Documenting Hiroshima of 1945: December 6, Hiroshima mayor announces “transformation to City of Education”
Dec. 7, 2024
by Kyosuke Mizukawa, Senior Staff Writer
On December 6, 1945, Hiroshima City Mayor Shichiro Kihara made an inaugural address at an extraordinary city council meeting he was attending for the first time since assuming the mayoral post on October 22. According to minutes of the Hiroshima City Council meeting, Mr. Kihara said, “I offer my heartfelt condolences and prayers for the repose of victims’ souls.” He added, “The disaster in Hiroshima City was truly a great tragedy on a global scale.” While referring to Senkichi Awaya, the previous mayor of Hiroshima who was killed in the atomic bombing, the mayor mourned the deaths of the countless number of A-bombing victims and outlined his envisioned path to recovery.
What the mayor announced in the speech was a major transformation of the character of the city, which had developed into a “military city” starting in the Meiji Era (1868–1912). He argued that the city should move toward “construction of a new Hiroshima as a city of education for students,” revealing his willingness to realize a “City of Peace and Education, the polar opposite of a military city.” Many Army facilities, which had been concentrated in the city’s central area surrounding Hiroshima Castle, had been destroyed in the bombing.
Mr. Kihara also called for the transition of former military land owned by the national government to land owned by the city, as well as for the restoration of Hiroshima Port, which had long served as transportation hub for the military, as a commercial and industrial port. Amid flooding damage caused by the Makurazaki Typhoon in September, he raised the issue of disaster-prevention measures for the Ota River. He also expressed his idea of putting effort into obtaining more subsidies from the national government than other war-damaged cities.
According to the City Council meeting minutes, the next meeting after the one on December 6 was held on December 26. The city councilors asked questions about the mayor’s “City of Education” vision, including about the prospects for schools originally located in the city returning after many had resumed classes outside the city due to damaged school buildings.
There were some instances of government agencies once located in the city moving to areas outside the city after their offices had been damaged in the bombing. On December 26, the City Council unanimously passed an opinion statement indicating it would call on public offices and schools to “return to the city” and noting that the city government should promote their return.
The meeting minutes for that day also included a response from Shinso Hamai, the deputy mayor who was 40 at the time, regarding measures to confront the housing shortage issue. At the time of the bombing, Mr. Hamai, manager of the city government’s distribution section, devoted himself to securing provisions for citizens. Upon request from Mr. Kihara, Mr. Hamai had just been appointed deputy mayor on December 12. In April 1947, he became the first mayor selected in a public election, and read aloud the city’s first peace declaration that year.
(Originally published on December 7, 2024)
On December 6, 1945, Hiroshima City Mayor Shichiro Kihara made an inaugural address at an extraordinary city council meeting he was attending for the first time since assuming the mayoral post on October 22. According to minutes of the Hiroshima City Council meeting, Mr. Kihara said, “I offer my heartfelt condolences and prayers for the repose of victims’ souls.” He added, “The disaster in Hiroshima City was truly a great tragedy on a global scale.” While referring to Senkichi Awaya, the previous mayor of Hiroshima who was killed in the atomic bombing, the mayor mourned the deaths of the countless number of A-bombing victims and outlined his envisioned path to recovery.
What the mayor announced in the speech was a major transformation of the character of the city, which had developed into a “military city” starting in the Meiji Era (1868–1912). He argued that the city should move toward “construction of a new Hiroshima as a city of education for students,” revealing his willingness to realize a “City of Peace and Education, the polar opposite of a military city.” Many Army facilities, which had been concentrated in the city’s central area surrounding Hiroshima Castle, had been destroyed in the bombing.
Mr. Kihara also called for the transition of former military land owned by the national government to land owned by the city, as well as for the restoration of Hiroshima Port, which had long served as transportation hub for the military, as a commercial and industrial port. Amid flooding damage caused by the Makurazaki Typhoon in September, he raised the issue of disaster-prevention measures for the Ota River. He also expressed his idea of putting effort into obtaining more subsidies from the national government than other war-damaged cities.
According to the City Council meeting minutes, the next meeting after the one on December 6 was held on December 26. The city councilors asked questions about the mayor’s “City of Education” vision, including about the prospects for schools originally located in the city returning after many had resumed classes outside the city due to damaged school buildings.
There were some instances of government agencies once located in the city moving to areas outside the city after their offices had been damaged in the bombing. On December 26, the City Council unanimously passed an opinion statement indicating it would call on public offices and schools to “return to the city” and noting that the city government should promote their return.
The meeting minutes for that day also included a response from Shinso Hamai, the deputy mayor who was 40 at the time, regarding measures to confront the housing shortage issue. At the time of the bombing, Mr. Hamai, manager of the city government’s distribution section, devoted himself to securing provisions for citizens. Upon request from Mr. Kihara, Mr. Hamai had just been appointed deputy mayor on December 12. In April 1947, he became the first mayor selected in a public election, and read aloud the city’s first peace declaration that year.
(Originally published on December 7, 2024)
