Six A-bombed structures in Hiroshima, including Rest House, receive designation as national historic relics, along with Saijo Sake Brewery Group
Feb. 22, 2024
by Masanori Wada, Staff Writer
On January 21, a group of “Hiroshima A-bombed ruins,” consisting of six A-bombed buildings and structures located in Hiroshima City, were designated national historic relics. With that designation, the structures are eligible to receive subsidies from the national government for repair work and other needs, helping to ensure that these “silent witnesses” are preserved and passed on to future generations. On the same day, the Saijo Sake Brewery Group, located in Higashihiroshima City, became the first sake breweries to be designated national historic relics.
All of Hiroshima’s A-bombed relics are located within two kilometers of the hypocenter. Of those structures, the Rest House, in Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima’s Naka Ward, is located only 170 meters from the hypocenter, the second closest of the relics to the hypocenter, following the A-bomb Dome. At the time of the atomic bombing, the Rest House was being utilized as office space for the Fuel Rationing Union. Thirty-six of the people inside the building died in the bombing, and only one, who was in the building’s basement at the time, survived. During the period 2018–2020, the Hiroshima City government carried out renovations on the building, including improvements of its anti-seismic properties as a protection against earthquakes.
Other buildings of the Hiroshima A-bombed ruins located in the city’s centrally located Naka Ward are the former Bank of Japan, Hiroshima Branch (located 380 meters from the hypocenter), Honkawa Elementary School Peace Museum (410 meters), Fukuromachi Elementary School Peace Museum (460 meters), and remnants of the Chugoku District Military Headquarters (former air defense operations office; 790 meters). The other A-bombed structure receiving the designation is the bell tower of Tamonin Temple, located in the city’s Minami Ward (1,750 meters), the closest wooden A-bombed structure to the hypocenter.
In October of last year, Japan’s Council for Cultural Affairs submitted a report to Masahito Moriyama, Japan’s Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, calling for designation of the structures as national historic relics, based on the reasoning that they retained noticeable traces of the atomic bombing. The ministry announced designation of the structures in its official gazette on the same day, January 21. Following the A-bomb Dome and the “Nagasaki A-bombed ruins,” this was the third time that buildings conveying the tragedy of the atomic bombings were recognized as being national historic relics.
The Saijo Sake Brewery Group is located in the area of Saijo Sake Brewery Street, south of the JR Saijo station. The collection of buildings comprises the Enpogura Storehouse of the Hakubotan Sake Brewery, the First Storehouse of the Kamotsuru Sake Brewery, the Daikoku Storehouse of the Fukubijin Sake Brewery, and the former Hiroshima Prefecture Brewing Experiment Station (including the Shusenkan parlor area of the Kamoizumi Sake Brewery).
(Originally published on February 22, 2024)
On January 21, a group of “Hiroshima A-bombed ruins,” consisting of six A-bombed buildings and structures located in Hiroshima City, were designated national historic relics. With that designation, the structures are eligible to receive subsidies from the national government for repair work and other needs, helping to ensure that these “silent witnesses” are preserved and passed on to future generations. On the same day, the Saijo Sake Brewery Group, located in Higashihiroshima City, became the first sake breweries to be designated national historic relics.
All of Hiroshima’s A-bombed relics are located within two kilometers of the hypocenter. Of those structures, the Rest House, in Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima’s Naka Ward, is located only 170 meters from the hypocenter, the second closest of the relics to the hypocenter, following the A-bomb Dome. At the time of the atomic bombing, the Rest House was being utilized as office space for the Fuel Rationing Union. Thirty-six of the people inside the building died in the bombing, and only one, who was in the building’s basement at the time, survived. During the period 2018–2020, the Hiroshima City government carried out renovations on the building, including improvements of its anti-seismic properties as a protection against earthquakes.
Other buildings of the Hiroshima A-bombed ruins located in the city’s centrally located Naka Ward are the former Bank of Japan, Hiroshima Branch (located 380 meters from the hypocenter), Honkawa Elementary School Peace Museum (410 meters), Fukuromachi Elementary School Peace Museum (460 meters), and remnants of the Chugoku District Military Headquarters (former air defense operations office; 790 meters). The other A-bombed structure receiving the designation is the bell tower of Tamonin Temple, located in the city’s Minami Ward (1,750 meters), the closest wooden A-bombed structure to the hypocenter.
In October of last year, Japan’s Council for Cultural Affairs submitted a report to Masahito Moriyama, Japan’s Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, calling for designation of the structures as national historic relics, based on the reasoning that they retained noticeable traces of the atomic bombing. The ministry announced designation of the structures in its official gazette on the same day, January 21. Following the A-bomb Dome and the “Nagasaki A-bombed ruins,” this was the third time that buildings conveying the tragedy of the atomic bombings were recognized as being national historic relics.
The Saijo Sake Brewery Group is located in the area of Saijo Sake Brewery Street, south of the JR Saijo station. The collection of buildings comprises the Enpogura Storehouse of the Hakubotan Sake Brewery, the First Storehouse of the Kamotsuru Sake Brewery, the Daikoku Storehouse of the Fukubijin Sake Brewery, and the former Hiroshima Prefecture Brewing Experiment Station (including the Shusenkan parlor area of the Kamoizumi Sake Brewery).
(Originally published on February 22, 2024)
