Documenting Hiroshima of 1945: September 25, Yasuda Girls’ High School reopens in Hiroshima’s outskirts
Sep. 25, 2024
by Minami Yamashita, Staff Writer
On September 25, 1945, Yasuda Girls’ High School (present day Yasuda Girls’ Junior High School and High School, in Hiroshima’s Naka Ward) held an opening ceremony for its second school term of the year. The school’s original building, located around 1.4 kilometers north of the hypocenter, had been burned down in the atomic bombing, forcing it to close its doors. However, after leasing an auditorium at Funakoshi National School, located in the outskirts of Hiroshima, the school sent out notices and put up posters in a variety of locations in the city announcing the resumption of classes.
According to the publication Yasuda Gakuen 40-nen Shi (in English, ‘Yasuda Gakuen 40-year history’), 65 students were registered as students at the school soon after it reopened. Of that total, only three were first-year students, given that many students of the same age had experienced the atomic bombing and died while being mobilized to do building-demolition work near the prefectural government offices in the central part of Hiroshima.
In a school journal written at that time and now archived at the Yasuda Gakuen Educational Foundation are recorded the proceedings of the opening ceremony. “Students are seated by school year in the auditorium, where they salute and bow in the direction of the Imperial Palace, sing the national anthem, listen to the school principal’s speech, sing the school anthem in chorus, and salute, bringing the ceremony to a close.” After the ceremony, the journal indicated, “A survey was conducted of all students regarding their current address, means of commuting to school, family situation, and so on.” On the day after the opening ceremony, September 26, a joint funeral service was held for the students who had died.
Ryo Yasuda, founder of the school who was severely wounded after experiencing the atomic bombing in the principal’s office, wrote in the publication about the school’s 40-year history how initially, “I thought it would be impossible to rebuild the school.” The school had lost 13 teachers and employees and 315 students in the atomic bombing. However, Ms. Yasuda moved to rebuild the school because she was informed that alumni of the school had been brought to tears when they saw the school in ruins and believed the students should not be forced to lose their alma mater.
Yoshiko Kajimoto, 93, a resident of Hiroshima’s Nishi Ward who was a third-year student at the time, headed to Funakoshi National School after a friend had caught sight of a notice announcing the reopening of the school and asked her to return to school together. Ms. Kajimoto experienced the atomic bombing at a factory, located 2.3 kilometers from the hypocenter, where she had been mobilized to work and was sick in bed until the end of August due to injuries to her legs and bleeding gums. She said, “I looked forward to seeing my friends who had also suffered hardship at school.” She commuted to the school’s leased building on a train that was unfamiliar to her.
Starting in September, other schools that had lost their original school buildings, such as Hiroshima First Middle School (present-day Kokutaiji High School, in Hiroshima’s Naka Ward), also resumed classes, leasing classroom space from national schools. In every school, some of the students were missing.
(Originally published on September 25, 2024)
On September 25, 1945, Yasuda Girls’ High School (present day Yasuda Girls’ Junior High School and High School, in Hiroshima’s Naka Ward) held an opening ceremony for its second school term of the year. The school’s original building, located around 1.4 kilometers north of the hypocenter, had been burned down in the atomic bombing, forcing it to close its doors. However, after leasing an auditorium at Funakoshi National School, located in the outskirts of Hiroshima, the school sent out notices and put up posters in a variety of locations in the city announcing the resumption of classes.
According to the publication Yasuda Gakuen 40-nen Shi (in English, ‘Yasuda Gakuen 40-year history’), 65 students were registered as students at the school soon after it reopened. Of that total, only three were first-year students, given that many students of the same age had experienced the atomic bombing and died while being mobilized to do building-demolition work near the prefectural government offices in the central part of Hiroshima.
In a school journal written at that time and now archived at the Yasuda Gakuen Educational Foundation are recorded the proceedings of the opening ceremony. “Students are seated by school year in the auditorium, where they salute and bow in the direction of the Imperial Palace, sing the national anthem, listen to the school principal’s speech, sing the school anthem in chorus, and salute, bringing the ceremony to a close.” After the ceremony, the journal indicated, “A survey was conducted of all students regarding their current address, means of commuting to school, family situation, and so on.” On the day after the opening ceremony, September 26, a joint funeral service was held for the students who had died.
Ryo Yasuda, founder of the school who was severely wounded after experiencing the atomic bombing in the principal’s office, wrote in the publication about the school’s 40-year history how initially, “I thought it would be impossible to rebuild the school.” The school had lost 13 teachers and employees and 315 students in the atomic bombing. However, Ms. Yasuda moved to rebuild the school because she was informed that alumni of the school had been brought to tears when they saw the school in ruins and believed the students should not be forced to lose their alma mater.
Yoshiko Kajimoto, 93, a resident of Hiroshima’s Nishi Ward who was a third-year student at the time, headed to Funakoshi National School after a friend had caught sight of a notice announcing the reopening of the school and asked her to return to school together. Ms. Kajimoto experienced the atomic bombing at a factory, located 2.3 kilometers from the hypocenter, where she had been mobilized to work and was sick in bed until the end of August due to injuries to her legs and bleeding gums. She said, “I looked forward to seeing my friends who had also suffered hardship at school.” She commuted to the school’s leased building on a train that was unfamiliar to her.
Starting in September, other schools that had lost their original school buildings, such as Hiroshima First Middle School (present-day Kokutaiji High School, in Hiroshima’s Naka Ward), also resumed classes, leasing classroom space from national schools. In every school, some of the students were missing.
(Originally published on September 25, 2024)
