Striving to fill voids in Hiroshima—Recreating cityscapes: Former Tenjin-machi Kitagumi resident’s photo album of people’s lives near hypocenter before A-bombing to be exhibited by City starting March 26
Mar. 21, 2022
by Kyosuke Mizukawa, Senior Staff Writer
A former resident in the area once known as Tenjin-machi Kitagumi who now lives in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture kept an album of about 30 photographs that capture the area’s cityscapes and lives of its residents. The Tenjin-machi Kitagumi area was located near the Hiroshima atomic bombing hypocenter, where the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park is now situated. The Hiroshima City government is scheduled to exhibit to the public remnants of the area, which was devastated in the atomic bombing, starting on March 26, with the aim of strengthening its message about the inhumane nature of nuclear weapons. Staff at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum remarked, “The photo album is invaluable because so few photos remain that show the area prior to the atomic bombing.”
The album was left behind by the late Hiroshi Yoneda, whose parents managed the Yoneda Kyoto-style dyed goods shop in the former Tenjin-machi Kitagumi area. Photos in the album show a variety of scenes, including the shop front with its displays of gorgeous fabric samples, his family’s home at the rear of the shop, the neighborhood streets crowded with shops and houses, and a tea ceremony gathering held in the neighborhood. One photo is of the Mutoku Kindergarten, which was located in the former area of Zaimoku-cho, adjoining Tenjin-machi Kitagumi to the west.
At the time of the atomic bombing, Mr. Yoneda was a university student and lived in the Kanto region of Japan. He lost four members of his family in the bombing, including his mother and oldest brother, who were home at the time. After Mr. Yoneda died in 2018 at the age of 95, Seiso Yoneda, 86, Hiroshi’s nephew who lives in Matsuyama City in Ehime Prefecture on the island of Shikoku, held on to the album. Seiso was not caught up in the atomic bombing that day because he had been evacuated to an area outside the city.
On March 26, Hiroshima City will open the doors of a facility for the exhibit of A-bombed structural remnants in the area where the former Tenjin-machi Kitagumi was located, revealing the remains of burned out buildings, and so on, to the public. In fiscal 2022, the city plans to start development on a road within the Peace Park beside the remains of the old roadway Tenjin-machi suji, which in those days ran through the Kitagumi area in a north-south direction. Seiso will donate the image data of the photos in the album to the museum in hopes that the memory of the area before the bombing and the devastation after the bombing can be passed down to future generations.
(Originally published on March 21, 2022)
A former resident in the area once known as Tenjin-machi Kitagumi who now lives in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture kept an album of about 30 photographs that capture the area’s cityscapes and lives of its residents. The Tenjin-machi Kitagumi area was located near the Hiroshima atomic bombing hypocenter, where the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park is now situated. The Hiroshima City government is scheduled to exhibit to the public remnants of the area, which was devastated in the atomic bombing, starting on March 26, with the aim of strengthening its message about the inhumane nature of nuclear weapons. Staff at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum remarked, “The photo album is invaluable because so few photos remain that show the area prior to the atomic bombing.”
The album was left behind by the late Hiroshi Yoneda, whose parents managed the Yoneda Kyoto-style dyed goods shop in the former Tenjin-machi Kitagumi area. Photos in the album show a variety of scenes, including the shop front with its displays of gorgeous fabric samples, his family’s home at the rear of the shop, the neighborhood streets crowded with shops and houses, and a tea ceremony gathering held in the neighborhood. One photo is of the Mutoku Kindergarten, which was located in the former area of Zaimoku-cho, adjoining Tenjin-machi Kitagumi to the west.
At the time of the atomic bombing, Mr. Yoneda was a university student and lived in the Kanto region of Japan. He lost four members of his family in the bombing, including his mother and oldest brother, who were home at the time. After Mr. Yoneda died in 2018 at the age of 95, Seiso Yoneda, 86, Hiroshi’s nephew who lives in Matsuyama City in Ehime Prefecture on the island of Shikoku, held on to the album. Seiso was not caught up in the atomic bombing that day because he had been evacuated to an area outside the city.
On March 26, Hiroshima City will open the doors of a facility for the exhibit of A-bombed structural remnants in the area where the former Tenjin-machi Kitagumi was located, revealing the remains of burned out buildings, and so on, to the public. In fiscal 2022, the city plans to start development on a road within the Peace Park beside the remains of the old roadway Tenjin-machi suji, which in those days ran through the Kitagumi area in a north-south direction. Seiso will donate the image data of the photos in the album to the museum in hopes that the memory of the area before the bombing and the devastation after the bombing can be passed down to future generations.
(Originally published on March 21, 2022)
