Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and Museum
In August 1949, Japan’s Hiroshima Peace Memorial City Construction Law decreed that the city itself should henceforth be presented a symbol of peace. The central component of this plan was the construction of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and Museum. In the years since, Peace Memorial Park has been in a continuous state of evolution.
Located in the center of the city, the park is comprised of a wide variety of monuments and buildings, each dedicated to different populations affected by the bombing. Among them are the ruins of the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall, now called the Genbaku Dome, which was the only structure left standing in the area where the atomic bomb exploded. In 1996, UNESCO designated the Genbaku Dome a World Heritage Site. The United States registered strong objections.
References
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, official site.
External Link
UNESCO World Heritage Committee. “Statements by China and the United States of America during the inscription of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome).” Report of the 20th Session, Annex V, Merida, 1996.
External Link
Discussions
Do multiple narratives enhance or hinder a memorial's meaning?
As is the case with most historical events, episodes of state violence and atrocity can be difficult to explain as single narratives. Causes and outcomes are often complex and contested…
Design of Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and Museum
Peace Memorial Park was designed by Kenzo Tange, who won a design competition sponsored by the city of Hiroshima. Entrants were asked to develop a…
Related Resources
Arch-Hiroshima has a selection of Kenzo Tange’s writings from the Japanese architecture magazine Shinkenchiku, commenting on his design and process.
Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs has its World Heritage Site application documents for Genbaku Dome and a chronology of the memorial and the dome.
The US Department of Energy has facts about the history of the bomb and its toll on Hiroshima.
The city of Hiroshima has information on the annual Peace Memorial Ceremony.
On Slate, Ron Rosenbaum reflects on his 2008 visit to the park.
Print
Hersey, John
Hiroshima. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1946.
Print
Yoneyama, Lisa
Hiroshima Traces: Time, Space and the Dialectics of Memory. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999.
Print
Hogan, Michael
Hiroshima in History and Memory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996.
Print
Day Jr., Samuel H
“Two Hiroshimas.” Progressive 58, no. 8 (August 1994): 29.
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Location & Contacts
1-2 Nakajima-cho,
Naka-ku/Hiroshima, Japan
730-0811
Japan
lattitude/longitude: 34.392476, 132.4524
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