Former Sarugaku-cho, Hiroshima City: Pre-bomb Town Revived with Computer Graphics
8/1/00 
The Hiroshima neighborhood of Sarugaku-cho
(now Otemachi 1-chome, Naka-ku) was near
the hypocenter of the atomic bombing. It
vanished. Now, some former residents are
bringing it back to life through the magic
of computer graphics. A portion of the film,
still in production, was released publicly
for the first time on July 31st. In
it we can see the signs on the shops lining
the street and the Hiroshima Prefectural
Industrial Promotion Hall (now the A-bomb
Dome). This realistic reproduction brings
back the peaceful nature of this town before
the atomic bombing.
The reproduction project was initiated in
1998 by the Hypocenter Reproduction Committee,
a group that includes a film production company
in Naka-ku and the Yagura Kai, a club of
people with connections to the old Sarugaku-cho.
The film is based on pre-bombing photographs
and the memories of former residents.
The film will gradually expand its scope, and by August next year, the reproduced street will include fifty houses. People will be walking in the street and we will hear their conversations. The reproduction will be used for a 50-minute film that will incorporate A-bomb testimony.
[Caption] Looking west to east down a street in Sarugaku-cho,
as reproduced by computer graphics. Until
some were demolished for a fire lane, the
neighborhood included vegetable, furniture
and other shops.
