After the war, the statue was at the home of the in-laws of the elder sister, in Motoo-machi, and was given to the donor by the elder sister.
When the atomic bomb was dropped, both of the sisters were living with their parents on Io-jima. The elder sister left the island and went to Nagasaki city, where she was exposed to atomic-bomb radiation. She searched for their younger brother who attended a technical high school there but he was killed in the atomic bombing.
The in-laws house was totally destroyed in the atomic bombing and rebuilt afterwards. This statue of the Virgin Mary is thought to have been rescued from the debris of the former house and it was highly cherished. However, the donor was not told anything about it by the elder sister.