A record of Hiroshima's devastation
Motoyasu Bridge and the Fuel Hall Location: Central portion of the Motoyasu Bridge The railing on the south side of the Motoyasu Bridge fell over except for the newel posts. The three-story ferro-concrete Fuel Hall was built in 1929 as the Taishoya Kimono Shop. After the Textiles Control Ordinance, the building was acquired by the Prefectural Fuel Rationing Union in 1944. The A-bomb fires gutted the building except the basement. After the war the building was repaired and kept in use, becoming the Peace Memorial Park Rest House in 1982. |
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Looking west to east over the Motoyasu Bridge Location: Nakajima-hon-machi (now, Nakajima-cho) The Motoyasu Bridge connected Hiroshimaﾕs most vital shopping and entertainment districts: the Nakajima district and Hondori Avenue. The wooden bridge was replaced with a permanent steel plate and girder bridge in 1926. The blast from virtually overhead hurled all the railings into the water and the lanterns and capping stones of the newel posts were symmetrically dislodged to the right and left. In 1992, the A-bombed newel posts were incorporated when restoring the bridge to its original design. |
 Aioi Bridge walkway Location: Central area of the Aioi Bridge Looking west from the upstream side of the central part of the Aioi Bridge. The blast reflecting off the water lifted the north side of the bridge, creating a gap between the sidewalk and the road that yawned 1.4 meters at the widest part. Telephone poles are leaning left or right, with smashed paving stones and broken sewer pipes strewn about. Under the bridge floats lumber that may have been thrown into the river by the Makurazaki Typhoon. |
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 Aioi Bridge rain gutter Location: Central part of Aioi Bridge Looking west from the upstream side of the central part of the Aioi Bridge. The blast reflecting off the water lifted the north side of the bridge, creating a gap between the sidewalk and the road that yawned 1.4 meters at the widest part. Telephone poles are leaning left or right, with smashed paving stones and broken sewer pipes strewn about. Under the bridge floats lumber that may have been thrown into the river by the Makurazaki Typhoon.  West end of Aioi Bridge Location: Kajiya-cho (now, Honkawa-cho 1 chome) Looking from the south side of the west end of the Aioi Bridge toward the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall. At the foot of the bridge are paving stones and rails from the destroyed streetcar line. White bone fragments from cremation are scattered in the ruins. On a message board tied to the telephone pole are names and refuge locations. |
 Odamasa Store and the new Chugoku Shimbun building Location: Nagarekawa-cho Around 1935, Odamasa, a kimono fabric store, built a three-story steel-frame shop and warehouse in Ebisu-cho, but when the government took over clothing supply during the war, military clothing was sewn in the store as well. The power of the blast and fires bared the iron framework bending it like taffy. Over time it sank toward the ground of its own weight. The new Chugoku Shimbun building on the right was gutted down to its concrete walls. All equipment was lost. The building was remodeled and expanded after the war, then finally demolished in 1970. Standing on that ground today is Mitsukoshi Department Store. |
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 Fukuya Department Store and streetcar Location: Teppo-cho Looking west from near what is now the Ebisu-cho streetcar stop. On the left stands the New Fukuya Department Store (now, Fukuya Department Store) and on the right, the Old Fukuya Department Store. The new building was completed in 1938 with eight stories above ground and two below. During the war, the army, control corporations, and other government agencies took over most of its retail space. The atomic bombing completely gutted the interior and killed dozens occupants. A charred streetcar thrown off the track lies on the roadside. Immediately after the bombing, the streetcar was piled with the skeletons of those burned to white bone in the hot fires ignited by the explosion. |