The character of Field Marshal Abehata is a composite of two real-life Japanese officers, Field Marshal Shunroku Hata, commanding general of the 2nd General Army garrisoned at Hiroshima, and a Colonel Abe, commander of the antiaircraft units at Hiroshima (The name "Abehata" is a literal composite.) Abe was indeed killed in the explosion, but Hata survived and spent ten years in prison after the war for war crimes in China.