@ 92 days until Hiroshima Summit: Remaining roof
Feb. 16, 2023
by Rina Yuasa, Staff Writer
The Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall (the present-day Atomic Bomb Dome, located in Hiroshima City’s Naka Ward), where exhibits and fairs had been frequently held, discontinued its operations at the end of March, 1944, when the war regime was further strengthened. The hall began to be used as the Chugoku-Shikoku Public Works Office of the Home Ministry and the office of the Hiroshima Prefectural lumber company, in addition to the offices of other institutions.
On the morning of August 6, 1945, an atomic bomb exploded about 600 meters above the hall. Roughly 30 staff members were killed instantly in the hall, situated 160 meters from the hypocenter. It is said the temperature on the surface of the ground reached 3,000 to 4,000 degrees Celsius by the heat rays. The hall was completely destroyed by the fire. However, the central part of the dome-shaped roof managed to remain standing as it received the blast vertically from almost right above. (This photo was taken by Masami Oki on August 20, 1945, and provided by the Association of Photographers of the Atomic Bomb Destruction of Hiroshima).
The remaining rubble scattered on the grounds of the A-bomb Dome and a memorial monument for the staff members convey this was a site where people died a cruel death.
(Originally published on February 16, 2023)
The Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall (the present-day Atomic Bomb Dome, located in Hiroshima City’s Naka Ward), where exhibits and fairs had been frequently held, discontinued its operations at the end of March, 1944, when the war regime was further strengthened. The hall began to be used as the Chugoku-Shikoku Public Works Office of the Home Ministry and the office of the Hiroshima Prefectural lumber company, in addition to the offices of other institutions.
On the morning of August 6, 1945, an atomic bomb exploded about 600 meters above the hall. Roughly 30 staff members were killed instantly in the hall, situated 160 meters from the hypocenter. It is said the temperature on the surface of the ground reached 3,000 to 4,000 degrees Celsius by the heat rays. The hall was completely destroyed by the fire. However, the central part of the dome-shaped roof managed to remain standing as it received the blast vertically from almost right above. (This photo was taken by Masami Oki on August 20, 1945, and provided by the Association of Photographers of the Atomic Bomb Destruction of Hiroshima).
The remaining rubble scattered on the grounds of the A-bomb Dome and a memorial monument for the staff members convey this was a site where people died a cruel death.
(Originally published on February 16, 2023)
