Three former students who were involved in making paper balloon
bombs at a Nagoya school during the war saw and touched the
“washi” (traditional Japanese paper) used to make the balloons
for the first time in 68 years on Feb. 16. The paper used in the
construction of the balloons has been turned into book covers.
“It’s hard to believe that we can actually see the paper after
all these years. All these memories are rushing back now,” one
of the women, who attended Sugiyama Girls’ School in Nagoya,
said as she touched the paper again. The three Nagoya residents,
Hiroko Inoue and Sumiko Horii, both 82, and 81-year-old Yuriko
Tokuda were in the graduating class when they started making the
balloons that would carry the attached bombs across the Pacific
Ocean to the U.S. mainland. Balloon bombs were a type of weapon
used by the Japanese military during World War II. Hydrogen was
pumped into the balloons before they were released and carried
aloft. During the war, the bombs were built in military
facilities and on