 04: [Yukinoshita Yukino] Jibril
by  >=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 05: [Yoshino] Nishikino Maki
by  >=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 06: [Tina Sprout] Terminus Est
by  <=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 07: [Yaya] Latifa Fleuranza
by  <=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 08: [Tachibana Marika] Ayase Eli
by  >=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 09: Himeragi Yukina [Yazawa Nico]
by  <=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 10: [Miyazono Kaori] Akame
by  <=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 11: [Stephanie Dola] Yatogami Tōka
by  <=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 12: Asada Shino [Sento Isuzu]
by  >=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 13: Tokisaki Kurumi [Sakura Chiyo]
by  <=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 14: Shichimiya Satone [Tobiichi Origami]
by  <=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 15: Minami Kotori [Aihara Enju]
by  <=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 16: [Yuigahama Yui] Tsutsukakushi Tsukiko
by  >=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 17: [Shokuhō Misaki] Sonoda Umi
by  >=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 18: Shiro [Onodera Kosaki]
by  <=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 19: [Suzumiya Haruhi] Nyarlathotep
by  <=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 20: [Nakamura Yuri] Charlotte Dunois
by  >=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 21: Saber [Eucliwood Hellscythe]
by  <=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 22: Itsuka Kotori [Shiina Mashiro]
by  <=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 23: [Nibutani Shinka] Kashiwazaki Sena
by  >=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 24: [Yuzuriha Inori] Hirasawa Yui
by  >=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 25: [Aragaki Ayase] Kuroyukihime
by  >=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 26: [Yūki Mikan] C.C.
by  >=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 27: [Takanashi Rikka] Makise Kurisu
by  >=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 28: [Nakano Azusa] Aisaka Taiga
by  <=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 29: [Illyasviel von Einzbern] Chitanda Eru
by  <=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 30: [Oshino Shinobu] Hasegawa Kobato
by  <=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 31: [Yui-nyan] Senjōgahara Hitagi
by  <=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 32: Holo [Nagato Yuki]
by  <=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 33: [Konjiki no Yami] Kōsaka Kirino
by  >=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 34: [Aoyama Nanami] Shana
by  <=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 35: Yūki Asuna [Tōsaka Rin]
by  <=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 36: [Momo Belia Deviluke] Sengoku Nadeko
by  >=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 37: Kamijō Tōma [Sakata Gintoki]
by  <=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 38: [Ichijō Raku] L Lawliet
by  <=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 39: [Emiya Kiritsugu] Emiya Shirō
by  <=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 40: [Satomi Rentarō] Shiba Tatsuya
by  <=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 41: Nozaki Umetarō [Okazaki Tomoya]
by  <=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 42: [Itsuka Shidō] Akasaka Ryūnosuke
by  >=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 43: [Kanie Seiya] Gilgamesh
by  <=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 44: [Orihara Izaya] Mikoshiba Mikoto
by  <=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 45: Aikawa Ayumu [Heiwajima Shizuo]
by  <=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 46: [Otonashi Yuzuru] Kanda Sorata
by  >=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 47: Edward Elric [Katsuragi Keima]
by  >=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 48: Togashi Yūta [Okabe Rintarō]
by  <=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 49: [Yato] Kaneki Ken
by  >=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 50: [Accelerator] Archer
by  <=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 51: [Kyon] Takasu Ryūji
by  <=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 52: [Sora] Sakamaki Izayoi
by  >=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 53: [Hikigaya Hachiman] Araragi Koyomi
by  >=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 54: [Maō Sadao] Levi
by  >=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 55: Isla [Shiraishi Urara]
by  <=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ARENA 56: [Hikigaya Komachi] Kōsaka Reina
by  <=750
Over/Under: 9000
Under

ISML 2015: Chiyo, Asuna Headline Ruby Through Six Days

ISML 2015: Chiyo, Asuna Headline Ruby Through Six Days

By Jo-Ryan Salazar
The Bedlam on Baltic Avenue
August 14, 2015

Match Day 6 of the 2015 International Saimoe League Ruby Period concluded and both Chiyo Sakura and Asuna Yuuki are at the top heading into the final round robin day for this period. Meanwhile, in the Male Division, Keima Katsuragi is at the top with three others also pursuing the top seed heading into Sunday.

In the Nova Division, Maki Nishikino won the closest race of the day: a 2806-2795 thriller over Shino Asada, Azusa Azuki rolled past Satone Shichimiya 2917-2404, Yui Yuigahama hammered Tohka Yatogami 3326-2362, Chitoge Kirisaki slammed Kurumi Tokisaki 3436-2689, Kaori Miyazono defeated Misaki Shokuhou 2622-2504 and Miyuki Shiba took down Nico Yazawa 2855-2605.

Yukino Yukinoshita routed Stephanie Dola 3932-1554, Kurousagi romped past Jibril 2848-2705, Yuuki Konno slashed past Akame 2859-2544, Umi Sonoda defeated Terminus Est 2748-2526, Yaya whipped past Kotori Minami 2771-2599 and Yukina Himeragi wiped out Enju Aihara 3210-2407.

Wrapping up Nova play, Marika Tachibana cruised past Tina Sprout 2998-2447, Mirai Kuriyama sliced and diced Origami Tobiichi 3070-2475, Shiro defeated Yoshino 2919-2747, Eli Ayase stomped on Latifa Fleuranza 3247-2515 and Chiyo Sakura dismissed Isuzu Sento 2991-2584.

In the Stella Division, Kuroyukihime flew past Yui-nyan 3070-2536, Rikka Takanashi routed Kobato Hasegawa 3070-2365, defending champion Kotori Itsuka was too strong for Kurisu Makise 3980-2029, Mikan Yuuki blew apart Shinobu Oshino 3674-1842, C.C. defeated Nyarlathotep 2760-2492 and Saber slashed past Sena Kashiwazaki 3334-2280.

Kirino Kousaka won a 2665-2623 nailbiter over Nadeko Sengoku, Nanami Aoyama rolled past Holo 3196-2394, Yuri Nakamura shot down Hitagi Senjougahara 3104-2454, Eru Chitanda annihilated Charlotte Dunois 3267-2291, Shinka Nibutani defeated Haruhi Suzumiya 2927-2611 and Rin Tohsaka clobbered Shana 3173-2444.

Wrapping up Stella play, Illyasviel von Einzbern routed Azusa Nakano 3703-2066, Momo Velia Deviluke drilled Yuki Nagato 3365-1847, Ayase Aragaki whipped past Mashiro Shiina 3212-2740, Asuna Yuuki sliced and diced Eucliwood Hellscythe 3985-2006, Inori Yuzuriha defeated Konjiki no Yami 2782-2571 and Taiga Aisaka roared past Yui Hirasawa 3297-2252.

In the Male Division, Rintarou Okabe defeated Ryuunosuke Akasaka 2615-2420, Koyomi Araragi trounced Mikoto Mikoshiba 2697-2227, Shidou Itsuka prevailed over Ayumu Aikawa 2505-2418, Tatsuya Shiba routed Izaya Orihara 2742-2174, Sora slammed Gilgamesh 3304-2040 and Yuzuru Otonashi stormed past Levi 3278-1660.

Izayoi Sakamaki overpowered Kyon 2880-2296, Kiritsugu Emiya overpowered Ken Kaneki 2940-2075, Keima Katsuragi defeated Yuuta Togashi 2713-2380, Edward Elric scored the Upset of the Round: a 2628-2563 barnburner over Archer, Yato prevailed over Raku Ichijou 2515-2438 and Sadao Maou dominated L Lawliet 2861-2136.

Wrapping up Male Division play, Hachiman Hikigaya annihilated Sorata Kanda 3379-1901, Seiya Kanie defeated Tomoya Okazaki 2669-2386, Accelerator accelerated past Gintoki Sakata 2832-2373, Touma Kamijou broke Shirou Emiya 2671-2299, Shizuo Heiwajima won a 2454-2439 thriller over Umetarou Nozaki and Ryuuji Takasu roared past Rentarou Satomi 2597-2447.

In special exhibition play, Haru Onodera defeated Kumiko Oumae 2869-2434 and Iroha Isshiki drilled Shinoa Hiiragi 2911-2354.

Match Day 7 of the 2015 International Saimoe League Ruby Period is scheduled for Aug. 16, 2015. Vote for your favorite candidates at InternationalSaimoe.com and join the ongoing debate.

