Documenting Hiroshima of 1945: November 6, scarcity of housing lumber, firewood and charcoal
Nov. 6, 2024
by Kyosuke Mizukawa, Senior Staff Writer
On November 6, 1945, three months after the atomic bombing, the Chugoku Shimbun newspaper reported in an article on its second page about the situation at the time in Hiroshima, which faced a shortage of critical materials needed to ward off the cold, under the headline, “What should be done for disaster victims in the winter?”
One of the materials in short supply was lumber necessary for rebuilding houses. The Hiroshima Prefectural government aimed to secure around 500,000 goku (a measurement equivalent to around 140,000 cubic meters) of wood materials for repairing partially destroyed houses and other structures. However, the available stock of lumber at the Hiroshima Prefectural Lumber Control Corporation, an organization responsible for the supply of such materials, was between around 140,000 and 150,000 goku, an amount making up less than one-third of the target volume. Housing companies, with plans to build 5,000 temporary housing units in Hiroshima City, had also requested the Lumber Control Corporation to provide building materials, but the article reported that “procurement would not be possible soon.”
According to the article, because the Lumber Control Corporation’s head office was located in the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall (present-day A-bomb Dome, in Hiroshima’s Naka Ward) near the hypocenter, the organization had “lost a large number of its staff” in the atomic bombing. In October, the corporation relocated to its site in the city’s present-day Nishi Ward, where it worked to procure materials for reconstruction, but the article reported that the organization had also been affected by “reduced transport capacity due to collapsed railways and roads” from wind and water damage.
In addition, a shortage of firewood and charcoal used as fuel was anticipated with winter’s approach. Companies involved in firewood and charcoal supply were reportedly forced to procure the materials, due to the effects of water damage, via the Hakubi Line, which linked the production region of Shimane Prefecture with Tottori and Okayama Prefectures.
Around the same time, the advertising column at the bottom of the Chugoku Shimbun’s pages repeatedly ran notices for memorial services as well as calls for missing person confirmations. In the November 5 edition of the newspaper, there was a notification that the Hiroshima Local Finance Bureau, whose head office was located in the area of Hatchobori (in the city’s present-day Naka Ward), would hold a memorial service on November 6. Including staff of the bureau, members of the Hiroshima Tax Office, a partner agency of the bureau, and students who had been mobilized to work for the bureau, a total of 144 people had been killed in the atomic bombing.
The advertising column of the newspaper editions published on November 5 and 6th carried the names of 12 “unaccounted for” employees of the Japan Home Ministry’s Chugoku-Shikoku Public Works Office, which had been housed in the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall, with the message, “If anyone is aware of their present status, please contact us immediately.” One of the 12 people listed in the ad was “Harue Kimura.” According to Ms. Kimura’s younger brother, Hideo Kimura, 89, who is a resident of Hiroshima’s Asaminami Ward, Harue had gone missing on August 6 after she left for work, and her remains have yet to be found.
(Originally published on November 6, 2024)
On November 6, 1945, three months after the atomic bombing, the Chugoku Shimbun newspaper reported in an article on its second page about the situation at the time in Hiroshima, which faced a shortage of critical materials needed to ward off the cold, under the headline, “What should be done for disaster victims in the winter?”
One of the materials in short supply was lumber necessary for rebuilding houses. The Hiroshima Prefectural government aimed to secure around 500,000 goku (a measurement equivalent to around 140,000 cubic meters) of wood materials for repairing partially destroyed houses and other structures. However, the available stock of lumber at the Hiroshima Prefectural Lumber Control Corporation, an organization responsible for the supply of such materials, was between around 140,000 and 150,000 goku, an amount making up less than one-third of the target volume. Housing companies, with plans to build 5,000 temporary housing units in Hiroshima City, had also requested the Lumber Control Corporation to provide building materials, but the article reported that “procurement would not be possible soon.”
According to the article, because the Lumber Control Corporation’s head office was located in the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall (present-day A-bomb Dome, in Hiroshima’s Naka Ward) near the hypocenter, the organization had “lost a large number of its staff” in the atomic bombing. In October, the corporation relocated to its site in the city’s present-day Nishi Ward, where it worked to procure materials for reconstruction, but the article reported that the organization had also been affected by “reduced transport capacity due to collapsed railways and roads” from wind and water damage.
In addition, a shortage of firewood and charcoal used as fuel was anticipated with winter’s approach. Companies involved in firewood and charcoal supply were reportedly forced to procure the materials, due to the effects of water damage, via the Hakubi Line, which linked the production region of Shimane Prefecture with Tottori and Okayama Prefectures.
Around the same time, the advertising column at the bottom of the Chugoku Shimbun’s pages repeatedly ran notices for memorial services as well as calls for missing person confirmations. In the November 5 edition of the newspaper, there was a notification that the Hiroshima Local Finance Bureau, whose head office was located in the area of Hatchobori (in the city’s present-day Naka Ward), would hold a memorial service on November 6. Including staff of the bureau, members of the Hiroshima Tax Office, a partner agency of the bureau, and students who had been mobilized to work for the bureau, a total of 144 people had been killed in the atomic bombing.
The advertising column of the newspaper editions published on November 5 and 6th carried the names of 12 “unaccounted for” employees of the Japan Home Ministry’s Chugoku-Shikoku Public Works Office, which had been housed in the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall, with the message, “If anyone is aware of their present status, please contact us immediately.” One of the 12 people listed in the ad was “Harue Kimura.” According to Ms. Kimura’s younger brother, Hideo Kimura, 89, who is a resident of Hiroshima’s Asaminami Ward, Harue had gone missing on August 6 after she left for work, and her remains have yet to be found.
(Originally published on November 6, 2024)
