The rebuild of Hiroshima – a monument to human evils, hope and resilience

For many people visiting Japan, Hiroshima is near the top of the list of places to visit. There’s something morbid about this. Of course there is. As humans, we are attracted to tragedy, and Hiroshima – which in 1945 was largely destroyed by an atomic bomb, killing around 100,000 people – is one of the world’s greatest tragedies.

Every year, millions visit the city to learn about this tragic past. Bus loads of tourists and school trips – as well as, often, political delegations – visit the exceptional Peace Memorial Museum to learn about these horrors, with the aim of ensuring there are no more Hiroshimas. It sits within the  Peace Memorial Park, filled with memorials and monuments to the victims of the bomb including the sobering A-Bomb Dome, the ruins of the only structure that remained standing in the area, and the Peace Flame, which will continue burning until we have no more nuclear bombs. 

People also visit the city to catch a ferry to the indescribably beautiful Miyajima Island, with its cheeky deer, floating shrine and primeval forest. But amidst all of this is a walkable, modern, clean and friendly city – similar to many other Japanese cities, with brilliant transport links.

Miyajima Island, off the coast of Hiroshima.

Rebuilding a city

After the war finished, there was a huge civic effort to get Hiroshima’s services back up and running. But as far as rebuilding went, there was a lack of resources – both in terms of money, and people. In the years after the war, the Mayor lobbied the government, and in 1949 a law was passed. Hiroshima would be a Peace Memorial City, recognising its importance within human history.

Government and international money flooded in. Architectural competitions were launched. The rebuild began. The city was to be rebuilt on a grid-like street structure, similar to the one it had before the war. Japanese – and Hiroshima-based – architects played a key role – but with a huge level of international attention, it also became a place for cross-cultural exchange, with plenty of Western-designed building. 

But how to build a city that respects the traumatic history of Hiroshima, while looking to the future? Kenzō Tange, a Japanese architect, was key in Hiroshima’s answer to this question. After winning a public competition, he designed the Peace Memorial Park and Museum, a centrepiece of Hiroshima – and a unique place of reflection. Facing the park would be the 100m wide Peace Boulevard – initially a military plan during the war to provide a firebreak in case of a disaster, now a symbol for peace.

By the end of the 1950s, the Peace Park was completed – and the historic Hiroshima Castle was rebuilt. Now, it is a vibrant modern city. As well as the tourist sites, it has a buzzing downtown, with long pedestrian arcades and delicious food – a highlight is the Okonomiyaki Village.

The human cost of the rebuild 

It’s worth mentioning that the rebuild wasn’t all positive. Following the bomb – and especially with the rebuild initially being slow, due to a lack of resources – people built their own ‘illegal’ homes.

Thousands were forced to move from areas earmarked for development, often members of the ‘underclass’ and Korean labourers. At one point, more than 3,000 people were living on the riverbank with no access to running water, with regular fires. This remained an issue until large numbers of high-rise flats were built in the 1970s. 

Why does Hiroshima’s rebuild matter? 

The atomic bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki are one of the most important and tragic moments in human history. The rebuild, too, is important – and the city that Hiroshima is now. It’s a living monument to the evils we as a species subject each other to – but also to our resilience and our ability to rebuild.

For this reason, it remains important in a modern global context. As a peace city, the local government continues to advocate for the abolition of nuclear weapons.The Mayor chairs the ‘Mayors for Peace’ organisation – and the city regularly hosts international conferences and summits.

I’ll finish with a quote from Kazumi Matsui, Mayor of Hiroshima (as of 2024): “Humans destroyed Hiroshima, but humans also rebuilt it.”

“This is a holy site. Somewhere people can come to compare the horrors of the past with the city Hiroshima has become today.”

Sources:

• Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum
• Hiroshima for Global Peace, Hiroshima’s party to reconstruction
• Story of cities #24: how Hiroshima rose from the ashes of nuclear destruction (Justin McCurry, the Guardian)
• Activities and roles played by architects in the reconstruction of Hiroshima after its Atomic Building (Ming Li and David Richard Neill, International review for spatial planning and sustainable development)
• The role of post-war reconstruction planning in Hiroshima’s image-shift to a peace memorial city (Allam Alkazei and Kosuke Matsubara, the 18th International Planning History Society Conference – Yokohama, July 2018)

Thanks for visiting my blog! This post may contain affiliate links - which means if you make a purchase, I'll receive a small commission, at no extra cost to yourself. This helps me keep this site running for free.

Share this:

• X
• Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...

Latest posts