BoBA ISML 2015 Predictions: Ruby Match Day 6

ARENA 01: [Asada Shino] Nishikino Maki
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 02: Shichimiya Satone [Azuki Azusa]
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 03: [Yuigahama Yui] Yatogami Tōka
by <=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 04: Kirisaki Chitoge [Tokisaki Kurumi]
by <=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 05: Miyazono Kaori [Shokuhō Misaki]
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 06: [Shiba Miyuki] Yazawa Nico
by <=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 07: [Yukinoshita Yukino] Stephanie Dola
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 08: Kurousagi [Jibril]
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 09: Akame [Konno Yūki]
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 10: [Sonoda Umi] Terminus Est
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 11: Minami Kotori [Yaya]
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 12: Himeragi Yukina [Aihara Enju]
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 13: Tina Sprout [Tachibana Marika]
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 14: [Tobiichi Origami] Kuriyama Mirai
by <=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 15: [Shiro] Yoshino
by <=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 16: Tsutsukakushi Tsukiko [Onodera Kosaki]
by <=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 17: Ayase Eli [Latifa Fleuranza]
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 18: [Sakura Chiyo] Sento Isuzu
by <=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 19: Kuroyukihime [Yui-nyan]
by <=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 20: [Takanashi Rikka] Hasegawa Kobato
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 21: Makise Kurisu [Itsuka Kotori]
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 22: [Oshino Shinobu] Yūki Mikan
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 23: [C.C.] Nyarlathotep
by <=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 24: Kashiwazaki Sena [Saber]
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 25: [Sengoku Nadeko] Kōsaka Kirino
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 26: Holo [Aoyama Nanami]
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 27: [Nakamura Yuri] Senjōgahara Hitagi
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 28: [Chitanda Eru] Charlotte Dunois
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 29: [Nibutani Shinka] Suzumiya Haruhi
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 30: Shana [Tōsaka Rin]
by <=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 31: [Illyasviel von Einzbern] Nakano Azusa
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 32: [Momo Belia Deviluke] Nagato Yuki
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 33: Aragaki Ayase [Shiina Mashiro]
by <=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 34: [Yūki Asuna] Eucliwood Hellscythe
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 35: Konjiki no Yami [Yuzuriha Inori]
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 36: [Aisaka Taiga] Hirasawa Yui
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 37: [Okabe Rintarō] Akasaka Ryūnosuke
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 38: [Araragi Koyomi] Mikoshiba Mikoto
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 39: Aikawa Ayumu [Itsuka Shidō]
by <=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 40: Orihara Izaya [Shiba Tatsuya]
by <=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 41: Gilgamesh [Sora]
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 42: Levi [Otonashi Yuzuru]
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 43: Kyon [Sakamaki Izayoi]
by <=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 44: [Emiya Kiritsugu] Kaneki Ken
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 45: Togashi Yūta [Katsuragi Keima]
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 46: [Archer] Edward Elric
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 47: Ichijō Raku [Yato]
by <=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 48: [Maō Sadao] L Lawliet
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 49: Kanda Sorata [Hikigaya Hachiman]
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 50: Okazaki Tomoya [Kanie Seiya]
by <=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 51: Accelerator [Sakata Gintoki]
by <=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 52: Emiya Shirō [Kamijō Tōma]
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 53: [Nozaki Umetarō] Heiwajima Shizuo
by <=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 54: [Takasu Ryūji] Satomi Rentarō
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 55: [Onodera Haru] Ōmae Kumiko
by <=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 56: [Isshiki Iroha] Hiiragi Shinoa
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ISML 2015: Upsets galore in Ruby Match Day 5

ISML 2015: Upsets galore in Ruby Match Day 5

By Jo-Ryan Salazar
The Bedlam on Baltic Avenue
August 12, 2015

It was a day full of upsets as Match Day 5 of the 2015 International Saimoe League Ruby Period took place. Isuzu Sento remains at the top of the Nova Division, but Asuna Yuuki has now taken the reins at the front of the Stella Division. Meanwhile, the Ruby Pendant remains up for grabs as seven remain unbeaten in the round-robin with two more days to go before Match Day 8.

In the Nova Division, Yuuki Konno defeated Tina Sprout 2417-2234, Kaori Miyazono rolled past Umi Sonoda 2611-2112, Yoshino flattened Miyuki Shiba 2989-1993, Enju Aihara pummeled Nico Yazawa 2954-1827, Tsukiko Tsutsukakushi defeated Marika Tachibana 2487-2347 and Isuzu Sento drove past Misaki Shokuhou 2814-1967.

Chiyo Sakura thrashed Maki Nishikino 2765-2124, Kurumi Tokisaki shot down Kurousagi 3503-1553, Jibril flew past Akame 3174-1704, Stephanie Dola drilled Kotori Minami 2775-2157, Chitoge Kirisagi trounced Mirai Kuriyama 2814-2079 and Tohka Yatogami scored the Upset of the Round: a 2577-2506 decision over Kosaki Onodera.

Wrapping up Nova play, Yukino Yukinoshita routed Yui Yuigahama 2777-2025, Latifa Fleuranza crushed Yukina Himeragi 2812-1829, Terminus Est  got off the schneid with a 2403-2174 victory over Satone Shichimiya, Shiro thumped Shino Asada 3202-1883, Yaya prevasiled over Azusa Azuki 2301-2271 and Origami Tobiichi whipped past Eli Ayase 2754-2077.

In the Stella Division, Yui Hirasawa rocked Kirino Kousaka 2545-2153, Taiga Aisaka roared past Kuroyukihime 2805-2252, Shana torched Yuki Nagato 2922-1980, Nadeko Sengoku defeated Holo 2458-2127, Illyasviel von Einzbern routed Mikan Yuuki 2820-1974 and Rikka Takanashi rolled past Nanami Aoyama 2881-2275,

Yui-nyan defeated Charlotte Dunois 2478-2206, Kurisu Makise prevailed over Shinobu Oshino 2478-2137, defending ISML Champion Kotori Itsuka dominated Haruhi Suzumiya 3122-1980, Saber slashed past Eru Chitanda 3010-2230, Rin Tohsaka prevailed over Yuri Nakamura 2598-2543 and Ayase Aragaki defeated Hitagi Senjougahara 2484-2284.

Wrapping up Stella play, Asuna Yuuki sliced and diced Momo Velia Deviluke 2793-2166, Azusa Nakano won the closest race of the night: a 2449-2448 thriller over Inori Yuzuriha, Kobato Hasegawa defeated C.C. 2400-2250, Mashiro Shiina routed Konjiki no Yami 3182-1713, Eucliwood Hellscythe silenced Shinka Nibutani 2711-2208 and Nyarlathotep won a 2260-2176 barnburner over Sena Kashiwazaki.

In the Male Division, Gintoki Sakata defeated Kyon 2389-2023, Yuuta Togashi trounced Ryuunosuke Akasaka 2515-1834, Touma Kamijou broke Mikoto Mikoshiba 2527-1976, Tomoya Okazaki dominated Ken Kaneki 2618-1737, Archer stormed past Rintarou Okabe 2458-2010 and Sora slammed Kiritsugu Emiya 2984-1748.

Shirou Emiya defeated Shizuo Heiwajima 2239-2073, Seiya Kanie prevailed over Ayumu Aikawa 2187-2109, Hachiman Hikigaya routed Tatsuya Shiba 3077-1668, Rentarou Satomi shot down L Lawliet 2375-1913, Edward Elric rolled past Sorata Kanda 2385-2155 and Izaya Orihara whipped past Levi 2152-2053.

Wrapping up Male Division play, Yuzuru Otonashi defeated Shidou Itsuka 2353-2189, Ryuuji Takasu cruised past Yato 2361-1984, Koyomi Araragi took out Gilgamesh 2249-2122, Accelerator accelerated past Umetarou Nozaki 3019-1655, Keima Katsuragi punished Raku Ichijou 2422-1903 and Izayoi Sakamaki ran past Sadao Maou 2495-1823.

In special exhibition play, Komachi Hikigaya stunned Hestia 2553-2394 and Reina Kousaka defeated Erina Nakiri 2256-2137.

Match Day 6 of the 2015 International Saimoe League Ruby Period is scheduled for Aug. 13, 2015. Vote for your favorite candidates at InternationalSaimoe.com and join the ongoing debate.

BoBA ISML 2015 Predictions: Ruby Match Day 5

ARENA 01: [Konno Yūki] Tina Sprout
by <=500
Over/Under: 7500
Under

ARENA 02: Miyazono Kaori [Sonoda Umi]
by <=500
Over/Under: 7500
Under

ARENA 03: [Yoshino] Shiba Miyuki
by >=500
Over/Under: 7500
Under

ARENA 04: Yazawa Nico [Aihara Enju]
by <=500
Over/Under: 7500
Under

ARENA 05: Tachibana Marika [Tsutsukakushi Tsukiko]
by <=500
Over/Under: 7500
Under

