Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park

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A schoolgirl rings the Peace Bell in the Hiroshima Peace Park.
A schoolgirl rings the Peace Bell in the Hiroshima Peace Park.

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park (広島平和記念公園 Hiroshima heiwa kinen kōen?) is a large park in the center of Hiroshima, Japan. It is dedicated to the legacy of Hiroshima as the first city in the world to suffer a nuclear attack (August 6, 1945), which led to the death of as many as 140,000 people by the end of 1945.[1] There are a variety of monuments and buildings in the park, each dedicated to a different aspect of the bombing.[citation needed]

The location of Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park was once the city’s busiest downtown commercial and residential district. The park was built on open field that was created by the explosion. Today there are a number of memorials and monuments, museums, and lecture halls which draw over a million visitors annually. The annual 6 August Peace Memorial Ceremony, which is sponsored by the city of Hiroshima, is also held in the park. [2] The purpose of the Peace Memorial Park is to not only memorialize the victims, but also to establish the memory of nuclear horrors and advocate world peace. [3]

Contents

[edit] Monuments and buildings

The A-Bomb Dome.
The A-Bomb Dome.

[edit] A-Bomb Dome

The A-Bomb Dome is the skeletal ruins of the former Industrial Promotion Hall. It is the building closest to the hypocenter of the nuclear bomb that remained at least partially standing. It was left how it was after the bombing in memory of the casualties. The A-Bomb Dome, to which a sense of sacredness and transcendence has been attributed, is situated in a distant ceremonial view that is visible from the Peace Memorial Park’s central cenotaph. It is an officially designated site of memory for the nation’s and humanity’s collectively shared heritage of catastrophe.[2] The A-Bomb Dome is on the UNESCO World Heritage List.[4]

The Statue of the A-Bomb Children.
The Statue of the A-Bomb Children.

[edit] Children's Peace Monument

The Children's Peace Monument is a statue dedicated to the memory of the children who died as a result of the bombing. The statue is of a girl with outstretched arms with a folded paper crane rising above her. The statue is based on the true story of Sadako Sasaki (佐々木禎子 Sasaki Sadako?), a young girl who died from radiation from the bomb. She believed that if she folded 1,000 paper cranes she would be cured. To this day, people (mostly children) from around the world fold cranes and send them to Hiroshima where they are placed near the statue. The statue has a continuously replenished collection of folded cranes nearby.[5]

Atomic Bomb Memorial Mound.
Atomic Bomb Memorial Mound.

[edit] Atomic Bomb Memorial Mound

The Atomic Bomb Memorial Mound is a large, grass-covered knoll that contains the ashes of 70,000 unidentified victims of the bomb.[5]

Cenotaph for Korean Victims.
Cenotaph for Korean Victims.

[edit] Cenotaph for Korean Victims

Tens of thousands of Koreans are said to have been present in Hiroshima when the attack happened. The monument reads: "Souls of the dead ride to heaven on the backs of turtles."[5]

According to the records, among the 350,000 to 400,000 people who were attacked by the atom bomb or exposed to lethal post-explosion radiation, at least 45,000 were Korean. Approximately 300,000 survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki returned to Korea after liberation with other former colonial subjects. However, only half of survivors are known to live in the Republic of Korea. Many records have vagueness of the Korean dead in their estimates from 5,000 to 50,000 because the racially and ethnically minoritized population has been neglected. The memorial plays an important role as a space of discursive intervention for Japan’s former colonial subjects. The memorial, beautified as it is with Korean national symbols, signifies the victories of Koreans who survived Japanese colonialism, the war, and even the atomic bomb. The Korean memorial concurrently serves as a nationalist icon, embodying the pride and glory of the Republic of Korea.[2]

Although Japanese government provided the Korean memorial, its location had been a problem because the memorial was initially erected across the river from the Peace Park, not inside it.[6]

 The memorial was moved into the park in July 1999.
The Memorial Cenotaph.
The Memorial Cenotaph.

[edit] Memorial Cenotaph

Near the center of the park is a concrete, saddle-shaped monument that covers a Cenotaph holding the names of all of the people killed by the bomb. The Cenotaph carries the epitaph, "Repose ye in Peace, for the error shall not be repeated." Through the monument you can see the Peace Flame and the A-Bomb Dome. Memorial Cenotaph was one of the first memorial monuments built on open field on August 6, 1952. It is built in Shinto style. The arch shape represents a shelter for the souls of the victims.[3]

Peace Flame with the Peace Memorial Museum in the background.
Peace Flame with the Peace Memorial Museum in the background.

