A record of Hiroshima's devastation
A still standing torii, broken torii, a pair of stone lanterns leaning in different directions, the shrine hall burned to the ground, the castle keep toppled.
"When I came close to the castle keep, less than one kilometer from the hypocenter, I was astonished by a sight that didn't make sense. A pile of lumber had somehow remained unburned. I wonder if the thick plaster walls had protected it from the heat rays."
Answering his own questions about the phenomena he saw, Shigeo Hayashi continued to take photographs.
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Places where pictures were taken on the grounds of Hiroshima Gokoku Shrine July 1945 |
 A. Looking northeast from in front of Hiroshima Gokoku Shrine front building Location: Moto-machi Looking from the shrine side of the toppled torii gate leading to the front building. In the foreground are the burnt ruins of Hiroshima First Army Hospital; in the background the Western Drill Ground. Just after the bombing, soldiers lay everywhere, killed by the blast, burned bright red by the heat ray. A temporary relief station erected on the Otagawa River bank overflowed with the dead and injured. |
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 B. Fallen purification font Location: Moto-machi The purification font (basin) on the south side of the stone pavement leading to the Hiroshima Gokoku Shrine front building evidently rose into the air and rotated 90 degrees as it fell. Makeshift new dwellings stand behind on the left, and Honkawa Elementary School extends on the far side. |
 C. Stone lantern cracked in pieces by the heat ray Location: Moto-machi One of the pair of stone lanterns on the south side of the front building of Hiroshima Gokoku Shrine. On the side facing the hypocenter, the capping stone and the three-tiered base stones were cracked by the heat ray, and some pieces fell off. The reaction of granite to heat made it useful for measuring the temperature and direction of the heat ray. |
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 D. Nakatsu-no-miya detached shrine of Hiroshima Gokoku Shrine Location: Moto-machi The Nakatsu-no-miya detached shrine located to the north of the front building was totally destroyed by the blast. In 1957 it was reconstructed in front of the present Hiroshima City Youth Center. Also moved there were the stone lanterns whose tops had fallen off. The legs of the torii gate found later during waterworks construction are preserved nearby.  E. Stone lanterns lifted off their bases by the blast Location: Moto-machi This pair of stone lanterns stood on the north side of the Hiroshima Gokoku Shrine front building. Their tops were blown away. The core shaft of the one on the right was pulled out of the base, leaving it poised on edge. A burnt branch sticks in a crack between two base layers of the other. The bases of both have shifted to the right. During the instant after the fierce blast lifted the pedestals on end and before they were yanked back toward the hypocenter, the core shaft of one pedestal bent and the base of the other pedestal caught a branch. |
 Large torii gate on the approach to Hiroshima Gokoku Shrine Location: Moto-machi Hiroshima Gokoku Shrine had three torii gates. The largest one on the approach near the hypocenter was the only torii still erect because it took the blast almost vertically. The tablet hanging from the torii on the hypocenter side was merely knocked askew, not blown off. In 1956, the shrine was rebuilt on the remains of the central bailey (honmaru) of Hiroshima Castle. The large torii and its hanging tablet were moved to the back entrance, and the stone lanterns and stone guardian dogs to the main shrine entrance. |
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 Hiroshima Castle Tower Location: Moto-machi Witnesses say that the five-story castle tower, a symbol of Hiroshima, crumbled all at once with an eerie earth-shaking rumble. Reconstructed in 1958 prior to the Hiroshima Grand Fair of Reconstruction, todayﾕs castle tower watches over the city. |