ARENA 06: Shokuhō Misaki [Sento Isuzu]
by >=500
Over/Under: 7500
Under

ARENA 07: [Sakura Chiyo] Nishikino Maki
by >=500
Over/Under: 7500
Under

ARENA 08: [Tokisaki Kurumi] Kurousagi
by <=500
Over/Under: 7500
Under

ARENA 09: [Jibril] Akame
by >=500
Over/Under: 7500
Under

ARENA 10: [Stephanie Dola] Minami Kotori
by >=500
Over/Under: 7500
Under

ARENA 11: [Kirisaki Chitoge] Kuriyama Mirai
by >=500
Over/Under: 7500
Under

ARENA 12: [Onodera Kosaki] Yatogami Tōka
by >=500
Over/Under: 7500
Under

ARENA 13: [Yukinoshita Yukino] Yuigahama Yui
by <=500
Over/Under: 7500
Under

ARENA 14: [Latifa Fleuranza] Himeragi Yukina
by >=500
Over/Under: 7500
Under

ARENA 15: Terminus Est [Shichimiya Satone]
by <=500
Over/Under: 7500
Under

ARENA 16: [Shiro] Asada Shino
by <=500
Over/Under: 7500
Under

ARENA 17: [Yaya] Azuki Azusa
by <=500
Over/Under: 7500
Under

ARENA 18: [Tobiichi Origami] Ayase Eli
by <=500
Over/Under: 7500
Under

ARENA 19: [Hirasawa Yui] Kōsaka Kirino
by <=500
Over/Under: 7600
Under

ARENA 20: [Kuroyukihime] Aisaka Taiga
by <=500
Over/Under: 7500
Under

ARENA 21: [Shana] Nagato Yuki
by >=500
Over/Under: 7500
Under

ARENA 22: [Holo] Sengoku Nadeko
by <=500
Over/Under: 7500
Under

ARENA 23: [Illyasviel von Einzbern] Yūki Mikan
by >=500
Over/Under: 7500
Under

ARENA 24: Takanashi Rikka [Aoyama Nanami]
by <=500
Over/Under: 7500
Under

ARENA 25: [Yui-nyan] Charlotte Dunois
by >=500
Over/Under: 7500
Under

ARENA 26: [Makise Kurisu] Oshino Shinobu
by >=500
Over/Under: 7500
Under

ARENA 27: [Itsuka Kotori] Suzumiya Haruhi
by >=500
Over/Under: 7500
Under

ARENA 28: [Chitanda Eru] Saber
by <=500
Over/Under: 7500
Under

ARENA 29: [Nakamura Yuri] Tōsaka Rin
by <=500
Over/Under: 7500
Under

ARENA 30: Aragaki Ayase [Senjōgahara Hitagi]
by <=500
Over/Under: 7500
Under

ARENA 31: [Yūki Asuna] Momo Belia Deviluke
by >=500
Over/Under: 7500
Under

ARENA 32: [Yuzuriha Inori] Nakano Azusa
by <=500
Over/Under: 7500
Under

ARENA 33: C.C. [Hasegawa Kobato]
by >=500
Over/Under: 7500
Under

ARENA 34: [Shiina Mashiro] Konjiki no Yami
by >=500
Over/Under: 7500
Under

ARENA 35: Nibutani Shinka [Eucliwood Hellscythe]
by <=500
Over/Under: 7500
Under

ARENA 36: Kashiwazaki Sena [Nyarlathotep]
by <=500
Over/Under: 7500
Under

ARENA 37: [Sakata Gintoki] Kyon
by <=500
Over/Under: 7000
Under

ARENA 38: Akasaka Ryūnosuke [Togashi Yūta]
by >=500
Over/Under: 7000
Under

ARENA 39: Mikoshiba Mikoto [Kamijō Tōma]
by >=500
Over/Under: 7000
Under

ARENA 40: Kaneki Ken [Okazaki Tomoya]
by >=500
Over/Under: 7000
Under

ARENA 41: Okabe Rintarō [Archer]
by <=500
Over/Under: 7000
Under

ARENA 42: Emiya Kiritsugu [Sora]
by <=500
Over/Under: 7000
Under

ARENA 43: Heiwajima Shizuo [Emiya Shirō]
by <=500
Over/Under: 7000
Under

ARENA 44: [Kanie Seiya] Aikawa Ayumu
by >=500
Over/Under: 7000
Under

ARENA 45: Shiba Tatsuya [Hikigaya Hachiman]
by >=500
Over/Under: 7000
Under

ARENA 46: [Satomi Rentarō] L Lawliet
by <=500
Over/Under: 7000
Under

ARENA 47: Kanda Sorata [Edward Elric]
by <=500
Over/Under: 7000
Under

ARENA 48: Levi [Orihara Izaya]
by >=500
Over/Under: 7000
Under

ARENA 49: [Otonashi Yuzuru] Itsuka Shidō
by >=500
Over/Under: 7000
Under

ARENA 50: [Takasu Ryūji] Yato
by >=500
Over/Under: 7000
Under

ARENA 51: [Araragi Koyomi] Gilgamesh
by <=500
Over/Under: 7000
Under

ARENA 52: Nozaki Umetarō [Accelerator]
by <=500
Over/Under: 7000
Under

ARENA 53: [Katsuragi Keima] Ichijō Raku
by <=500
Over/Under: 7000
Under

ARENA 54: Maō Sadao [Sakamaki Izayoi]
by >=500
Over/Under: 7000
Under

ARENA 55: [Hestia] Hikigaya Komachi
by >=500
Over/Under: 7000
Under

ARENA 56: [Kōsaka Reina] Nakiri Erina
by <=500
Over/Under: 7200
Over

ISML 2015: Isuzu, Eru unlikely leaders in Ruby

ISML 2015: Isuzu, Eru unlikely leaders in Ruby

By Jo-Ryan Salazar
The Bedlam on Baltic Avenue
August 10, 2015

Isuzu Sento and Eru Chitanda are the unlikeliest of leaders after Match Day 4 of the 2015 International Saimoe League Ruby Period. In the Nova Division, Yuuki Konno defeated Enju Aihara 2786-2512, Chiyo Sakura routed Terminus Est 3187-1911, Kotori Minami delivered the Upset of the Round: a 2696-2472 decision over Kurousagi, Kosaki Onodera thumped AKame 3391-1825, Shino Asada won a 2622-2594 nailbiter over Marika Tachibana and Stephanie Dola whipped past Nico Yazawa 2861-2299.

Kurumi Tokisaki shot down Latifa Fleuranza 3198-2054, Shiro stormed past Yukina Himeragi 3396-1803, Tohka Yatogami rolled past Mirai Kuriyama 3021-2387, Yui Yuigahama hammered Misaki Shokuhou 3195-2023, Jibril flew past Azusa Azuki 3062-2103 and Yoshino cruised past Yaya 2918-2092.

Wrapping up Nova play, Umi Sonoda defeated Eli Ayase 2213-1985, Maki Nishikino prevailed over Miyuki Shiba 2609-2426, Isuzu Sento drove past Kaori Miyazono 2747-2336, Yukino Yukinoshita annihilated Satone Shichimiya 3753-1650, Tsukiko Tsutsukakushi romped past Origami Tobiichi 2991-2043 and Chitoge Kirisaki crushed Tina Sprout 2988-2125.

In the Stella Division, Holo chomped up Mikan Yuuki 2687-2252, Taiga AIsaka roared past Nyarlathotep 3234-1881, Yuri Nakamura gunned down Yui Hirasawa 3137-1944, Saber slashed past Kirino Kousaka 3286-1898, Nanami Aoyama thrashed Charlotte Dunois 2995-2047 and defending champion Kotori Itsuka routed Yuki Nagato 3501-2012.

Rikka Takanashi rolled past C.C. 3017-2181, Yui-nyan rocked Konjiki no Yami 3730-2435, Asuna Yuuki sliced and diced Shinka Nibutani 2950-2409, Rin Tohsaka whipped past Shinobu Oshino 2902-2183, Mashiro Shiina dismantled Inori Yuzuriha 3122-1991 and Shana torched Ayase Aragaki 2915-2601.

Wrapping up Stella play, Kuroyukihime flew past Nadeko Sengoku 3058-2028, Eucliwood Helllscythe silenced Azusa Nakano 2696-2228, Momo Velia Deviluke defeated Kobato Hasegawa 2536-2235, Eru Chitanda hung Kurisu Makise 3185-1976, Illyasviel von Einzbern coasted past Hitagi Senjougahara 2988-2107 and Haruhi Suzumiya defeated Sena Kashiwazaki 2665-2355.

In the Male Division, Izayoi Sakamaki routed Ken Kaneki 2905-1592, Shidou Itsuka won a 2344-2319 nailbiter over Levi, Rintarou Okabe prevailed over Sorata Kanda 2390-2252, Yuzuru Otonashi defeated Seiya Kanie 2487-2291, Keima Katsuragi took out Ryuuji Takasu 2433-2237 and Accelerator accelerated past Ryuunosuke Akasaka 3099-1765.

Hachiman Hikigaya routed Izaya Orihara 3245-1577, Tomoya Okazaki rolled past Yato 2420-2155, Yuuta Togashi drove past Mikoto Mikoshiba 2514-2127, Kyon dismissed Umetarou Nozaki 2467-2157, Gintoki Sakata dominated Sadao Maou 2433-2129 and Archer flexed past Shizuo Heiwajkima 2459-2090.

Wrapping up Male Division play, Edward Elric won the closest race of the day: a 2318-2301 barnburner over Tatsuya Shiba, Shirou Emiya knocked down Raku Ichijou 2398-2153, Rentarou Satomi shot down Ayumu Aikawa 2286-2038, Kiritsugu Emiya defeated Gilgamesh 2271-2032, Sora slammed L Lawliet 3010-1780 and Touma Kamijou broke Koyomi Araragi 2359-2256.

In special exhibition play, Isla routed Mary Macbeth 3305-1353 and Urara Shiraishi powered past Asuka Tanaka 2612-1969.

Match Day 5 of the 2015 International Saimoe League Ruby Period is scheduled for Aug. 11, 2015. Vote for your favorite candidates at InternationalSaimoe.com and join the ongoing debate.

