Preserving A-bombed buildings

"Witnesses" of August 6 are close by

In Hiroshima are a number of buildings that survived the atomic bombing and still stand today, including the A-bomb Dome and the Rest House in Peace Memorial Park. These buildings are "silent witnesses" which convey not only the cruelty of the A-bomb damage, but also the history of the city before Hiroshima was attacked.

For this issue, the junior writers had the opportunity to attend a workshop--a session of a conference organized by the Association for Children's Environment--and visit A-bombed buildings monuments that made use of portions of A-bombed buildings. At first sight, it can be difficult to spot some of these buildings. We listened to a description of each one and again realized the important role A-bombed buildings play.

On one hand are buildings which continue to find practical use, such as a restaurant that was born from an A-bombed substation. On the other hand, other buildings remain standing, but aren't being used. Perhaps one day you will have the chance to visit the A-bombed buildings and consider ways to help preserve them and use them.

At the conference, we took part in a workshop about Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. We learned that the remains of the city before the bombing still linger in the ground of that area. We also came up with various proposals in which we imagined changes to the park, as a place to think and learn about peace.

Photos taken by Minako Iwata, 16. Click the photos to read explanations about each A-bombed building.