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Hiroshima Insight

Hiroshima Municipal First Technical School

Preserving a list of 53 victims

Hiroshima Municipal First Technical School was founded in 1939. At the time of the atomic bombing, the school was located in Shinonomecho (part of present-day Minami Ward) and there were three courses of study: mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and industrial chemistry.

In 1945, Toshiyuki Miyake, 82, was in his third year at the school. “Many of the boys hoped to work at a munitions factory or transformer substation in the future,” he recalled.

Following the war, in 1948, the school was discontinued and Hiroshima Municipal Technical High School was established. Then, in 1949, the institution underwent, in conjunction with other schools, a sweeping reorganization and was renamed Minami High School. Ultimately, it was succeeded by Hiroshima Prefectural Technical High School, located in Deshio, Minami Ward.

The office of the alumni association has faithfully preserved a copy of the list of students who died in the atomic bombing. The list includes the names of 50 students and three teachers who perished while helping to create fire lanes in Kakomachi and Tsurumicho (both part of present-day Naka Ward), to prepare for possible air strikes, or working in munitions factories. It is likely, however, that the death toll from the school was even higher.