BoBA ISML 2015 Predictions: Ruby Match Day 4

ARENA 01: Aihara Enju [Konno Yūki]
by <=500
Over/Under: 8000
Over

ARENA 02: Terminus Est [Sakura Chiyo]
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Over

ARENA 03: [Kurousagi] Minami Kotori
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Over

ARENA 04: Akame [Onodera Kosaki]
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Over

ARENA 05: Asada Shino [Tachibana Marika]
by <=500
Over/Under: 8000
Over

ARENA 06: Yazawa Nico [Stephanie Dola]
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Over

ARENA 07: Latifa Fleuranza [Tokisaki Kurumi]
by <=500
Over/Under: 8000
Over

ARENA 08: Himeragi Yukina [Shiro]
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Over

ARENA 09: [Yatogami Tōka] Kuriyama Mirai
by <=500
Over/Under: 8000
Over

ARENA 10: Shokuhō Misaki [Yuigahama Yui]
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Over

ARENA 11: [Jibril] Azuki Azusa
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Over

ARENA 12: Yaya [Yoshino]
by <=500
Over/Under: 8000
Over

ARENA 13: [Ayase Eli] Sonoda Umi
by <=500
Over/Under: 8000
Over

ARENA 14: [Nishikino Maki] Shiba Miyuki
by <=500
Over/Under: 8000
Over

ARENA 15: [Sento Isuzu] Miyazono Kaori
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Over

ARENA 16: Shichimiya Satone [Yukinoshita Yukino]
by >=1000
Over/Under: 8000
Over

ARENA 17: [Tsutsukakushi Tsukiko] Tobiichi Origami
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Over

ARENA 18: Tina Sprout [Kirisaki Chitoge]
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Over

ARENA 19: [Yūki Mikan] Holo
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Over

ARENA 20: Nyarlathotep [Aisaka Taiga]
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Over

ARENA 21: [Nakamura Yuri] Hirasawa Yui
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Over

ARENA 22: [Saber] Kōsaka Kirino
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Over

ARENA 23: [Aoyama Nanami] Charlotte Dunois
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Over

ARENA 24: [Itsuka Kotori] Nagato Yuki
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Over

ARENA 25: C.C. [Takanashi Rikka]
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Over

ARENA 26: Konjiki no Yami [Yui-nyan]
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Over

ARENA 27: Nibutani Shinka [Yūki Asuna]
by <=500
Over/Under: 8000
Over

ARENA 28: [Tōsaka Rin] Oshino Shinobu
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Over

ARENA 29: Yuzuriha Inori [Shiina Mashiro]
by <=500
Over/Under: 8000
Over

ARENA 30: [Aragaki Ayase] Shana
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Over

ARENA 31: Sengoku Nadeko [Kuroyukihime]
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Over

ARENA 32: [Eucliwood Hellscythe] Nakano Azusa
by <=500
Over/Under: 8000
Over

ARENA 33: Hasegawa Kobato [Momo Belia Deviluke]
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Over

ARENA 34: Makise Kurisu [Chitanda Eru]
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Over

ARENA 35: [Illyasviel von Einzbern] Senjōgahara Hitagi
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Over

ARENA 36: [Suzumiya Haruhi] Kashiwazaki Sena
by <=500
Over/Under: 8000
Over

ARENA 37: [Sakamaki Izayoi] Kaneki Ken
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 38: [Itsuka Shidō] Levi
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 39: Kanda Sorata [Okabe Rintarō]
by <=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 40: [Otonashi Yuzuru] Kanie Seiya
by <=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 41: Takasu Ryūji [Katsuragi Keima]
by <=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 42: Akasaka Ryūnosuke [Accelerator]
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 43: [Hikigaya Hachiman] Orihara Izaya
by >=1000
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 44: [Okazaki Tomoya] Yato
by <=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 45: Mikoshiba Mikoto [Togashi Yūta]
by <=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 46: Nozaki Umetarō [Kyon]
by <=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 47: Maō Sadao [Sakata Gintoki]
by <=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 48: [Archer] Heiwajima Shizuo
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 49: Shiba Tatsuya [Edward Elric]
by <=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 50: Ichijō Raku [Emiya Shirō]
by <=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 51: [Satomi Rentarō] Aikawa Ayumu
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 52: [Emiya Kiritsugu] Gilgamesh
by <=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 53: L Lawliet [Sora]
by >=900
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 54: [Kamijō Tōma] Araragi Koyomi
by <=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ARENA 55: [Isla] Mary Macbeth (White)
by <=500
Over/Under: 7000
Under

ARENA 56: Shiraishi Urara [Tanaka Asuka]
by >=500
Over/Under: 8000
Under

ISML 2015: Nanami Aoyama A Bad Moon Rising In Ruby

ISML 2015: Nanami Aoyama A Bad Moon Rising In Ruby

By Jo-Ryan Salazar
The Bedlam on Baltic Avenue
August 7, 2015
Jibril and Nanami Aoyama currently lead the 2015 International Saimoe League Nova and Stella Divisions following the conclusion of ISML Ruby Match Day 3. The field of contenders for the Tiara will begin to contract at around this point, with an increasing number of faces in all three divisions virtually playing for pride.

In the Nova Division, Isuzu Sento drove past Satone Shichimiya 3181-2261, Kosaki Onodera routed Kotori Minami 4092-1928, Yoshino pounded Latifa Fleuranza 3431-1982, Tsukiko Tsutsukakushi romped past Akame 2998-2453, Chitoge Kirisaki slammed Yukina Himeragi 3271-2195 and Kurumi Tokisaki shot down Mirai Kuriyama 3308-2532.

Shino Asada demolished Enju Aihara 3516-2147, Yukino Yukinoshita annihilated Marika Tachibana, Yui Yuigahama hammered Azusa Azuki 3329-2349, Jibril flew past Tina Sprout 2923-2526, Stephanie Dola drubbed Terminus Est 2902-2390 and Kurousagi bounced past Eli Ayase 2992-2416.

Wrapping up Nova play, Chiyo Sakura thrashed Miyuki Shiba 3299-2343, Nico Yazawa defeated Origami Tobiiichi 2921-2654, Shiro defeated Misaki Shokuhou 3089-2723, Tohka Yatogami prevailed over Yuuki Konno 2964-2725, Maki Nishikino destroyed Umi Sonoda 2891-2143 and Yaya pulverized Kaori Miyazono 3690-2294.

In the Stella Division, Illyasviel von Einzbern obliterated Saber 3923-2061, Eru Chitanda rolled past Yui-nyan 3181-2511, Shinobu Oshino defeated Nyarlathotep 2816-2345, Sena Kashiwazaki prevailed over Kobato Hasegawa 2554-2463, Kurisu Makise defeated Haruhi Suzumiya 2872-2599 and Azusa Nakano romped past Momo Velia Deviluke 2827-2566.

Rin Tohsaka drilled Kuroyukihime 3359-2526, Kirino Kousaka pulled off the Upset of the Round: a 3349-2190 rout of Yuki Nagato, Ayase Aragaki thumped Yuri Nakamura 3867-2369, Hitagi Senjougahara trampled Charlotte Dunois 3416-1689, defending champion Kotori Itsuka obliterated Rikka Takanashi 3873-2263 and Eucliwood Hellscythe silenced Mikan Yuuki 2693-2528.

Wrapping up Stella Division play, Asuna Yuuki slashed past Taiga Aisaka 3777-2586, Shinka Nibutani cruised past C.C. 3089-2450, Shana torched Konjiki no Yami 2861-2603, Inori Yuzuriha pummeled Nadeko Sengoku 2998-2424, Nanami Aoyama stunned Mashiro Shiina 3345-2749 and Yui Hirasawa rocked Holo 2771-2713.

In Male Division play, Seiya Kanie won a 2513-2504 thriller over Rintarou Okabe, Shizuo Heiwajima defeated Ryuunosuke Akasaka 2596-2259, Edward Elric blew past Rentarou Satomi 2741-2270, Ryuuji Takasu won the closest race of the day: a 2543-2536 nailbiter over Tatsuya Shiba 2543-2536, Sora slammed Shidou Itsuka 2971-2242 and Archer toasted Ayumu AIkawa 3057-2072.

Koyomi Araragi defeated Izaya Orihara 2661-22410, L Lawliet trashed Ken Kaneki 2786-2018, Kyon rocked Yuuta Togashi 2642-2358, Izayoi Sakamaki coasted past Mikoto Mikoshiba 2736-2238, Keima Katsuragi rolled past Umetarou Nozaki 2783-2238 and Yuzuru Otonashi burned Kiritsugu Emiya 2992-2323.

Wrapping up Male Division play, Gintoki Sakata defeated Shirou Emiya 2625-2459, Touma Kamijou broked Sadao Maou 2691-2298, Hachiman Hikigaya routed Yato 3291-1906, Tomoya Okazaki defeated Sorata Kanda 2665-2338, Accelerator accelerated past Raku Ichijou 3175-2044 and Gilgamesh impaled Levi 2798-2227.

In special exhibition play, Iroha Isshiki throttled Kazuki Kazami 3091-2270 and Shinoa Hiiragi defeated Aiz Wallenstein 2642-2386.

Match Day 4 of the 2015 International Saimoe League Ruby Period is scheduled for Aug. 9, 2015. Vote for your favorite candidates at InternationalSaimoe.com and join the ongoing debate.

