A record of Hiroshima's devastation
Hayashi first planned to shoot only photos assigned by members of the survey team, but since the researchers were busy setting up their radiation measuring equipment, photographers were instructed to use their own judgment in selecting shots. "My responsibility grew. All of a sudden I felt a much heavier burden." Hayashi walked the city taking photos of scenes that struck him or seemed especially strange.
The hypocenter--Entrance to Shima Hospital Location: Saiku-machi (now, Ote-machi 1 chome) The striking brick, two-story Shima Hospital built in 1933 had round windows and columns framing the entrance. The bomb exploded 600 meters in the sky over this building. Though the walls were almost one meter thick, they crumbled under the overwhelming power of the blast. All of the 75 people in the building at the timeﾑpatients, doctors, nurses and other staffﾑlost their lives. |
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Message board for persons connected to Shima Hospital Location: Saiku-machi (now, Ote-machi 1 chome) Propped on a fire cistern is the message board hospital director Kaoru Shima set up for anyone seeking the whereabouts of loved ones connected to the hospital. At the time of the bombing, Dr. Shima was out of town examining patients in another city. When he heard the news, he returned home with all the first-aid supplies he could carry and began treating the injured. His hopes when he prepared the board were dashed. No one in the building survived. |
 From the road on the south side of Sei Hospital Location: Saiku-machi (now, Ote-machi 1 chome) The Sei Dermatological and Urological Hospital stood diagonally across the intersection from the Shima Hospital. It was totally destroyed except for the patient side door entrance in the foreground and part of the boundary wall. A message on the outside of the fence reads, "Hana Sei is alive and well." The building on the left is the Hiroshima Prefectural Commerce Association, and the Western Drill Ground is visible on the distant right. |
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 Reading the Shima Hospital message board Location: Saiku-machi (now, Ote-machi 1 chome) This shot looks north from Saiku-machi Street on the south side of Shima Hospital. The board carrying the hospital directorﾕs message is propped up below the triangular wall fragment, near the feet of the woman on the right in the center of the photo. |
 Hondori Avenue Location: Hirataya-cho (now, Hondori) Looking west from Kirin Beer Hall (now, the area in front of the main Hiroshima PARCO building). Left of the pedestrians stands Shimomura Jewelers. Behind them is the Hiroshima Branch of Yasuda Bank. In the distance on the right are the Hiroshima branches of Obayashi Corporation and Sumitomo Bank and the central Geibi Bank. Except for those built of ferro-concrete, the long-familiar stores lining the Hondori Shopping Arcade were completely destroyed by blast and fire. |
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 Shimomura Jewelers Location: Harimaya-cho (now, Hondori) Established in 1873, Shimomura Jewelers built this new store in 1928. One of the first stores to be constructed of ferro-concrete, its clock tower with clocks on all four sides was eye-catching. However, since the structure lacked internal support pillars, the side walls gave way under the atomic blast. The second floor and clock tower remained erect on the pulverized first floor, as if sitting on an incline. |
Hiroshima Gas Company Location: Ote-machi 3 chome (now, Ote-machi 2 chome) Built in 1922 as the headquarters of the Hiroshima Gas and Electric Railway, when the Hiroshima Electric Railway Company split off in 1942, it became Hiroshima Gas Company. The northeast side facing the hypocenter was smashed, but the southwest side and entrance way supporting the second-story balcony remained. The building burned for two days. The president and 29 others in the building at the time perished. Five who miraculously escaped the building died soon after. |
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Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall Location: Sarugaku-cho (now, Ote-machi 1 chome) The building was constructed in 1915 as Hiroshima Prefectural Commercial Exhibition Hall. In 1921, the name changed to Hiroshima Prefectural Products Exhibition Hall and again in 1933 to Industrial Promotion Hall. Besides displaying and selling products from around the prefecture, it also served as a history and art museum. As the war intensified, these roles withered and various government offices took over the space, including the Chugoku-Shikoku Public Works Office of the Home Ministry and the Lumber Control Corporation. The atomic bombing killed everyone in the building. Because the bomb exploded virtually overhead, it retained the distinctive feature that earned it the name "A-bomb Dome" after the war. |