Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park & A-Bomb Dome
Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park opened April 1st 1954. It stands as a reminder of the first nuclear weapon attack, an attack on innocent civilians, children and an entire city. Today, threats of using nuclear weapons are being made on Twitter by World Leaders who were born after the destruction of Hiroshima on August 6th 1945. This should not be acceptable. Please, I encourage you to visit Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park. It was specifically dedicated to World Peace and shares the story of a living nightmare that lasted generations.
I’ve pulled some photos from public archives of Hiroshima both before and after the atom bomb I’d like to thank the museums and historians that have preserved these photos that date back to the 1920s and 1930s. Telling you that 140,000+ people died is a statistic. It doesn’t convey the way of life of a people and the suffering that resulted from a new and untested kind of warfare. I won’t share the stories of the victims because that is something you must learn first hand on your visit to Hiroshima and the Peace Memorial Museum. But I would like to share the story of a city lost in an instant, lost to a nightmare that stands as lesson today about humanity’s most evil moment and why it should never be repeated.
Information Center & Events
The Rest House is a great place to start, you can pick up many guides and a lot of information about the park including a map! The shell of the building survived the Atomic Bomb Blast and the basement which is still preserved as it was in 1945, remained relatively undamaged. Sadly, of the 37 workers in the buildings, only Eizo Nomura survived because he was in the basement at the time of the explosion. He did however experience extreme symptoms from radiation sickness. Eizo lived into his 80s.
- Hours: Park is Always Open, Memorial Hall Open 8:30 am to 6:00 pm
- Fee: Free
- Services: Public Park All Year.
- Other: Information Center, Memorial Hall & Piece Museum
Annual Events
On August 6th, there is a ceremony organized by the city in the park from 8:00 am. At 8:15 am, the time of the bombing in 1945, there is a minute of silence to honor the victims of the Atomic Bomb.
In the evening on August 6th there is a lantern ceremony where 10,000 paper lanterns are released down the Motoyasu River. Citizens and Children all across Hiroshima also place their hand crafted paper lanterns in front of the A-Bomb Dome.
A-Bomb Dome Photo Gallery
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- After the Atomic Bomb 1945
The City Lost in 1945
Hiroshima City in the 1930s and early 1940s was a modern city. It was a mustering point for the Japanese army and a very important Naval Base. Today, Hiroshima has a massive urban population of roughly 1.2 million people, but back in 1942 the city counted only 419,182 residents, with other estimates as low as 340,000.
In the 1930s the Japanese had modern cars, post offices, hospitals, western style clothing fashioned after the British style. They even had mass print newspapers and fancy Kimono Shops like you might find today.
We are talking a point in time where most Canadian roads were not paved, America was exploiting conventional oil in Pennsylvania and Texas, and Wall St. was still in it’s adolescence. Japanese cities were equally as modern and developed as most North American cities. The Japanese were incredibly advanced, think that it would be another half century before the rise of other Asian cities like Shanghai and Singapore.
The photo below is a model reconstruction of Nakajima District, part of the downtown core of Hiroshima before the Atomic Bombing on August 6th 1945. The model is on display at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum that we will cover in another article. This would become the Peace Memorial Park in 1954. This little neighborhood would never exist again.
Check out this short youtube clip. Or find the Documentary “Message From Hiroshima“
Why Hiroshima?
One of the contributing factors as to why Hiroshima was selected as the target of the first use of an atomic bomb was because of its topography. It’s a flat city with a dense population which means the blast wouldn’t be interrupted by small mounds or large mountains. I was able to find a government video from the Department of Air Force now in public domain that explains the bombing in greater detail. Note: Some of the video was collected by Japanese film crews. This video footage was submitted to Americas and removed from Japan until 1967, 21 years later. Part of the US censorship of Atom Bomb effects.
Hiroshima was also an incredibly valuable port city for shipping and for the Japanese Navy, it still is today. Attacking the larger cities like Tokyo, Osaka or Kyoto would have hurt the power structure of the Japanese Imperial Powers but wouldn’t have been as devastating. Tokyo had already suffered many air raids and thousands of dead, but Hiroshima had been almost untouched to this point in the war. Fortunately, due to the other air raids in Japan, many children in Hiroshima had been evacuated to the nearby island of Shikoku. My dear friend that I met in Hiroshima was only 9 years old when she was sent out of Hiroshima. I will share her story at a later date.
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- Hiroshima City in 1930
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- Fat Boy Atomic Bomb Radius
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- Hiroshima City
1 year later August 5th 1946
Estimates place the population of Hiroshima following the atomic bombing around 137,000 people, less a third of the 1942 population level. 70,000 People died instantly in the blast that left 70% of the city’s buildings destroyed. Another 70,000 to 90,000 died within the month from radiation poisoning, burns and other injuries.
Thousands upon thousands more would have shortened lives from the effects of radiation. We will never know the full impact of the blast. Children would grow up and die of cancer in their 40s. Or sadly even younger from Leukemia like Sadako Sasaki. While survivors like Tsutomu Yamaguchi lived to the age of 93 after surviving both the Hiroshima and the Nagasaki Atomic Bombings.
There was a documentary produced called “Twice Survived: The Doubly Atomic Bombed of Hiroshima and Nagasaki” that documented the lives of 165 Japanese that survived both Atomic Bombings. You can find another similar documentary on Netflix called “Twice“. These survivors were called “nijū hibakusha” in Japan. There is also a fantastic podcast episode by Radiolab called “Double Blasted“.