Hiroshima by John Hersey, Part IV

IV—PANIC GRASS AND FEVERFEW

On August 18th, twelve days after the bomb burst, Father Kleinsorge set out on foot for Hiroshima from the Novitiate with his papier-mâché suitcase in his hand. He had begun to think that this bag, in which he kept his valuables, had a talismanic quality, because of the way he had found it after the explosion, standing handle-side up in the doorway of his room, while the desk under which he had previously hidden it was in splinters all over the floor. Now he was using it to carry the yen belonging to the Society of Jesus to the Hiroshima branch of the Yokohama Specie Bank, already reopened in its half-ruined building. On the whole, he felt quite well that morning. It is true that the minor cuts he had received had not healed in three or four days, as the rector of the Novitiate, who had examined them, had positively promised they would, but Father Kleinsorge had rested well for a week and considered that he was again ready for hard work. By now he was accustomed to the terrible scene through which he walked on his way into the city: the large rice field near the Novitiate, streaked with brown; the houses on the outskirts of the city, standing but decrepit, with broken windows and dishevelled tiles; and then, quite suddenly, the beginning of the four square miles of reddish-brown scar, where nearly everything had been buffeted down and burned; range on range of collapsed city blocks, with here and there a crude sign erected on a pile of ashes and tiles (“Sister, where are you?” or “All safe and we live at Toyosaka”); naked trees and canted telephone poles; the few standing, gutted buildings only accentuating the horizontality of everything else (the Museum of Science and Industry, with its dome stripped to its steel frame, as if for an autopsy; the modern Chamber of Commerce Building, its tower as cold, rigid, and unassailable after the blow as before; the huge, low-lying, camouflaged city hall; the row of dowdy banks, caricaturing a shaken economic system); and in the streets a macabre traffic—hundreds of crumpled bicycles, shells of streetcars and automobiles, all halted in mid-motion. The whole way, Father Kleinsorge was oppressed by the thought that all the damage he saw had been done in one instant by one bomb. By the time he reached the center of town, the day had become very hot. He walked to the Yokohama Bank, which was doing business in a temporary wooden stall on the ground floor of its building, deposited the money, went by the mission compound just to have another look at the wreckage, and then started back to the Novitiate. About halfway there, he began to have peculiar sensations. The more or less magical suitcase, now empty, suddenly seemed terribly heavy. His knees grew weak. He felt excruciatingly tired. With a considerable expenditure of spirit, he managed to reach the Novitiate. He did not think his weakness was worth rnentioning to the other Jesuits. But a couple of days later, while attempting to say Mass, he had an onset of faintness and even after three attempts was unable to go through with the service, and the next morning the rector, who had examined Father Kleinsorge’s apparently negligible but unhealed cuts daily, asked in surprise, “What have you done to your wounds?” They had suddenly opened wider and were swollen and inflamed.

As she dressed on the morning of August 20th, in the home of her sister-in-law in Kabe, not far from Nagatsuka, Mrs. Nakamura, who had suffered no cuts or burns at all, though she had been rather nauseated all through the week she and her children had spent as guests of Father Kleinsorge and the other Catholics at the Novitiate, began fixing her hair and noticed, after one stroke, that her comb carried with it a whole handful of hair; the second time, the same thing happened, so she stopped combing at once. But in the next three or four days, her hair kept falling out of its own accord, until she was quite bald. She began living indoors, practically in hiding. On August 26th, both she and her younger daughter, Myeko, woke up feeling extremely weak and tired, and they stayed on their bedrolls. Her son and other daughter, who had shared every experience with her during and after the bombing, felt fine.

At about the same time—he lost track of the days, so hard was he working to set up a temporary place of worship in a private house he had rented in the outskirts—Mr. Tanimoto fell suddenly ill with a general malaise, weariness, and feverishness, and he, too, took to his bedroll on the floor of the half-wrecked house of a friend in the suburb of Ushida.

These four did not realize it, but they were coming down with the strange, capricious disease which came later to be known as radiation sickness

Miss Sasaki lay in steady pain in the Goddess of Mercy Primary School, at Hatsukaichi, the fourth station to the southwest of Hiroshima on the electric train. An internal infection still prevented the proper setting of the compound fracture of her lower left leg. A young man who was in the same hospital and who seemed to have grown fond of her in spite of her unremitting preoccupation with her suffering, or else just pitied her because of it, lent her a Japanese translation of de Maupassant, and she tried to read the stories, but she could concentrate for only four or five minutes at a time.

The hospitals and aid stations around Hiroshima were so crowded in the first weeks after the bombing, and their staffs were so variable, depending on their health and on the unpredictable arrival of outside help, that patients had to be constantly shifted from place to place.

Miss Sasaki, who had already been moved three times, twice by ship, was taken at the end of August to an engineering school, also at Hatsukaichi. Because her leg did not improve but swelled more and more, the doctors at the school bound it with crude splints and took her by car, on September 9th, to the Red Cross Hospital in Hiroshima. This was the first chance she had had to look at the ruins of Hiroshima; the last time she had been carried through the city’s streets, she had been hovering on the edge of unconsciousness. Even though the wreckage had been described to her, and though she was still in pain, the sight horrified and amazed her, and there was something she noticed about it that particularly gave her the creeps. Over every thing—up through the wreckage of the city, in gutters, along the riverbanks, tangled among tiles and tin roofing, climbing on charred tree trunks—was a blanket of fresh, vivid, lush, optimistic green; the verdancy rose even from the foundations of ruined houses. Weeds already hid the ashes, and wild flowers were in bloom among the city’s bones. The bomb had not only left the underground organs of plants intact; it had stimulated them. Everywhere were bluets and Spanish bayonets, goosefoot, morning glories and day lilies, the hairy-fruited bean, purslane and clotbur and sesame and panic grass and feverfew. Especially in a circle at the center, sickle senna grew in extraordinary regeneration, not only standing among the charred remnants of the same plant but pushing up in new places, among bricks and through cracks in the asphalt. It actually seeed as if a load of sickle-senna seed had been dropped along with the bomb.

At the Red Cross Hospital, Miss Sasaki was put under the care of Dr. Sasaki. Now, a month after the explosion, something like order had been reëstablished in the hospital; which is to say that the patients who still lay in the corridors at least had mats to sleep on and that the supply of medicines, which had given out in the first few days, had been replaced, though inadequately, by contributions from other cities. Dr. Sasaki, who had had one seventeen-hour sleep at his home on the third night, had ever since then rested only about six hours a night, on a mat at the hospital; he had lost twenty pounds from his very small body; he still wore the ill-fitting glasses he had borrowed from an injured nurse.

Since Miss Sasaki was a woman and was so sick (and perhaps, he afterward admitted, just a little bit because she was named Sasaki), Dr. Sasaki put her on a mat in a semi-private room, which at that time had only eight people in it. He questioned her and put down on her record card, in the correct, scrunched-up German in which he wrote all his records: “Mittelgrosse Patientin in gutem Ernährungszustand. Fraktur am linken Unterschenkelknochen mit Wunde; Anschwellung in der linken Unterschenkelgegend. Haut und sichtbare Schleimhäute mässig durchblutet und kein Oedema,” noting that she was a medium-sized female patient in good general health; that she had a compound fracture of the left tibia, with swelling of the left lower leg; that her skin and visible mucous membranes were heavily spotted with petechiae, which are hemorrhages about the size of grains of rice, or even as big as soybeans; and, in addition, that her head, eyes, throat, lungs, and heart were apparently normal; and that she had a fever. He wanted to set her fracture and put her leg in a cast, but he had run out of plaster of Paris long since, so he just stretched her out on a mat and prescribed aspirin for her fever, and glucose intravenously and diastase orally for her undernourishment (which he had not entered on her record because everyone suffered from it). She exhibited only one of the queer symptoms so many of his patients were just then beginning to show—the spot hemorrhages.

Dr. Fujii was still pursued by bad luck, which still was connected with rivers. Now he was living in the summer house of Mr. Okuma, in Fukawa. This house clung to the steep banks of the Ota River. Here his injuries seemed to make good progress, and he even began to treat refugees who came to him from the neighborhood, using medical supplies he had retrieved from a cache in the suburbs. He noticed in some of his patients a curious syndrome of symptoms that cropped out in the third and fourth weeks, but he was not able to do much more than swathe cuts and burns Early in September, it began to rain, steadily and heavily. The river rose. On September 17th, there came a cloudburst and then a typhoon, and the water crept higher and higher up the bank. Mr. Okuma and Dr. Fujii became alarmed and scrambled up the mountain to a peasant’s house. (Down in Hiroshima, the flood took up where the bomb had left off—swept away bridges that had survived the blast, washed out streets, undermined foundations of buildings that still stood—and ten miles to the west, the Ono Army Hospital, where a team of experts from Kyoto Imperial University was studying the delayed affliction of the patients, suddenly slid down a beautiful, pine-dark mountainside into the Inland Sea and drowned most of the investigators and their mysteriously diseased patients alike.) After the storm, Dr. Fujii and Mr. Okuma went down to the river and found that the Okuma house had been washed altogether away.

Because so many people were suddenly feeling sick nearly a month after the atomic bomb was dropped, an unpleasant rumor began to move around, and eventually it made its way to the house in Kabe where Mrs. Nakamura lay bald and ill. It was that the atomic bomb had deposited some sort of poison on Hiroshima which would give off deadly emanations for seven years; nobody could go there all that time. This especially upset Mrs. Nakamura, who remembered that in a moment of confusion on the morning of the explosion she had literally sunk her entire means of livelihood, her Sankoku sewing machine, in the small cement water tank in front of what was left of her house; now no one would be able to go and fish it out. Up to this time, Mrs. Nakamura and her relatives had been quite resigned and passive about the moral issue of the atomic bomb, but this rumor suddenly aroused them to more hatred and resentment of America than they had felt all through the war.

