Present-day Moto-machi
Looking out at Chuo Park, the Motomachi apartment block, Hiroshima Castle, and the government office district.
May 2012
Taken by Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum with permission from Rihga Royal Hotel Hiroshima
Conclusion
Having experienced the calamity of the A-bomb and achieved a remarkable recovery, Moto-machi is now home to large-scale commerce and a park in the urban center boasting cultural and athletic facilities, and is bustling with thousands of people enjoying themselves daily.
On the monument commemorating the completion of the Moto-machi District Redevelopment Program it says, "Without these improvements here, Hiroshima's postwar period would never end." If we rearrange these words, it can be said that since Moto-machi has been redeveloped, Hiroshima truly did accomplish its postwar recovery.
However, there are still victims of the atomic bombing living inconspicuous lives. How do these people who live without speaking a word of their accounts see the revival of Hiroshima?
We must not forget the suffering of all of the people who lost everything in the bombing and then went on to live in earnest in the shadow of reconstruction.