On August 6 1945, a Japanese school teacher was having her breakfast when, after a bright flash of light, she was buried in the darkness beneath a pile of rubble that once stood as her home.

She was still in her nightdress when she was dragged out of the pile of bricks by a neighbour and walked four miles barefooted across a burning bridge in search for her father, out in the country away from devastated Hiroshima.

Not much is known of Taza Shibama, although historians believe she was in her early 20s and worked as a teacher at a girls’ school in the Japanese city, teaching students aged 13 or 14.

Some survivors of the atomic blast went on to become advocates for the anti-nuclear movement, but an online search of Ms Shibama brings back very little results.

But her recollection of surviving the first use of a nuclear weapon in warfare was captured in an interview recorded by the Thames Television production company in 1972.

In it, she described the moment her house collapsed after a uranium bomb nicknamed Little Boy exploded over Hiroshima.

“It was so dark, I did not hear any sound at all. I did not know what happened,” she said

“The two-storey wooden building that was my house with eight rooms in it was blown down to pieces and covered me up.”

An audio clip of the interview is preserved at the Imperial War Museum (IWM) in London, which will be released online to mark the 75th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.

“An account like hers, told in eloquent terms of what she was doing and how she survived, is quite rare,” said Anthony Richards, head of documents and sound at IWM.

“I think what’s so memorable about her interview is how she describes that moment when it happened in a very matter-of-fact way, it kind of brings it home how sudden and unexpected it was.

“She’s sitting in her kitchen having breakfast before she is due in school, with a bowl of rice in one hand and chopsticks in another, and the next thing she remembers is being in a pile of rubble.”

The United States detonated two nuclear weapons over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9 1945.

The two bombings killed more than 100,000 people instantly, most of whom were civilians, and caused thousands more to die of their injuries or the after-effects of radiation.

Mr Richards said the teacher touches on how she suffered survivor’s guilt, a mental condition whereby a person feels guilt or shame for having survived a traumatic event while others died.

He added: “She was a teacher and a lot of those school girls didn’t survive, and those who did were put to work pulling down a lot of the wooden houses to stop the fire from spreading.

“In doing that, they were near the epicentre of the blast and got radiation poisoning.

“The teacher’s first thought was to flee the city to find her father in the country, while others were doing their bit to go through the rubble to find others.

“It’s very sad but you see that in different wars and conflicts, survivors trying to justify why they survived and not someone else.”

Japan surrendered on August 15 1945, bringing an end to the Second World War.

An extract of the audio recording, part of the IWM’s voices of war collection, will be released on the museum’s website and social media on Thursday.

A Second World War veteran has told of the “wonderful” moment he learned about victory in Europe, while he was still in action in China.

Bill Ramage was called to service in August 1942, before being deployed as an RAF wireless operator in the China and India.

It took him six weeks from leaving docks in Glasgow to reach Mumbai, and he spent some time in the country before being told he would be moved to China in the fight against the Japanese.

The 96-year-old, of Grangemouth near Falkirk, recalled being raided by soldiers of a “Chinese warlord” and having breakfast with Lady Mountbatten during his time there.

He was in the British 14th Army, which was a multinational force comprising of units from Commonwealth countries.

When victory in Europe was declared, the servicemen spent the day celebrating, believing that it meant Japan would surrender soon.

He told the PA news agency: “VE Day was wonderful. We only had one vehicle and it took all 15 of us through the streets of Kunming – by that time we had a few drinks.

“We got on the Jeep and the commanding officer drove all through the towns while we were singing at the top of our voices and waving Union Jack flags.

“By that time we realised that if the war in Europe was about to terminate, it was on the wall that the Japanese would not be long behind.”

Japan surrendered in August, which brought the Second World War to its close.

Mr Ramage then spent eight months in India as his repatriation was held up due to riots at the beginning of the country’s independence campaign.

He was awarded the Burma Star for his service.

VE-Day is being commemorated on Friday to mark 75 years since the war in Europe ended.

Mr Ramage has Union Jack flags in his garden and plans to follow the coverage of tributes to those who fought in the war.

South Korea marked its first “memorial day” on Tuesday for girls and women forced to work in Japan’s wartime brothels, with both of the U.S. allies expressing concern that the emotionally charged issue could undermine their relations.

Under a 2015 deal, Japan apologised to the “comfort women”, its euphemism for women – many of them Korean – forced to work in its wartime brothels, and provided a 1 billion yen (now £7 million) fund to help them.

But South Korea has recently sought to revisit the issue.

