❺ Keeping the Legacy of Hiroshima Alive
In this section, we will introduce projects and videos which were created to preserve and pass down the memories of the lives in the lost Nakajima district to the next generation.
“Rebooting Memories”Project
To paint a clearer picture of the city and the lives lost to the atomic bombing, a university student from Hiroshima, in cooperation with a professor at the University of Tokyo, is working to bring black and white photos of Hiroshima before and during the war to life in color using AI and eyewitness accounts.
Brothers and the Industrial Promotion Hall
Photographed in 1938, this photo shows the brothers of the Hamai Barbershop in Nakajima Hon-machi. In the background is the Industrial Promotion Hall (currently the Atomic Bomb Dome).
Courtesy of Hamai Tokuso
Hamai Barbershop
A parent and their child in front of the Hamai Barbershop photographed on May 2, 1936. One of the opening scenes of the film In This Corner of the World features a barbershop and a family based on this photo.
Courtesy of Hamai Tokuso
Spending Time With Family and Relatives in the Summer
A gathering of family and relatives at the Takahashi Photo Studio in Nakajima Hon-machi. When Takahashi (who provided the photo) saw the colorized version of it, he pointed out that he was covering his face with the watermelon rind because the flash was so bright.
Courtesy of Takahashi Hisashi
Pre-war Koi-nobori (carp streamers)
Photographed in the backyard of Kappō Kikkawa Inn. In the background, you can see the Japanese Red Cross Society Hiroshima Chapter and the Hiroshima Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The v-shaped Aioi-bashi Bridge, which stood from 1878 to 1940, is also visible.
Courtesy of Kikkawa Masatoshi
Maruniya Shōten and Chindon Band
Photographed around 1932, Maruniya Shōten was a wholesale store for soaps and cosmetics near the east end of Honkawa-bashi Bridge. Whenever they would release a new product, the store would hire a lively musical band known as a chindon band to drum up excitement.
Courtesy of Ogata Shōzō
Hana Matsuri (Festival Celebrating the Birth of Buddha) Procession
The Hana Matsuri procession at Jōhō-ji Temple. Before the bombing, the temple was located in present-day Peace Memorial Park in the square in front of the flagpole next to the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims.
Courtesy of Suwa Ryōga (Jōhō-ji Temple)
The Industrial Promotion Hall at Night
Published in Hiroshima Public Relations at the end of the Taishō era (mid 1920s). Pictured in the photo is the family which ran Katayama Photo Studio and their staff with the Industrial Promotion Hall (then the Commercial Exhibition Hall) in the background, decorated with electric lights.
Courtesy of Katayama Noboru