Japanese physicists, who knew a great deal about atomic fission (one of them owned a cyclotron), worried about lingering radiation at Hiroshima, and in mid-August, not many days after President Truman’s disclosure of the type of bomb that had been dropped, they entered the city to make investigations. The first thing they did was roughly to determine a center by observing the side on which telephone poles all around the heart of the town were scorched; they settled on the torii gateway of the Gokoku Shrine, right next to the parade ground of the Chugoku Regional Army Headquarters. From there, they worked north and south with Lauritsen electroscopes, which are sensitive to both beta rays and gamma rays. These indicated that the highest intensity of radioactivity, near the torii, was 4.2 times the average natural “leak” of utra-short waves for the earth of that area. The scientists noticed that the flash of the bomb had discolored concrete to a light reddish tint, had scaled off the surface of granite, and had scorched certain other types of building material, and that consequently the bomb had, in some places, left prints of the shadows that had been cast by its light. The experts found, for instance, a permanent shadow thrown on the roof of the Chamber of Commerce Building (220 yards from the rough center) by the structure’s rectangular tower; several others in the lookout post on top of the Hypothec Bank (2,050 yards); another in the tower of the Chugoku Electric Supply Building (800 yards); another projected by the handle of a gas pump (2,630 yards); and several on granite tombstones in the Gokoku Shrine (35 yards). By triangulating these and other such shadows with the objects that formed them, the scientists determined that the exact center was a spot a hundred and fifty yards south of the torii and a few yards southeast of the pile of ruins that had once been the Shima Hospital. (A few vague human silhouettes were found, and these gave rise to stories that eventually included fancy and precise details. One story told how a painter on a ladder was monumentalized in a kind of bas-relief on the stone façade of a bank building on which he was at work, in the act of dipping his brush into his paint can; another, how a man and his cart on the bridge near the Museum of Science and Industry, almost under the center of the explosion, were cast down in an embossed shadow which made it clear that the man was about to whip his horse.) Starting east and west from the actual center, the scientists, in early September, made new measurements, and the highest radiation they found this time was 3.9 times the natural “leak.” Since radiation of at least a thousand times the natural “leak” would be required to cause serious effects on the human body, the scientists announced that people could enter Hiroshima without any peril at all.

As soon as this reassurance reached the household in which Mrs. Nakamura was concealing herself—or, at any rate, within a short time after her hair had started growing back again—her whole family relaxed their extreme hatred of America, and Mrs. Nakamura sent her brother-in-law to look for the sewing machine. It was still submerged in the water tank, and when he brought it home, she saw, to her dismay, that it was all rusted and useless.

By the end of the first week in September, Father Kleinsorge was in bed at the Novitiate with a fever of 102.2, and since he seemed to be getting worse, his colleagues decided to send him to the Catholic International Hospital in Tokyo. Father Cieslik and the rector took him as far as Kobe and a Jesuit from that city took him the rest of the way, with a message from a Kobe doctor to the Mother Superior of the International Hospital: “Think twice before you give this man blood transfusions, because with atomic-bomb patients we aren’t at all sure that if you stick needles in them, they’ll stop bleeding.”

When Father Kleinsorge arrived at the hospital, he was terribly pale and very shaky. He complained that the bomb had upset his digestion and given him abdominal pains. His white blood count was three thousand (five to seven thousand is normal), he was seriously anemic, and his temperature was 104. A doctor who did not know much about these strange manifestations—Father Kleinsorge was one of a handful of atomic patients who had reached Tokyo—came to see him, and to the patient’s face he was most encouraging. “You’ll be out of here in two weeks,” he said. But when the doctor got out in the corridor, he said to the Mother Superior, “He’ll die. All these bomb people die—you’ll see. They go along for a couple of weeks and then they die.”

The doctor prescribed suralimentation for Father Kleinsorge. Every three hours, they forced some eggs or beef juice into him, and they fed him all the sugar he could stand. They gave him vitamins, and iron pills and arsenic (in Fowler’s solution) for his anemia. He confounded both the doctor’s predictions; he neither died nor got up in a fortnight. Despite the fact that the message from the Kobe doctor deprived him of transfusions, which would have been the most useful therapy of all, his fever and his digestive troubles cleared up fairly quickly. His white count went up for a while, but early in October it dropped again, to 3,600; then, in ten days, it suddenly c!imbed above normal, to 8,800; and it finally settled at 5,800. His ridiculous scratches puzzled everyone. For a few days, they would mend, and then, when he moved around, they would open up again. As soon as he began to feel well, he enjoyed himself tremendously. In Hiroshima he had been one of thousands of sufferers; in Tokyo he was a curiosity. Young American Army doctors came by the dozen to observe him. Japanese experts questioned him. A newspaper interviewed him. And once, the confused doctor came and shook his head and said, “Baffling cases, these atomic-bomb people.”


Mrs. Nakamura lay indoors with Myeko. They both continued sick, and though Mrs. Nakamura vaguely sensed that their trouble was caused by the bomb, she was too poor to see a doctor and so never knew exactly what the matter was. Without any treatment at all, but merely resting, they began gradually to feel better. Some of Myeko’s hair fell out, and she had a tiny burn on her arm which took months to heal. The boy, Toshio, and the older girl, Yaeko, seemed well enough, though they, too, lost some hair and occasionally had bad headaches. Toshio was still having nightmares, always about the nineteen-year-old mechanic, Hideo Osaki, his hero, who had been killed by the bomb.

On his back with a fever of 104, Mr. Tanimoto worried about all the funerals he ought to be conducting for the deceased of his church. He thought he was just overtired from the hard work he had done since the bombing, but after the fever had persisted for a few days, he sent for a doctor. The doctor was too busy to visit him in Ushida, but he dispatched a nurse, who recognized his symptoms as those of mild radiation disease and came back from time to time to give him injections of Vitamin B1. A Buddhist priest with whom Mr. Tanimoto was acquainted called on him and suggested that moxibustion might give him relief; the priest showed the pastor how to give himself the ancient Japanese treatment, by setting fire to a twist of the stimulant herb moxa placed on the wrist pulse. Mr. Tanimoto found that each moxa treatment temporarily reduced his fever one degree. The nurse had told him to eat as much as possible, and every few days his mother-in-law brought him vegetables and fish from Tsuzu, twenty miles away, where she lived. He spent a month in bed, and then went ten hours by train to his father’s home in Shikoku. There he rested another month.

Dr. Sasaki and his colleagues at the Red Cross Hospital watched the unprecedented disease unfold and at last evolved a theory about its nature. It had, they decided, three stages. The first stage had been all over before the doctors even knew they were dealing with a new sickness; it was the direct reaction to the bombardment of the body, at the moment when the bomb went off, by neutrons, beta particles, and gamma rays. The apparently uninjured people who had died so mysteriously in the first few hours or days had succumbed in this first stage. It killed ninety-five per cent of the people within a half mile of the center, and many thousands who were farther away. The doctors realized in retrospect that even though most of these dead had also suffered from burns and blast effects, they had absorbed enough radiation to kill them. The rays simply destroyed body cells—caused their nuclei to degenerate and broke their walls. Many people who did not die right away came down with nausea, headache, diarrhea, malaise, and fever, which lasted several days. Doctors could not be certain whether some of these symptoms were the result of radiation or nervous shock. The second stage set in ten or fifteen days after the bombing. The main symptom was falling hair. Diarrhea and fever, which in some cases went as high as 106, came next. Twenty-five to thirty days after the explosion, blood disorders appeared: gums bled, the white-blood-cell count dropped sharply, and petechiae appeared on the skin and mucous membranes. The drop in the number of white blood corpuscles reduced the patient’s capacity to resist infection, so open wounds were unusually slow in healing and many of the sick developed sore throats and mouths. The two key symptoms, on which the doctors came to base their prognosis, were fever and the lowered white-corpuscle count. If fever remained steady and high, the patient’s chances for survival were poor. The white count almost always dropped below four thousand; a patient whose count fell below one thousand had little hope of living. Toward the end of the second stage, if the patient survived, anemia, or a drop in the red blood count, also set in. The third stage was the reaction that came when the body struggled to compensate for its ills—when, for instance, the white count not only returned to normal but increased to much higher than normal levels. In this stage, many patients died of complications, such as infections in the chest cavity. Most burns healed with deep layers of pink, rubbery scar tissue, known as keloid tumors. The duration of the disease varied, depending on the patient’s constitution and the amount of radiation he had received. Some victims recovered in a week; with others the disease dragged on for months.

As the symptoms revealed themselves, it became clear that many of them resembled the effects of overdoses of X-ray, and the doctors based their therapy on that likeness. They gave victims liver extract, blood transfusions, and vitamins, especially B1. The shortage of supplies and instruments hampered them. Allied doctors who came in after the surrender found plasma and penicillin very effective. Since the blood disorders were, in the long run, the predominant factor in the disease, some of the Japanese doctors evolved a theory as to the seat of the delayed sickness. They thought that perhaps gamma rays, entering the body at the time of the explosion, made the phosphorus in the victims’ bones radioactive, and that they in turn emitted beta particles, which, though they could not pentrate far through flesh, could enter the bone marrow, where blood is manufactured, and gradually tear it down. Whatever its source, the disease had some baffling quirks. Not all the patients exhibited all the main symptoms. People who suffered flash burns were protected, to a considerable extent, from radiation sickness. Those who had lain quietly for days or even hours after the bombing were much less liable to get sick than those who had been active. Gray hair seldom fell out. And, as if nature were protecting man against his own ingenuity, the reproductive processes were affected for a time; men became sterile, women had miscarriages, menstruation stopped.

For ten days after the flood, Dr. Fujii lived in the peasant’s house on the mountain above the Ota. Then he heard about a vacant private clinic in Kaitaichi, a suburb to the east of Hiroshima. He bought it at once, moved there, and hung out a sign inscribed in English, in honor of the conquerors:

M. FUJII, M.D.
MEDICAL & VENEREAL
Quite recovered from his wounds, he soon built up a strong practice, and he was delighted, in the evenings, to receive members of the occupying forces, on whom he lavished whiskey and practiced English.

