Documenting Hiroshima of 1946: In March, provisional office for Joen-ji Temple set up in Nakajima district
Mar. 15, 2025
by Maho Yamamoto, Staff Writer
In March 1946, a structure serving as a provisional office for Joen-ji Temple was built in the Nakajima district (in Hiroshima City’s present-day Naka Ward). Before the atomic bombing, the temple had been located near the site where the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum stands today, but it was completely destroyed along with the rest of that area. The head priest of Joen-ji Temple, Shigon Uezono, 62 at the time, and his wife Toshi, 63, were killed in the bombing. Their oldest son, Shisui, who died in 2000 at the age of 85, worked to rebuild his father’s temple after being discharged from military service in Kochi Prefecture.
According to the Record of the Hiroshima A-bomb War Disaster, published in 1971, Joen-ji Temple had been located in the area of Zaimoku-cho, 400 meters from the hypocenter, and its main hall and temple gate were burned to the ground in the bombing. Gravestones at the temple had toppled over. In October 1945, while Shisui set up a provisional temple office on the grounds of Saifuku-ji Temple (in Hiroshima’s present-day Minami Ward), he would visit the ruins of his father’s temple nearly every day, in an attempt to contact the temple’s supporters and parishioners as the successor to his father’s work.
He then set up a provisional office at the original temple location because he wanted it to serve as a place to inform relatives visiting the office about the whereabouts of the temple’s parishioners. The provisional temple office is said to have been a prefabricated structure designed for disaster victims that was purchased from a housing corporation.
In 1947, with cooperation from parishioners, a provisional main hall for the temple was also built. Meanwhile, work on Hiroshima City’s reconstruction plan moved ahead, with the Nakajima district, located between Motoyasu River and Honkawa River, set aside as the prepared site for Peace Memorial Park.
In June 1946, a petition seeking the reconstruction of temples at their original locations signed by six temples—Joen-ji Temple, Jisen-ji Temple, Jyoho-ji Temple, Denpuku-ji Temple, Myoho-ji Temple, and Seigan-ji Temple—was submitted to the Hiroshima Prefectural government, the Hiroshima City government, and the Hiroshima City Council. The petition, arguing that “the existing temples in the area, as well as their long histories and faith of parishioners, are being completely ignored,” demanded that the park’s green space be planned while excluding the temples that were still there at the time. However, the request was not granted.
Esui Uezono, 78, Shisui’s oldest son and former head priest of Joen-ji Temple, recalled scenes of construction on the park proceeding in the area after the shanty-like housing erected there had all been removed. “I think my father and others had no choice but to accept the plan when they were told it was for the creation of a city of peace.” At one time relocated to the area of Kobiki-cho (in Hiroshima’s present-day Naka Ward), Joen-ji Temple moved to its current location in the area of Nakajima-cho after it had suffered a fire in 1960.
(Originally published on March 15, 2025)
In March 1946, a structure serving as a provisional office for Joen-ji Temple was built in the Nakajima district (in Hiroshima City’s present-day Naka Ward). Before the atomic bombing, the temple had been located near the site where the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum stands today, but it was completely destroyed along with the rest of that area. The head priest of Joen-ji Temple, Shigon Uezono, 62 at the time, and his wife Toshi, 63, were killed in the bombing. Their oldest son, Shisui, who died in 2000 at the age of 85, worked to rebuild his father’s temple after being discharged from military service in Kochi Prefecture.
According to the Record of the Hiroshima A-bomb War Disaster, published in 1971, Joen-ji Temple had been located in the area of Zaimoku-cho, 400 meters from the hypocenter, and its main hall and temple gate were burned to the ground in the bombing. Gravestones at the temple had toppled over. In October 1945, while Shisui set up a provisional temple office on the grounds of Saifuku-ji Temple (in Hiroshima’s present-day Minami Ward), he would visit the ruins of his father’s temple nearly every day, in an attempt to contact the temple’s supporters and parishioners as the successor to his father’s work.
He then set up a provisional office at the original temple location because he wanted it to serve as a place to inform relatives visiting the office about the whereabouts of the temple’s parishioners. The provisional temple office is said to have been a prefabricated structure designed for disaster victims that was purchased from a housing corporation.
In 1947, with cooperation from parishioners, a provisional main hall for the temple was also built. Meanwhile, work on Hiroshima City’s reconstruction plan moved ahead, with the Nakajima district, located between Motoyasu River and Honkawa River, set aside as the prepared site for Peace Memorial Park.
In June 1946, a petition seeking the reconstruction of temples at their original locations signed by six temples—Joen-ji Temple, Jisen-ji Temple, Jyoho-ji Temple, Denpuku-ji Temple, Myoho-ji Temple, and Seigan-ji Temple—was submitted to the Hiroshima Prefectural government, the Hiroshima City government, and the Hiroshima City Council. The petition, arguing that “the existing temples in the area, as well as their long histories and faith of parishioners, are being completely ignored,” demanded that the park’s green space be planned while excluding the temples that were still there at the time. However, the request was not granted.
Esui Uezono, 78, Shisui’s oldest son and former head priest of Joen-ji Temple, recalled scenes of construction on the park proceeding in the area after the shanty-like housing erected there had all been removed. “I think my father and others had no choice but to accept the plan when they were told it was for the creation of a city of peace.” At one time relocated to the area of Kobiki-cho (in Hiroshima’s present-day Naka Ward), Joen-ji Temple moved to its current location in the area of Nakajima-cho after it had suffered a fire in 1960.
(Originally published on March 15, 2025)