1 Year after the atomic bomb, Japan was still under occupation by allied forces. The US suppressed the facts about the death toll and the injuries from spreading while simultaneously encouraged freedom of press.
The US actively denied the effects of radiation and withheld medical information from being used to treat the victims of the blast. Rubble from the blast was still being cleared for years following the event. It took 10 years, until 1955 for the population of Hiroshima to return to its pre-bombing level.
The tone of the government issued videos is a tad un-remorseful, in this video of the damage they refer to the 20,000 soldiers who died as “among the missing” or referring to the vaporizing heat as “eloquent”. For today’s standard, the old footage is very vintage and has a pretty disgusting commentary in contrast to the suffering incurred.
Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall (A-Bomb Dome)
The atom bomb dome was once called “Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall” . The building was built by Jan Letzel a Czech Architect who moved to Japan in 1910. The city considered demolishing the ruined building however it was eventually preserved in the 1960s as a reminder of peace and a memorial to those lost from the atomic bomb. The site was officially recognized as a UNESCO world heritage site in 1996. Today, The A-Bomb Dome stands hauntingly almost exactly as it did following the atomic bomb blast that was equivalent to 12,500 tons of TNT.
Walking along the riverfront of the Memorial Peace Park in such a modern city… you see what is unspoken in the city of Hiroshima: The lasting impact of a terrifying living nightmare over 70 years ago. As sad as it made me feel, the preservation of the dome will never let the events of our past be forgotten, and hopefully not repeated.
The building stood because the force of the atomic bomb hit from a vertical angle and pushed against the buildings support pillars. In other words, it was so close to the bomb that the force pushed the building down instead of out. No one inside the exhibit hall survived the blast. The building was soon called “Genbaku” meaning “A-bomb” and was the only building so close to the explosion not completely obliterated.
The Peace Memorial Park & Monuments
The park was designed by Japanese architect Kenzo Tange on the location of the old Nakajima district as seen above. The park was established in the memory of the nuclear horror that became Hiroshima on August 6th 1945 and later Nagasaki on August 8th.
Today it is a beautiful park in downtown Hiroshima that sees over 1 million visitors annually. You can even see local singers and events set up on occasion around the park!
The Peace Memorial Museum is at the southern tip of the park.
Children’s Peace Monument
“This is our cry, this is our prayer: for building peace in the world”
The Children’s Peace Monument was established in 1958. Standing at the top of the statue with her paper crane in Sadako Sasaki, the child that died of leukemia from the atom bomb radiation. The girl who folded 1000 paper cranes in the hope of being granted a wish: peace.
Sadako passed away on October 25th 1955 at the age of 13. She was two years old during the atom bomb explosion. Her story is sad and real, but her story also represents the thousands of innocent children and other victims of nuclear warfare.
Sadako and her mother were caught out in the “black rain” which was radioactive ashen rain that fell on the city immediately following the explosion.
A book co-authored by Sadako’s brother is being translated into English and will be available on August 6th 2018. You can pre-order the book here.
The Peace Crane Project has challenge for you, make the smallest paper crane you can and send it by mail. The three smallest cranes will received a copy of the book and be sent to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.
One the monument, a boy and a girl are flying like angels along the sides of the monument. You can leave your own folded paper cranes around the monument in memory and in gesture for peace and nuclear disarmament.
Peace Bell
Please ring this bell! Don’t be shy! Ring the bell for world peace! Tourists are encouraged to ring this giant bell built in 1964, donated by the Greek Embassy and designed by Masahiko Katori.
You may have to wait a little while for your turn, but it’s well worth it as part of the tour of the memorial park.
The bell has a large map of the world on the outside and Greek words “know yourself”.
Memorial Cenotaph
The arc shaped monument actually covers a tomb with all the names of the deceased from the atomic bombing. The tomb was erected on August 6th 1952. The arc is the physical representation of a shelter for the souls of the victims.
The tomb is inscribed:
“Please rest in peace, for we shall not repeat the error” in Japanese. However the author issued an English translation:
“Let all the souls here rest in peace for we shall not repeat the evil”
Directions to the Peace Memorial Park
Getting there by “Hiroden” Streetcar
Several of the old Streetcars survived the atom bomb. thus becoming one of the key features of the city of Hiroshima. You can jump on the modern “Hiroden” streetcar and make your way around the city! It’s the best way to get around!
Discount Tickets are available for a 1 day Streetcar + Ferry pass for 840 Yen ($8.00 USD)
Additional 3 or 5 day passes are available (2nd Link) until March 30th 2019. I received a confirmation from the local bus association for the extension of the sale to March 2019.
I never really plan these things, but I was truly fortunate to travel to Hiroshima during the 72nd anniversary of the Atom Bomb Blast. The lantern festival and morning ceremony see thousands gather in memory and celebration of a city that has seen true devastation, a dark shadow of a history that lasted generations. It’s a truly inspiring place and I appreciate the forethought of the Japanese to preserve the ruins of the A-bomb Dome and dedicate a wonderful park to the message that nuclear war should never happen ever again. That nuclear weapons are not “eloquent” but the physical manifestation of humanity’s evil.
I’ve visited the Killing Fields in Cambodia, the War Remnants Museum of Vietnam and now Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park and cried at all three. Words will never explain the presence of so much death, even after so many decades, it lingers like a childhood nightmare. It’s a place you must experience fist hand, no number of documentaries or books can reach into your heart like this can…
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