@99 days until Hiroshima Summit: Ujina Shipbuilding Yard
Feb. 9, 2023
by Yumie Kubo, Staff Writer
Before the Grand Prince Hotel Hiroshima opened at its present location in Motoujina-machi in Minami Ward, Hiroshima City, in 1994, the Ujina Shipbuilding Yard stood there. The shipbuilding yard, established in 1919, built military ships.
According to an account written by an employee of the shipbuilding yard, about 160 employees were mobilized to the south side of present-day Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park (in the city’s Naka ward) for the war effort of breaking down houses to create fire lanes on August 6, 1945. The Record of the Hiroshima A-bomb War Disaster, compiled by the Hiroshima City government, described that they were completely annihilated. The company dormitory, located in present-day Motoujina-machi, served as a temporary shelter for many A-bomb survivors fleeing from the central part of Hiroshima City.
This photo, provided by a reader of the Chugoku Shimbun, was taken in 1965. The shipbuilding yard practically went bankrupt in 1977. In the Grand Prince Hotel Hiroshima, which was built on the former site of the shipbuilding yard, international conferences have been convened in succession. The hotel will be used as a venue for the historic G7 summit this coming May.
(Originally published on February 9, 2023)
Before the Grand Prince Hotel Hiroshima opened at its present location in Motoujina-machi in Minami Ward, Hiroshima City, in 1994, the Ujina Shipbuilding Yard stood there. The shipbuilding yard, established in 1919, built military ships.
According to an account written by an employee of the shipbuilding yard, about 160 employees were mobilized to the south side of present-day Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park (in the city’s Naka ward) for the war effort of breaking down houses to create fire lanes on August 6, 1945. The Record of the Hiroshima A-bomb War Disaster, compiled by the Hiroshima City government, described that they were completely annihilated. The company dormitory, located in present-day Motoujina-machi, served as a temporary shelter for many A-bomb survivors fleeing from the central part of Hiroshima City.
This photo, provided by a reader of the Chugoku Shimbun, was taken in 1965. The shipbuilding yard practically went bankrupt in 1977. In the Grand Prince Hotel Hiroshima, which was built on the former site of the shipbuilding yard, international conferences have been convened in succession. The hotel will be used as a venue for the historic G7 summit this coming May.
(Originally published on February 9, 2023)
