Hiroshima horrors endure through memorial and survivors
The Peace Memorial Museum and the survivors of the atomic bomb are a reminder of the horror that took place on August 6, 1945. As the number of survivors alive today dwindles, documenting stories becomes ever more vital.
Remembering the tragic events of August 1945
What was previously burnt rubble is now the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima City. The first of two atomic bombs was dropped on Hiroshima in August 1945, killing around half of the city's 350,000 population. Almost everything within a 2000 meter-radius of the hypocenter was incinerated. Three days after the Hiroshima tragedy, another atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki.
Museum and memories
Located in the Peace Park created in the aftermath of the war, the museum, designed by Kenzo Tange, opened its doors in 1955. Renovated in 2019, it highlights testimonies of survivors, known as the "hibakusha," and offers public talks where they share their stories. At the museum it is possible to watch a virtual re-enactment of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
Exhibits bring tragedy closer to home
The museum displays objects in their original state that bear witness to the violence of the explosion, including the clothes that people wore, the bags that they carried, and the daily necessities that were in their homes.
Conveying the horror
The violence of the explosion is illustrated through objects such as this burnt tricycle belonging to three-year-old child Shinichi Tetsuya. It was first buried with the boy's remains, then dug up by his father who wanted to convey the horror of nuclear weapons.
Icon for peace
Sadako Sasaki's parents bequeathed a number of accessories that once belonged to her to the museum. The little girl, exposed to radiation at the age of two, died of leukemia. A statue of "genbaku no ko no zo" — literally "Statue of the Children of the Atomic Bomb" — is displayed at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima City. The model of the statue is Sasaki, who became an icon for peace.
Ensuring stories don't fade
Sadae Kasaoka was at home, 3.5 kilometers (2.2 miles) from the hypocenter of the explosion from the atomic bomb. "I saw in the sky the color of the rising sun, and loud roaring sound. The window broke, shattering into pieces that came flying toward me." In 2005, after years of silence, she became an A-bomb witness, and is now part of the survivors and successors program founded by Hiroshima City.
Vivid memories of horror
This drawing, made by student Minami Ogawa from Hiroshima, is based on the accounts of survivor Sadae Kasaoka and is used in her presentation to illustrate her story. The 12-year-old Kasaoka lost her parents in the bombing. Her father came home severely burned, and she couldn’t recognize him. He died two days later.
Genbaku Dome: Only structure left from destruction
Genbaku dome, near by the Memorial Park, is the only structure left after the bomb exploded. It has remained a symbol of the terror and destructive force of nuclear weapons. In 1996, it was registered as a World Cultural Heritage Site.