Documenting Hiroshima of 1945: In November, national school, girls’ high school close
Nov. 27, 2024
by Maho Yamamoto, Staff Writer
In November 1945, Kodo National School, in the area of Nekoya-cho (in Hiroshima City’s present-day Naka Ward), determined that it would close. The three-story reinforced concrete school building remained amid the ruins around 700 meters west of the hypocenter. However, many officials of the religious organization Senkyobu, which ran the school, were killed in the atomic bombing, and there were no plans to reopen.
The school was originally founded in 1879 as Kodokan, a private school for followers of the Jodo Shinshu sect of Pure Land Buddhism. Five siblings including Bunjiro Yoshida, 90, a resident of Hiroshima’s Naka Ward, attended the school. His parents ran a wholesale business selling pickles and traditional foods in the area of Nishi Kuken-cho (in the city’s present-day Naka Ward), near their home. Children from other family retail shops also were studying at the school.
On August 6, Mr. Yoshida, a fifth-year student at the time, was in the former village of Tsudani (present-day area of Kitahiroshima-cho, Hiroshima Prefecture), where he and other students had been evacuated in large groups. At that time, parents of the evacuated children had gathered at the school for a visit. Mr. Yoshida heard from his friend’s father that his mother, Hisako, was late because it had taken her a long time to make rice cakes with sweet red beans for the children, which delayed the departure of the entire group. “I thought that some people might have died in the bombing because they were waiting for my mother, which broke my heart,” Mr. Yoshida said. His older and younger sisters also died at the family’s home.
In September, the school informed parents and guardians that “there is no prospect of the school opening for the time being,” and advised them to transfer to a different school. On October 27, the school applied to the prefectural government for permission to close, which was granted on December 10. Around 160 children whose lives had been spared due to the evacuation lost their families in the bombing and became scattered about. Mr. Yoshida, having lost his home, attended Kawakami National School (in present-day Higashihiroshima City) until his sixth year, due to his father’s work, unaware that his former school would close.
Part of the Kodo National School building, which survived the fires, was leased by the former Sotoku Junior High School (present-day Sotoku Junior and Senior High School) of the same religious sect. According to Sotoku Kinengo (in English, ‘Sotoku Commemorative Magazine’), published in 1964, “Just as the occupation forces were considering converting the school building into a dance hall, Sotoku School, with its deep connections to Buddhism, was happily able to lease the building.”
In November 1945, the private Nishi Girls’ High School also placed an advertisement in the November 15 edition of the Chugoku Shimbun newspaper announcing the closure of its school. The school building, located in the area of Higashikanon-machi (in Hiroshima’s present-day Nishi Ward), had been completely destroyed and burned down in the atomic bombing. First- and second-year students had been mobilized for building-demolition work in the area of Koami-cho (in the city’s present-day Naka Ward). According to the Record of the Hiroshima A-bomb War Disaster, published in 1971, 217 students were confirmed to have died in the atomic bombing.
(Originally published on November 27, 2024)
In November 1945, Kodo National School, in the area of Nekoya-cho (in Hiroshima City’s present-day Naka Ward), determined that it would close. The three-story reinforced concrete school building remained amid the ruins around 700 meters west of the hypocenter. However, many officials of the religious organization Senkyobu, which ran the school, were killed in the atomic bombing, and there were no plans to reopen.
The school was originally founded in 1879 as Kodokan, a private school for followers of the Jodo Shinshu sect of Pure Land Buddhism. Five siblings including Bunjiro Yoshida, 90, a resident of Hiroshima’s Naka Ward, attended the school. His parents ran a wholesale business selling pickles and traditional foods in the area of Nishi Kuken-cho (in the city’s present-day Naka Ward), near their home. Children from other family retail shops also were studying at the school.
On August 6, Mr. Yoshida, a fifth-year student at the time, was in the former village of Tsudani (present-day area of Kitahiroshima-cho, Hiroshima Prefecture), where he and other students had been evacuated in large groups. At that time, parents of the evacuated children had gathered at the school for a visit. Mr. Yoshida heard from his friend’s father that his mother, Hisako, was late because it had taken her a long time to make rice cakes with sweet red beans for the children, which delayed the departure of the entire group. “I thought that some people might have died in the bombing because they were waiting for my mother, which broke my heart,” Mr. Yoshida said. His older and younger sisters also died at the family’s home.
In September, the school informed parents and guardians that “there is no prospect of the school opening for the time being,” and advised them to transfer to a different school. On October 27, the school applied to the prefectural government for permission to close, which was granted on December 10. Around 160 children whose lives had been spared due to the evacuation lost their families in the bombing and became scattered about. Mr. Yoshida, having lost his home, attended Kawakami National School (in present-day Higashihiroshima City) until his sixth year, due to his father’s work, unaware that his former school would close.
Part of the Kodo National School building, which survived the fires, was leased by the former Sotoku Junior High School (present-day Sotoku Junior and Senior High School) of the same religious sect. According to Sotoku Kinengo (in English, ‘Sotoku Commemorative Magazine’), published in 1964, “Just as the occupation forces were considering converting the school building into a dance hall, Sotoku School, with its deep connections to Buddhism, was happily able to lease the building.”
In November 1945, the private Nishi Girls’ High School also placed an advertisement in the November 15 edition of the Chugoku Shimbun newspaper announcing the closure of its school. The school building, located in the area of Higashikanon-machi (in Hiroshima’s present-day Nishi Ward), had been completely destroyed and burned down in the atomic bombing. First- and second-year students had been mobilized for building-demolition work in the area of Koami-cho (in the city’s present-day Naka Ward). According to the Record of the Hiroshima A-bomb War Disaster, published in 1971, 217 students were confirmed to have died in the atomic bombing.
(Originally published on November 27, 2024)
