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60,000 negatives of A-bomb photographer to be kept in electronic archives

by Masami Nishimoto, Senior Staff Writer

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum has learned that some 60,000 negatives of the late photographer Yuichiro Sasaki (1917-1980) still exist. The Hiroshima-born photographer took photos for pictorial magazines of the Cabinet Information Board during the war. He returned to Hiroshima on August 18, 1945, and searched for the place his mother and his brother's family members had reportedly died. At that time, he began taking photos in the ruins of the city. The museum has decided to preserve these negatives in its electronic archives. In the coming fiscal year, a database, containing the time, date, location, and explanation of the subject of the photos, will be created.

In the chaotic period after the war, Mr. Sasaki obtained rolls of film for his camera by guiding foreign photographers around Hiroshima. His photos show the changes of the area around the hypocenter, where the first Peace Festival (currently, Peace Memorial Ceremony) was held in 1947, and people rebuilding their lives as they endure the damage caused by the atomic bomb. Until the end of his life, Mr. Sasaki continued to take photos of the city while running a photo studio.

Three years ago, Mr. Sasaki's wife, Kiyomi, 88, and his eldest son, Yugo Shioura, 60, donated 570 photos to the museum. According to them, Mr. Sasaki was moved to take photos to serve as witnesses to the horror of war. When the museum held an exhibition of his photos last year, the relatives donated negatives which were kept at his home in the neighboring city of Hatsukaichi.

The museum has identified 182 negatives of photos taken by the end of 1945. They include those of Shima Hospital, above which the bomb exploded, and the A-bomb Dome. Other valuable photos show Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park still under construction and surrounded by shacks, and color images of the Hiroshima Restoration Exhibition held in 1958.

Koichiro Maeda, director of the museum, commented, "We would like to preserve Mr. Sasaki's photos, by which we can trace Hiroshima's history, and hand the images down for posterity."

(Originally published on March 29, 2010)

Related article
Exhibition of Hiroshima photographer opens at Peace Memorial Museum (July 23, 2009)

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