Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum Special Exhibition 2022:Hiroshima War Orphans Foster Home—Children and Gishin Yamashita
The atomic bombing deprived many children of their families. In December 1945, the Hiroshima War Orphans Foster Home was established in Itsukaichi Town, Saeki County, on the outskirts of the city of Hiroshima, ahead of other facilities that were set up one after another after the war to raise the orphaned children.
Gishin Yamashita (1894-1989), the first director of the foster home, invested his own funds to establish the facility; he was engaged in the operation of the foster home and raising orphans.
Later, as a member of the Diet from Hiroshima Prefecture, Gishin Yamashita energetically introduced legislation mainly focusing on improving social welfare. Above all, he made an outstanding contribution to provide compensation for mobilized students who became victims of the war as well as to draft the A-bomb Survivors Medical Care Law.
This exhibition describes the history of the Hiroshima War Orphans Foster Home and the life of Gishin Yamashita, primarily exhibiting materials that were donated by the Yamashita family in 2018.
1, Period
March 24, 2023－September 11, 2023
2, Location
East Building 1F Special Exhibition Room
3, Contents:
1. Evacuation of Schoolchildren and the Atomic Bombing
2. Hiroshima War Orphans Foster Home and Its Founder, Gishin Yamashita
3. Gishin Yamashita’s Activity as a Politician
4, Number of Exhibits
Roughly 150 exhibits, including photo panels and items
5, Admission
Free