“I hope that this issue will not lead to a diplomatic dispute between Korea and Japan. Nor do I see this is an issue that can be solved through diplomatic solutions between the two countries,” South Korean President Moon Jae-in said in comments marking the first “Memorial Day for Japanese Forces’ Comfort Women Victims”.

“It is an issue that can be solved only when the world, including ourselves and Japan, deeply reflects on sexual violence against all women and human rights problems and comes to a strong awareness and learns a lesson in a way that prevents this from ever repeating again.”

Japan insists the issue was resolved by the 2015 deal, struck with a previous, conservative South Korean administration.

A senior Japanese official said differences with South Korea on the matter could undermine efforts to “develop a future-oriented relationship”.

“We are concerned that this may spoil such endeavours,” said the Japanese official, who declined to be identified.

“We have reached out through diplomatic channels to stress the importance of steadily implementing the Japan-South Korea agreement,” the official said, referring to the 2015 deal.

The bitterness over Japan’s wartime actions comes as concern about North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons and missiles has posed a threat to both South Korea and Japan, both of which play host to U.S. military bases.

Moon’s administration has spotlighted the issue and has called for Japan to do more, despite backing down in January from a demand to formally renegotiate the 2015 deal.

In March, Moon described Japan’s wartime use of the women as a crime against humanity. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga called the remarks “extremely regrettable”.

TAIWAN PROTEST

A monument was unveiled as part of the events to mark the day, chosen as it was on Aug. 14, 1991, that South Korean comfort woman victim Kim Hak-sun became the first to give public testimony about her experience.

A think-tank funded by the South Korean government devoted to researching the issue also opened this month.

Japan has protested over monuments in South Korea dedicated to the women, including one in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul, as well as the decision to designate a day to remember the women.

The issue has been a regular source of animosity between Japan and neighbours including China, North and South Korea and Taiwan, where earlier on Tuesday, more than 50 activists protested in front of Japan’s representative office.

“Japanese government should apologise,” chanted the protesters, many wearing black shirts with their faces covered by white masks. They also demanded compensation for Taiwan women forced to work in the brothels.

A bronze statue symbolising comfort women was also unveiled in the southern Taiwan city of Tainan, the United Daily News reported.

The unveiling was attended by former President Ma Ying-jeou.

Japan colonised the Korean peninsula between 1910 and 1945 and occupied parts of China before and during the war.

“It is quite regrettable to witness statues of comfort women being established or displayed in various parts of the world, which is incompatible with the position and measures taken by our government,” the Japanese official said.

A Japanese medical school deliberately cut women’s entrance test scores for several years, a panel of lawyers hired by the school to investigate the issue said on Tuesday, calling it a “very serious” instance of discrimination.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has made a priority of creating a society “where women can shine”, but women in Japan still face an uphill battle in employment and face hurdles returning to work after childbirth, which contributes to a falling birthrate.

The alterations were uncovered in an internal investigation of a graft accusation this spring regarding the entrance exam for Tokyo Medical University, sparking protests and widespread anger following media reports last week.

Lawyers investigating bribery accusations in the admission of the son of a senior education ministry official said they concluded that his score and that of several other men were boosted “unfairly” – some by as much as 49 points.

They also concluded that scores were manipulated to give men more points than women and thus hold down the number of women admitted.

“This incident is really regrettable – by deceptive recruitment procedures, they sought to delude the test takers, their families, school officials and society as a whole,” lawyer Kenji Nakai told a news conference.

“Factors suggesting very serious discrimination against women was also part of it,” added Nakai, one of the external lawyers hired by the university to investigate the incident.

The investigation showed the scores of men – including those reappearing after failing once or twice – were raised a certain number of points. Those of all women, and men who had failed the test at least three times, were not, however.

The lawyers said they did not know how many women had been affected, but it appeared that women’s test scores had been affected going back at least a decade.

Medical school authorities have called a news conference for 5 p.m. No immediate comment was available from the government or the education ministry official who figures in the case.

Entrance exam discrimination against women was “absolutely unacceptable”, Education Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters last week, however.

Reports of the incident appeared at the start of August, setting off a furore in Japan, spurring women to recount their own experiences of discrimination on social media with the hashtag, “It’s okay to be angry about sexism.”

Some referred to the potential costs exacted in a rapidly ageing society.

“I’m 29 and will probably never get married,” said one poster.

“Women are pitied if they don’t, but Japanese women who are married and working and have kids end up sleeping less than anybody in the world. To now hear that even our skills are suppressed makes me shake with rage.”

Another said,”I ignored my parents, who said women don’t belong in academia, and got into the best university in Japan. But in job interviews I’m told ‘If you were a man, we’d hire you right away.’

“My enemy wasn’t my parents, but all society itself.”