++ Peace Memorial Park ++
 The Park, an area of 122,100m, includes the delta surrounded by two rivers, Motoyasu River and Hon River and the 100-meter-wide Peace Boulevard, and the area where the Atomic Bomb Dome stands.

  When the bomb was dropped, few survived the total devastation in the Nakajima district close to the hypocenter. In accordance with the Hiroshima Peace Memorial City Reconstruction Law enacted in 1949, the entire area was devoted to a peace memorial facility. The Peace Memorial Park, including the Peace Memorial Museum and Peace Memorial Hall, was built according to a plan submitted by a group of four architects headed by Kenzo Tange. According to their design, the Peace Memorial Museum, the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims, the Flame of Peace and the A-bomb Dome can be seen in a straight line from the Peace Boulevard.


++ Cenotaph for the Atomic Bomb Victims ++
ireihi  The official name of the Cenotaph for the Atomic Bomb Victims is the Memorial Monument for Hiroshima, the City of Peace. At 8:15 a.m. August 6, 1945, an atomic bomb was dropped on human beings for the first time in history, killing hundreds of thousands of people. This memorial is the most important in the park, because it is dedicated to all victims who have died as a result of the bomb. The Cenotaph was designed in the shape of an ancient Japanese clay house to shield the souls of victims from the wind and rain.

  You can see a stone chest under the arch-shaped cenotaph. In that chest there is the register of the names of atomic bomb victims. Every August 5, names of those who have died from atomic bomb diseases are added to the register in the chest with all the other names of the dead.

  As of August 6, 2001, 221,893 names have been recorded, including those from other countries. Between Aug. 6, 2000 and Aug. 5, 2001, 4,757 people were added to the list. That a number of people still are dying from the effects of radiation is unbelievable.

hibun  The Peace Memorial Ceremony takes place in front of the cenotaph on August 6 each year. The Mayor of Hiroshima reads the Peace Declaration to the world and people pray that there will be No More Hiroshimas and Nagasakis, and that there will be No More Wars in the world. This is also the spot where people stage a sit-in to protest nuclear testing immediately after a nuclear test is carried out.

  The inscription in Japanese on the stone chest reads: "Let all the souls here rest in peace; for we shall not repeat the evil." It bears a strong message of never repeating a tragedy causing a "world of a hell" as well as mourning the deceased. We must hand over this message to the next generation.

(Photo:Akemi Satoda)


++ Flame of Peace ++
Flame of Peace
 The Flame of Peace symbolizes the desire for a world free of nuclear weapons. It will continue to burn until nuclear arms are no longer a threat to humanity and universal peace.

  The abstract pedestal of two open hands was lit in l964 with fire brought by various religious groups and from factory furnaces.

(Photo:Akemi Satoda)


++ Pond of Peace ++
  The Pond of Peace was made to console the souls of the atomic bomb victims who died crying out for help and water in the intense heat. It encircles the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims and is designed like the Cenotaph floating up against the water. It is cleaned up by citizens twice a year.


++ Motoyasu Bridge ++
Motoyasu Bridge  The Motoyasu Bridge was an important clue in determining the point of the explosion. The blast of the bomb struck the bridge directly from above, so that the railings on both sides of the bridge were pushed outward and fell into the river. The capstones that covered stone lanterns on both sides of the bridge were also moved outward toward the edge of the bridge.

  Because of this the scientific investigation team decided that the bomb must have exploded directly over the bridge. The floor of the bridge itself was not heavily damaged and people continued to use it. It was reconstructed in l992.

(Photo:Katsumi Sasaki)



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