At a press meet organised by the Anubam Virodhi Andolan, Taketa, accompanied by two friends, Ken Sakamoto and Masa Takuro, and three Japanese journalists, said: ``When we heard of the tests, we were shocked, and couldn't wait to visit India and Pakistan and show our solidarity with the peace movement.'' Karachi will be his next stop.

Taketa, with a translator's help, gave a moving account of a day that now seems a forgotten chapter in history. He was 12 at the time, one among thousands of students `mobilised' to assist the army in its warefforts.

On August 6, Taketa was on his way to his sister's house, delivering food, and was waiting at the station when ``I saw a sudden flash and everything looked bright, as though someone had burnt magnesium. I saw a white spot in the sky, the size of a rice grain, which then turned into a red and yellow fireball.''

Taketa was then a mute witness to the horrors that followed: singed, near-naked bodies, skin that hung off the bones like clothes and swollen faces, all of which made it hard to tell if the victims were men or women.

His sister, who was found at the foot of a bridge 1.4 kms from the epicentre, died after two painful days. ``I wondered what she had come in the world for,'' mused Taketa.

``Those who survived the immediate impact of the bomb died within the next two weeks. Most survivors, victims of intense radiation, suffered for years from various cancers,'' he said, adding, ``It's always the innocent who suffer.''

Pitching for peace, Taketa appealed: ``Now is the time for India andPakistan to dismantle their weapons stockpile before they build up to equal the capability of USA and Russia, because they're still in a position to do so.''

Although Taketa said the US ``should take a look at its own actions'', specially vis-a-vis the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), he added: ``I hope India and Pakistan will refrain from testing in the future.''