Giving Miss Sasaki a local anaesthetic of procaine, Dr. Sasaki made an incision in her leg on October 23rd, to drain the infection, which still lingered on eleven weeks after the injury. In the following days, so much pus formed that he had to dress the opening each morning and evening. A week later, she complained of great pain, so he made another incision; he cut still a third, on November 9th, and enlarged it on the twenty-sixth. All this time, Miss Sasaki grew weaker and weaker, and her spirits fell low. One day, the young man who had lent her his translation of de Maupassant at Hatsukaichi came to visit her; he told her that he was going to Kyushu but that when he came back, he would like to see her again. She didn’t care. Her leg had been so swollen and painful all along that the doctor had not even tried to set the fractures, and though an X-ray taken in November showed that the bones were mending, she could see under the sheet that her left leg was nearly three inches shorter than her right and that her left foot was turning inward. She thought often of the man to whom she had been engaged. Someone told her he was back from overseas. She wondered what he had heard about her injuries that made him stay away.

Father Kleinsorge was discharged from the hospital in Tokyo on December 19th and took a train home. On the way, two days later, at Yokogawa, a stop just before Hiroshima, Dr. Fujii boarded the train. It was the first time the two men had met since before the bombing. They sat together. Dr. Fujii said he was going to the annual gathering of his family, on the anniversary of his father’s death. When they started talking about their experiences, the Doctor was quite entertaining as he told how his places of residence kept falling into rivers. Then he asked Father Kleinsorge how he was, and the Jesuit talked about his stay in the hospital. “The doctors told me to be cautious,” he said. “They ordered me to have a two-hour nap every afternoon.”

Dr. Fujii said, “It’s hard to be cautious in Hiroshima these days. Everyone seems to be so busy.”

A new municipal government, set up under Allied Military Government direction, had gone to work at last in the city hall. Citizens who had recovered from various degrees of radiation sickness were coming back by the thousand—by November 1st, the population, mostly crowded into the outskirts, was already 137,000, more than a third of the wartime peak—and the government set in motion all kinds of projects to put them to work rebuilding the city. It hired men to clear the streets, and others to gather scrap iron, which they sorted and piled in mountains opposite the city hall. Some returning residents were putting up their own shanties and huts, and planting small squares of winter wheat beside them, but the city also authorized and built four hundred one-family “barracks.” Utilities were repaired—electric lights shone again, trams started running, and employees of the waterworks fixed seventy thousand leaks in mains and plumbing. A Planning Conference, with an enthusiastic young Military Government officer, Lieutenant John D. Montgomery, of Kalamazoo, as its adviser, began to consider what sort of city the new Hiroshima should be. The ruined city had flourished—and had been an inviting target—mainly because it had been one of the most important military-command and communications centers in Japan, and would have become the Imperial headquarters had the islands been invaded and Tokyo been captured. Now there would be no huge military establishments to help revive the city. The Planning Conference, at a loss as to just what importance Hiroshima could have, fell back on rather vague cultural and paving projects. It drew maps with avenues a hundred yards wide and thought seriously of preserving the half-ruined Museum of Science and Industry more or less as it was, as a monument to the disaster, and naming it the Institute of International Amity. Statistical workers gathered what figures they could on the effects of the bomb. They reported that 78,150 people had been killed, 13,983 were missing, and 37,425 had been injured. No one in the city government pretended that these figures were accurate—though the Americans accepted them as official—and as the months went by and more and more hundreds of corpses were dug up from the ruins, and as the number of unclaimed urns of ashes at the Zempoji Temple in Koi rose into the thousands, the statisticians began to say that at least a hundred thousand people had lost their lives in the bombing. Since many people died of a combination of causes, it was impossible to figure exactly how many were killed by each cause, but the statisticians calculated that about twenty-five per cent had died of direct burns from the bomb, about fifty per cent from other injuries, and about twenty per cent as a result of radiation effects. The statistician’ figures on property damage were more reliable: sixty-two thousand out of ninety thousand buildings destroyed, and six thousand more damaged beyond repair. In the heart of the city, they found only five modern buildings that could be used again without major repairs. This small number was by no means the fault of flimsy Japanese construction. In fact, since the 1923 earthquake, Japanese building regulations had required that the roof of each large building be able to bear a minimum load of seventy pounds per square foot, whereas American regulations do not normally specify more than forty pounds per square foot.

Scientists swarmed into the city. Some of them measured the force that had been necessary to shift marble gravestones in the cemeteries, to knock over twenty-two of the forty-seven railroad cars in the yards at Hiroshima station, to lift and move the concrete roadway on one of the bridges, and to perform other noteworthy acts of strength, and concludd that the pressure exerted by the explosion varied from 5.3 to 8.0 tons per square yard. Others found that mica, of which the melting point is 900° C., had fused on granite gravestones three hundred and eighty yards from the center; that telephone poles of Cryptomeria japonica, whose carbonization temperature is 240° C., had been charred at forty-four hundred yards from the center; and that the surface of gray clay tiles of the type used in Hiroshima, whose melting point is 1,300° C., had dissolved at six hundred yards; and, after examining other significant ashes and melted bits, they concluded that the bomb’s heat on the ground at the center must have been 6,000° C. And from further measurements of radiation, which involved, among other things, the scraping up of fission fragments from roof troughs and drainpipes as far away as the suburb of Takasu, thirty-three hundred yards from the center, they learned some far more important facts about the nature of the bomb. General Macarthur’s headquarters systematically censored all mention of the bomb in Japanese scientific publications, but soon the fruit of the scientists’ calculations became common knowledge among Japanese physicists, doctors, chemists, journalists, professors, and, no doubt, those statesmen and military men who were still in circulation. Long before the American public had been told, most of the scientists and lots of non-scientists in Japan knew—from the calculations of Japanese nuclear physicists—that a uranium bomb had exploded at Hiroshima and a more powerful one, of plutonium, at Nagasaki. They also knew that theoretically one ten times as powerful—or twenty—could be developed. The Japanese scientists thought they knew the exact height at which the bomb at Hiroshima was exploded and the approximate weight of the uranium used. They estimated that, even with the primitive bomb used at Hiroshima, it would require a shelter of concrete fifty inches thick to protect a human being entirely from radiation sickness. The scientists had these and other details which remained subject to security in the United States printed and mimeographed and bound into little books. The Americans knew of the existence of these, but tracing them and seeing that they did not fall into the wrong hands would have obliged the occupying authorities to set up, for this one purpose alone, an enormous police system in Japan. Altogether, the Japanese scientists were somewhat amused at the efforts of their conquerors to keep security on atomic fission.

Late in February, 1946, a friend of Miss Sasaki’s called on Father Kleinsorge and asked him to visit her in the hospital. She had been growing more and more depressed and morbid; she seemed little interested in living. Father Kleinsorge went to see her several times. On his first visit, he kept the conversation general, formal, and yet vaguely sympathetic, and did not mention religion. Miss Sasaki herself brought it up the second time he dropped in on her. Evidently she had had some talks with a Catholic. She asked bluntly, “If your God is so good and kind, how can he let people suffer like this?” She made a gesture which took in her shrunken leg, the other patients in her room, and Hiroshima as a whole.

“My child,” Father Kleinsorge said, “man is not now in the condition God intended. He has fallen from grace through sin.” And he went on to explain all the reasons for everything.

It came to Mrs. Nakamura’s attention that a carpenter from Kabe was building a number of wooden shanties in Hiroshima which he rented for fifty yen a month—$3.33, at the fixed rate of exchange. Mrs. Nakamura had lost the certificates for her bonds and other wartime savings, but fortunately she had copied off all the numbers just a few days before the bombing and had taken the list to Kabe, and so, when her hair had grown in enough for her to be presentable, she went to her bank in Hiroshima, and a clerk there told her that after checking her numbers against the records the bank would give her her money. As soon as she got it, she rented one of the carpenter’s shacks. It was in Nobori-cho, near the site of her former house, and though its floor was dirt and it was dark inside, it was at least a home in Hiroshima, and she was no longer dependent on the charity of her in-laws. During the spring, she cleared away some nearby wreckage and planted a vegetable garden. She cooked with utensils and ate off plates she scavenged from the debris. She sent Myeko to the kindergarten which the Jesuits reopened, and the two older children attended Nobori-cho Primary School, which, for want of buildings, held classes out of doors. Toshio wanted to study to be a mechanic, like his hero, Hideo Osaki. Prices were high; by midsummer Mrs. Nakamura’s savings were gone. She sold some of her clothes to get food. She had once had several expensive kimonos, but during the war one had been stolen, she had given one to a sister who had been bombed out in Tokuyama, she had lost a couple in the Hiroshima bombing, and now she sold her last one. It brought only a hundred yen, which did not last long. In June, she went to Father Kleinsorge for advice about how to get along, and in early August, she was still considering the two alternatives he suggested—taking work as a domestic for some of the Allied occupation forces, or borrowing from her relatives enough money, about five hundred yen, or a bit more than thirty dollars, to repair her rusty sewing machine and resume the work of a seamstress.

W hen Mr. Tanimoto returned from Shikoku, he draped a tent he owned over the roof of the badly damaged house he had rented in Ushida. The roof still leaked, but he conducted services in the damp living room. He began thinking about raising money to restore his church in the city. He became quite friendly with Father Kleinsorge and saw the Jesuits often. He envied them their Church’s wealth; they seemed to be able to do anything they wanted. He had nothing to work with except his own energy, and that was not what it had been.

