Documenting Hiroshima 80 years after A-bombing: In August 1960, A-bomb Dome preservation campaign begins
Apr. 6, 2025
by Minami Yamashita, Staff Writer
In August 1960, children belonging to the Hiroshima Paper Crane Club began a signature-collection drive calling for the preservation of the A-bomb Dome, which remained standing near the hypocenter in Hiroshima City. The group started its calls for cooperation in Peace Memorial Park (in Hiroshima’s present-day Naka Ward) and later took to the city’s busy streets and event venues.
The Hiroshima Paper Crane Club was formed in 1958 as part of a movement to establish the Children’s Peace Monument, which was prompted by the death of Sadako Sasaki 10 years after the atomic bombing. At a gathering in May 1960 marking the second anniversary of the unveiling of the monument, the diary of Hiroko Kajiyama was read aloud, serving as inspiration for the movement to preserve the A-bomb Dome. Ms. Kajiyama, who experienced the atomic bombing when she was just one year old, had died earlier in April that same year at the age of 16 from leukemia, the same disease that claimed Sadako’s life.
The flyer used in the signature-collection drive included an entry from Hiroko’s diary reading, “Only that painful A-bomb Dome could forever communicate to the world the horrors of the atomic bombing.” After hearing from city officials responsible for managing the A-bomb Dome that repairs and restoration of the Dome would represent a “monetary issue,” the students carried collection boxes on their street campaign to collect donations in support of the necessary costs.
At that time, Japan was in the midst of rapid economic growth. In contrast to the construction boom taking place throughout the country, the A-bomb Dome was on the verge of collapse after being exposed to the elements. With the eyes of young children and students turned toward both the future as well as the past, the Paper Crane Club’s activities became the forerunner to a citizen-led preservation campaign.
“In one hundred years, we will no longer be able to listen to the voices of the A-bomb survivors who are still alive today. At that time, the A-bomb Dome will serve as a silent teacher for all of us,” read a passage that appeared in the booklet Bakushinchi (in English, ‘Hypocenter’), published by the Hiroshima Paper Crane Club in 1967.
During their activities, the club’s members would carry photographs of A-bomb victims who had lost their lives to so-called ‘A-bomb disease,’ with children who had lost their families in the bombing also participating. The club continued to be active through the late 1960s, submitting their many collected signatures and donations to the Hiroshima City government. Eventually, the “adults” would also start taking action toward preservation of the A-bomb Dome.
(Originally published on April 6, 2025)
In August 1960, children belonging to the Hiroshima Paper Crane Club began a signature-collection drive calling for the preservation of the A-bomb Dome, which remained standing near the hypocenter in Hiroshima City. The group started its calls for cooperation in Peace Memorial Park (in Hiroshima’s present-day Naka Ward) and later took to the city’s busy streets and event venues.
The Hiroshima Paper Crane Club was formed in 1958 as part of a movement to establish the Children’s Peace Monument, which was prompted by the death of Sadako Sasaki 10 years after the atomic bombing. At a gathering in May 1960 marking the second anniversary of the unveiling of the monument, the diary of Hiroko Kajiyama was read aloud, serving as inspiration for the movement to preserve the A-bomb Dome. Ms. Kajiyama, who experienced the atomic bombing when she was just one year old, had died earlier in April that same year at the age of 16 from leukemia, the same disease that claimed Sadako’s life.
The flyer used in the signature-collection drive included an entry from Hiroko’s diary reading, “Only that painful A-bomb Dome could forever communicate to the world the horrors of the atomic bombing.” After hearing from city officials responsible for managing the A-bomb Dome that repairs and restoration of the Dome would represent a “monetary issue,” the students carried collection boxes on their street campaign to collect donations in support of the necessary costs.
At that time, Japan was in the midst of rapid economic growth. In contrast to the construction boom taking place throughout the country, the A-bomb Dome was on the verge of collapse after being exposed to the elements. With the eyes of young children and students turned toward both the future as well as the past, the Paper Crane Club’s activities became the forerunner to a citizen-led preservation campaign.
“In one hundred years, we will no longer be able to listen to the voices of the A-bomb survivors who are still alive today. At that time, the A-bomb Dome will serve as a silent teacher for all of us,” read a passage that appeared in the booklet Bakushinchi (in English, ‘Hypocenter’), published by the Hiroshima Paper Crane Club in 1967.
During their activities, the club’s members would carry photographs of A-bomb victims who had lost their lives to so-called ‘A-bomb disease,’ with children who had lost their families in the bombing also participating. The club continued to be active through the late 1960s, submitting their many collected signatures and donations to the Hiroshima City government. Eventually, the “adults” would also start taking action toward preservation of the A-bomb Dome.
(Originally published on April 6, 2025)
