Documenting Hiroshima of 1945: October 29, autumn festival held in temporary building at Shirakami-sha Shrine
Oct. 29, 2024
by Maho Yamamoto, Staff Writer
On October 29, 1945, an autumn festival was held at the Shirakami-sha Shrine, in the area of Komachi (in Hiroshima City’s present-day Naka Ward). The shrine building, located around 500 meters from the hypocenter, had collapsed due to the powerful A-bomb blast and was burned to the ground. For the festival on that date, a temporary shrine building had been erected on the shrine’s grounds.
According to the Record of the Hiroshima A-bomb War Disaster, published in 1971, “One worshipper, dressed in tattered clothes, was so moved that he clung to a log of the temporary stage and wept as he watched the festival and dances performed by the shrine maidens.” A venerated rocky outcrop, a pair of stone guardian lion-dogs, and the base of a stone lantern, among other structures, had survived the A-bombing intact.
The shrine’s origins date back to the 16th century, when the surrounding area was still part of the sea. It is said that white paper would be placed atop the rocky outcrop to prevent ship collisions, leading to that spot becoming the focal point of spiritual faith. A small shrine, later built on the site, was named “Shirakami.” According to Hiroshima Shiji Sajishi (in English, ‘Record of Hiroshima shrines and temples’), a journal published in 1972, Mori Terumoto, the founder of Hiroshima Castle, constructed a new shrine building there in 1591.
During the war, people used to visit the shrine to pray for victory. On the morning of August 6, 1945, worshippers were present there, and immediately after the atomic bombing, the burnt bodies of the dead remained on the shrine’s stone walkway. Katsuhiko Nogami, the 36-year-old head priest of the shrine at the time, along with his 33-year-old wife, five-year-old child, and infant were all killed in the bombing. Their remains were discovered in the living area of the shrine’s main office.
Hisao Munakata, shrine steward for both the Desakimori Shrine, located in the town of Kaita-cho in Hiroshima Prefecture, and the Shirakami Shrine took over the work of managing the latter shrine, clearing its incinerated ruins after surrounding the site with sacred rope. It is said that worshippers began to visit the shrine shortly after the atomic bombing, praying to the exposed rocky outcrop beneath the shrine building.
This year’s annual autumn festival will take place on the same date, October 29. Toshimichi Munakata, 56, head priest and great-grandson of the shrine’s former head priest, reflected on the events of 79 years ago. “I imagine the head priest conducted the festival with locals in mind, given that so many people had died in the atomic bombing,” said Mr. Munakata. The rocky outcrop, designated a city historical site after the war, and the stone guardian lion-dogs with their missing noses continue to serve as reminders of the atomic bombing on the shrine’s grounds.
(Originally published on October 29, 2024)
On October 29, 1945, an autumn festival was held at the Shirakami-sha Shrine, in the area of Komachi (in Hiroshima City’s present-day Naka Ward). The shrine building, located around 500 meters from the hypocenter, had collapsed due to the powerful A-bomb blast and was burned to the ground. For the festival on that date, a temporary shrine building had been erected on the shrine’s grounds.
According to the Record of the Hiroshima A-bomb War Disaster, published in 1971, “One worshipper, dressed in tattered clothes, was so moved that he clung to a log of the temporary stage and wept as he watched the festival and dances performed by the shrine maidens.” A venerated rocky outcrop, a pair of stone guardian lion-dogs, and the base of a stone lantern, among other structures, had survived the A-bombing intact.
The shrine’s origins date back to the 16th century, when the surrounding area was still part of the sea. It is said that white paper would be placed atop the rocky outcrop to prevent ship collisions, leading to that spot becoming the focal point of spiritual faith. A small shrine, later built on the site, was named “Shirakami.” According to Hiroshima Shiji Sajishi (in English, ‘Record of Hiroshima shrines and temples’), a journal published in 1972, Mori Terumoto, the founder of Hiroshima Castle, constructed a new shrine building there in 1591.
During the war, people used to visit the shrine to pray for victory. On the morning of August 6, 1945, worshippers were present there, and immediately after the atomic bombing, the burnt bodies of the dead remained on the shrine’s stone walkway. Katsuhiko Nogami, the 36-year-old head priest of the shrine at the time, along with his 33-year-old wife, five-year-old child, and infant were all killed in the bombing. Their remains were discovered in the living area of the shrine’s main office.
Hisao Munakata, shrine steward for both the Desakimori Shrine, located in the town of Kaita-cho in Hiroshima Prefecture, and the Shirakami Shrine took over the work of managing the latter shrine, clearing its incinerated ruins after surrounding the site with sacred rope. It is said that worshippers began to visit the shrine shortly after the atomic bombing, praying to the exposed rocky outcrop beneath the shrine building.
This year’s annual autumn festival will take place on the same date, October 29. Toshimichi Munakata, 56, head priest and great-grandson of the shrine’s former head priest, reflected on the events of 79 years ago. “I imagine the head priest conducted the festival with locals in mind, given that so many people had died in the atomic bombing,” said Mr. Munakata. The rocky outcrop, designated a city historical site after the war, and the stone guardian lion-dogs with their missing noses continue to serve as reminders of the atomic bombing on the shrine’s grounds.
(Originally published on October 29, 2024)