The Society of Jesus had been the first institution to build a relatively permanent shanty in the ruins of Hiroshima. That had been while Father Kleinsorge was in the hospital. As soon as he got back, he began living in the shack, and he and another priest, Father Laderman, who had joined him in the mission, arranged for the purchase of three of the standardized “barracks,” which the city was selling at seven thousand yen apiece. They put two together, end to end, and made a pretty chapel of them; they ate in the third. When materials were available, they commissioned a contractor to build a three-story mission house exactly like the one that had been destroyed in the fire. In the compound, carpenters cut timbers, gouged mortises, shaped tenons, whittled scores of wooden pegs and bored holes for them, until all the parts for the house were in a neat pile; then, in three days, they put the whole thing together, like an Oriental puzzle, without any nails at all. Father Kleinsorge was finding it hard, as Dr. Fujii had suggested he would, to be cautious and to take his naps. He went out every day on foot to call on Japanese Catholics and prospective converts. As the months went by, he grew more and more tired. In June, he read an article in the Hiroshima Chugoku warning survivors against working too hard—but what could he do? By July, he was worn out, and early in August, almost exactly on the anniversary of the bombing, he went back to the Catholic International Hospital, in Tokyo, for a month’s rest.

Whether or not Father Kleinsorge’s answers to Miss Sasaki’s questions about life were final and absolute truths, she seemed quickly to draw physical strength from them. Dr. Sasaki noticed it and congratulated Father Kleinsorge. By April 15th, her temperature and white count were normal and the infection in the wound was beginning to clear up. On the twentieth, there was almost no pus, and for the first time she jerked along a corridor on crutches. Five days later, the wound had begun to heal, and on the last day of the month she was discharged.

During the early summer, she prepared herself for conversion to Catholicism. In that period she had ups and downs. Her depressions were deep. She knew she would always be a cripple. Her fiancé never came to see her. There was nothing for her to do except read and look out, from her house on a hillside in Koi, across the ruins of the city where her parents and brother died. She was nervous, and any sudden noise made her put her hands quickly to her throat. Her leg still hurt; she rubbed it often and patted it, as if to console it.

It took six months for the Red Cross Hospital, and even longer for Dr. Sasaki, to get back to normal. Until the city restored electric power, the hospital had to limp along with the aid of a Japanese Army generator in its back yard. Operating tables, X -ray machines, dentist chairs, everything complicated and essential came in a trickle of charity from other cities. In Japan, face is important even to institutions, and long before the Red Cross Hospital was back to par on basic medical equipment, its directors put up a new yellow brick veneer façade, so the hospital became the handsomest building in Hiroshima—from the street. For the first four months, Dr. Sasaki was the only surgeon on the staff and he almost never left the building; then, gradually, he began to take an interest in his own life again. He got married in March. He gained back some of the weight he lost, but his appetite remained only fair; before the bombing, he used to eat four rice balls at every meal, but a year after it he could manage only two. He felt tired all the time. “But I have to realize,” he said, “that the whole community is tired.”

A year after the bomb was dropped, Miss Sasaki was a crippIe; Mrs. Nakamura was destitute; Father Kleinsorge was back in the hospital; Dr. Sasaki was not capable of the work he once could do; Dr. Fujii had lost the thirty-room hospital it took him many years to acquire, and had no prospects of rebuilding it; Mr. Tanimoto’s church had been ruined and he no longer had his exceptional vitality. The lives of these six people who were among the luckiest in Hiroshima, would never be the same. What they thought of their experiences and of the use of the atomic bomb was, of course, not unanimous. One feeling they did seem to share, however, was a curious kind of elated community spirit, something like that of the Londoners after their blitz—a pride in the way they and their fellow-survivors had stood up to a dreadful ordeal. Just before the anniversary, Mr. Tanimoto wrote in a letter to an American some words which expressed this feeling: “What a heartbreaking scene this was the first night! About midnight I landed on the riverbank. So many injured people lied on the ground that I made my way by striding over them. Repeating ‘Excuse me,’ I forwarded and carried a tub of water with me and gave a cup of water to each one of them. They raised their upper bodies slowly and accepted a cup of water with a bow and drunk quietly and, spilling any remnant, gave back a cup with hearty expression of their thankfulness, and said, ‘I couldn’t help my sister, who was buried under the house, because I had to take care of my mother who got a deep wound on her eye and our house soon set fire and we hardly escaped. Look, I lost my home, my family, and at last my-self bitterly injured. But now I have gotted my mind to dedicate what I have and to complete the war for our country’s sake.’ Thus they pledged to me, even women and children did the same. Being entirely tired I lied down on the ground among them, but couldn’t sleep at all. Next morning I found many men and women dead, whom I gave water last night. But, to my great surprise, I never heard anyone cried in disorder, even though they suffered in great agony. They died in silence, with no grudge, setting their teeth to bear it. All for the country!

“Dr. Y. Hiraiwa, professor of Hiroshima University of Literature and Science, and one of my church members, was buried by the bomb under the two storied house with his son, a student of Tokyo University. Both of them could not move an inch under tremendously heavy pressure. And the house already caught fire. His son said, ‘Father, we can do nothing except make our mind up to consecrate our lives for the country. Let us give Banzai to our Emperor.’ Then the father followed after his son, ‘Tenno-heika, Banzai, Banzai, Banzai!’ In the result, Dr Hiraiwa said, ‘Strange to say, I felt calm and bright and peaceful spirit in my heart, when I chanted Banzai to Tenno.’ Afterward his son got out and digged down and pulled out his father and thus they were saved. In thinking of their experience of that time Dr. Hiraiwa repeated, ‘What a fortunate that we are Japanese! It was my first time I ever tasted such a beautiful spirit when I decided to die for our Emperor.’

“Miss Kayoko Nobutoki, a student of girl’s high school, Hiroshima Jazabuin, and a daughter of my church member, was taking rest with her friends beside the heavy fence of the Buddhist Temple. At the moment the atomic bomb was dropped, the fence fell upon them. They could not move a bit under such a heavy fence and then smoke entered into even a crack and choked their breath. One of the girls begun to sing Kimi ga yo, national anthem, and others followed in chorus and died. Meanwhile one of them found a crack and struggled hard to get out. When she was taken in the Red Cross Hospital she told how her friends died, tracing back in her memory to singing in chorus our national anthem. They were just 13 years old.

“Yes, people of Hiroshima died manly in the atomic bombing, believing that it was for Emperor’s sake.”

A surprising number of the people of Hiroshima remained more or less indifferent about the ethics of using the bomb. Possibly they were too terrified by it to want to think about it at all. Not many of them even bothered to find out much about what it was like. Mrs. Nakamura’s conception of it—and awe of it—was typical. “The atom bomb,” she would say when asked about it, “is the size of a matchbox. The heat of it was six thousand times that of the sun. It exploded in the air. There is some radium in it. I don’t know just how it works, but when the radium is put together, it explodes.” As for the use of the bomb, she would say, “It was war and we had to expect it.” And then she would add, “Shikata ga nai,” a Japanese expression as common as, and corresponding to, the Russian word “nichevo”: “It can’t be helped. Oh, well.Too bad.” Dr. Fujii said approximately the same thing about the use of the bomb to Father Kleinsorge one evening, in German: “Da ist nichts zu machen. There’s nothing to be done about it.”

Many citizens of Hiroshima, however, continued to feel a hatred for Americans which nothing could possibly erase. “I see,” Dr. Sasaki once said, “that they are holding a trial for war criminals in Tokyo just now. I think they ought to try the men who decided to use the bomb and they should hang them all.”

Father Kleinsorge and the other German Jesuit priests, who, as foreigners, could be expected to take a reltively detached view, often discussed the ethics of using the bomb. One of them, Father Siemes, who was out at Nagatsuka at the time of the attack, wrote in a report to the Holy See in Rome, “Some of us consider the bomb in the same category as poison gas and were against its use on a civilian population. Others were of the opinion that in total war, as carried on in Japan, there was no difference between civilians and soldiers, and that the bomb itself was an effective force tending to end the bloodshed, warning Japan to surrender and thus to avoid total destruction. It seems logical that he who supports total war in principle cannot complain of a war against civilians. The crux of the matter is whether total war in its present form is justifiable, even when it serves a just purpose. Does it not have material and spiritual evil as its consequences which far exceed whatever good might result? When will our moralists give us a clear answer to this question?”

It would be impossible to say what horrors were embedded in the minds of the children who lived through the day of the bombing in Hiroshima. On the surface their recollections, months after the disaster, were of an exhilarating adventure. Toshio Nakamura, who was ten at the time of the bombing, was soon able to talk freely, even gaily, about the experience, and a few weeks before the anniversary he wrote the following matter-of-fact essay for his teacher at Nobori-cho Primary School: “The day before the bomb, I went for a swim. In the morning, I was eating peanuts. I saw a light. I was knocked to little sister’s sleeping place. When we were saved, I could only see as far as the tram. My mother and I started to pack our things. The neighbors were walking around burned and bleeding. Hataya-san told me to run away with her. I said I wanted to wait for my mother. We went to the park. A whirlwind came. At night a gas tank burned and I saw the reflection in the river. We stayed in the park one night. Next day I went to Taiko Bridge and met my girl friends Kikuki and Murakami. They were looking for their mothers. But Kikuki’s mother was wounded and Murakami’s mother, alas, was dead.”