[edit] Peace Flame

The Peace Flame is another monument to the victims of the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima, but it has an additional symbolic purpose. The flame has burned continuously since it was lit in 1964, and will remain lit until all nuclear bombs on the planet are destroyed and the planet is free from the threat of nuclear annihilation.[5]

[edit] Peace Bell

The Peace Bell stands near the memorial to the A-Bomb Children and consists of a large Japanese bell hanging inside a small open-sided structure. Visitors are encouraged to ring the bell for world peace and the loud and melodious tolling of this bell rings out regularly throughout the Peace Park.[citation needed]

The inscriptions on the bell are in Greek, Japanese, and Sanskrit. It is translated as "Know yourself." The Greek embassy donated the bell to the Peace Park and picked out the most appropriate ancient Greek philosophical quote of Socrates. The Sanskrit was translated by the Indian ambassador, and the Japanese by a university lecturer.[citation needed]

Hall of Remembrance
Hall of Remembrance

[edit] Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims

The Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall is an effort by the Japanese national government to remember and mourn the sacred sacrifice of the atomic bomb victims. It is also an expression of Japan's desire for genuine and lasting peace. The Hall contains a number of displays. On the roof, near the entrance (the museum is underground) is a clock frozen at 8:15, the time the bomb went off. The museum contains a seminar room, library, temporary exhibition area, and victims' information area. Additionally, one of the more stunning areas is The Hall of Remembrance which contains a 360 degree panorama of the destroyed Hiroshima recreated using 140,000 tiles — the number of people estimated to have died from the bomb by the end of 1945.

[edit] Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum

The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum is the primary museum in the park dedicated to educating visitors about the bomb. The Museum has exhibits and information covering the build up to war, the role of Hiroshima in the war up to the bombing, and extensive information on the bombing and its effects, along with substantial memorabilia and pictures from the bombing. The building also offers some marvelous views of the Memorial Cenotaph, Peace Flame, and A-Bomb Dome.[citation needed]

Peace Gates.
Peace Gates.

[edit] Peace Gates

A recent addition to the park, this monument contains six gates covered with the word "peace" in 49 languages from around the world. The gates are about 5 meters high and 2 meters wide.

[edit] Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony

Every year on 6 August, "A-bomb Day," the City of Hiroshima holds the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony to console the victims of the atomic bombs and to pray for the realization of lasting world peace. The ceremony is held in front of the Memorial Cenotaph with many citizens including the families of the deceased.[citation needed]

[edit] Other Monuments

  • Pond of Peace
  • Peace Clock Tower
  • A-bombed Gravestone
  • Peace Fountain
  • Monument to the Old Aioi Bridge
  • Phoenix Trees Exposed to the A-bomb
  • Linden Tree Monument
  • Hair Monument
  • Hiroshima City Zero Milestone
  • Peace Cairn
  • Stone Lantern of Peace
  • Friendship Monument
  • Peace Memorial Post
  • Peace Tower
  • Fountain of Prayer
  • Monument of Prayer
  • Prayer Monument for Peace
  • Prayer Haiku Monument for Peace
  • Hiroshima Monument for the A-bomb Victims
  • Statue of Mother and Child in the Storm
  • Statue of Peace(New Leaves)(Dr.Hideki Yukawa)
  • Statue of Merciful Mother
  • Statue of a Prayer for Peace
  • The Figure of the Merciful Goddess of Pease (Kannon)
  • Mobilized Students' Merciful Kannon Monument
  • Memorial Tower to the Mobilized Students
  • Hiroshima Second Middle School A-bomb Memorial Monument
  • Memorial Monument of the Hiroshima Municipal Commercial and Shipbuilding Industry Schools
  • Monument to the A-bombed Teachers and Students of National Elementary Schools
  • A-bomb Monument of the Hiroshima Municipal Girl's High School
  • Monument Dedicated to Sankichi Toge
  • Monument to Tamiki Hara
  • Literary Monument Dedicated to Miekichi Suzuki
  • Monument in Memory of Dr.Marcel Junod
  • Clock Commemorating the Repatriation of Those Who Chose to Return to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (21k jpeg)
  • Monument of the Former North Tenjin-cho Area
  • Monument of the Former South Tenjin-cho Area
  • Monument of the Former Zaimoku-cho
  • Memorial Tower for A-bomb-related Victims
  • Memorial Tower to Console A-bomb Victims
  • Monument in Memory of the Korean Victims of the A-bomb
  • Monument of the Volunteer Army Corps
  • Monument of "Zensonpo"(All Japan Nonlife Insurance Labor Union
  • Monument to Those Who Died From the Chūgoku-Shikoku Public Works Office
  • Monument of the Hiroshima District Lumber Control Corporation
  • Monument Dedicated to Construction Workers and Artisans
  • Monument to the Employees of the Hiroshima Post Office
  • Monument of the Hiroshima Gas Corporation
  • Monument to the Employees of the Coal Control-related Company
  • Monument for the A-bomb Victims from the Hiroshima Agricultural Association

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Frequently Asked Questions #1. Radiation Effects Research Foundation. Retrieved on 2007-09-18.
  2. ^ a b c yoneyama, lisa (1999). hiroshima traces. los angeles: university of ca. ISBN 0-520-08586-8. 
  3. ^ a b giamo, benedict (dec. 2003). the myth of the vanquished: the hiroshima peace memorial museum. college park. Retrieved on 2007-12-02.
  4. ^ UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Hiroshima Peace Memorial
  5. ^ a b c d Virtual museum. Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. Retrieved on 2007-12-01.
  6. ^ http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE7D6173DF93AA15757C0A96E948260

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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Coordinates: 34°23′34″N 132°27′09″E / 34.392728, 132.452374