Hiroshima Reconstruction and new identification of the city after the Second World War

The city, which was reduced to ashes in August 1945 as a result of the first use of atomic weapons in the history of mankind, not only recovered, but also turned into a world center of peace and the greenest urban oasis in Japan. For this, it took a lot of time and the desire to rethink the essence of the city from a militaristic one, which was formed historically, starting from the XNUMXth century, to a peaceful one, when every citizen turned into an ambassador of a world without nuclear weapons.

But first there was the 16-kiloton atomic bomb, dropped by an American B-29 bomber over Hiroshima at 8:15 a.m. on August 6, 1945, and aimed at the intersection of the bridges over the Honkawa and Motoyasu rivers. This had terrible consequences for the city. In an instant, the explosion killed about 80 of Hiroshima's 000 inhabitants. By the end of the year, the death toll rose to 420.

The bomb exploded 600 m above Sima Hospital, creating a heat wave that heated the air above the earth's surface to 3000–4000 °C. The wind with a speed of 440 m/s blew over the city, and in half an hour the flames engulfed almost all the buildings within a radius of 2 km from the epicenter of the explosion. About 90% of the city's built-up area (70 out of 147 buildings, including private houses, shops, factories and schools) was partially or completely burned and reduced to ruins.

This is what the urban area within a radius of 150 m from the epicenter of the explosion in 1945 looked like. Photo: Shigeo Hayashi / Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum

Such a large scale of damage is connected with the fact that the main building material of pre-war Hiroshima was wood. A small number of concrete buildings in the blast zone survived. 40% of 33 million square meters. m of usable land turned into ashes.

About 90% of the city's built-up area - 70 out of 147 buildings, including private homes, shops, factories and schools - was partially or completely burned and reduced to rubble

Despite the chaos and the death of a large number of residents, including the mayor of the city, Senkiti Avaya, the reconstruction of infrastructure began within hours of the bombing. One of the first steps was to begin repairing the transportation routes, the tram and railway lines, which allowed residents of nearby cities such as Futyu, Kure, and Yamaguchi to reach Hiroshima as quickly as possible to help rebuild the city.

The main streets were gradually cleared of debris to allow traffic to resume, and then the road surfaces and bridge parapets were repaired. Power was restored in the Ujina area on August 7, and in the Hiroshima train station area the following day. The water pumps were repaired and working again four days after the bombing, although the damaged pipes left huge puddles in the ash, and it took nine months to restore water supply to the outskirts of the city.

Around the "Atomic Bomb Dome", 1955. Photo: Hiroshima Municipal Archives

On September 17, a few weeks after the nuclear explosion, the powerful typhoon Makurazaki swept through the city, flooding large areas and destroying many of the temporary hospitals that had been set up on the outskirts. But at the same time, its positive consequence was a significant drop in the level of radiation, which was literally "washed into the sea."

Of reconstruction of the city, then it dragged on for decades and at first seemed to many an impossible mission, considering the number of dead, the area of the territory turned to ashes, and the lack of resources, material and human.

From surrender to reconstruction

On August 14, 1945, the Japanese government adopted the Potsdam Declaration, and the next day an imperial decree to end the war was broadcast over the radio. winy. The first photo of the ruins of Hiroshima, which informed the whole country about the tragedy, appeared in newspapers on August 19. American soldiers arrived in the city in 1946, but direct control of it was handed over to the British Commonwealth Forces of Occupation, headquartered in the nearby port of Coure.

Workers rebuild the Aoi Bridge, Hiroshima, 1949. Photo: Yoshita Kishimoto

According to Ariyuki Fukushima of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum's curatorial department, there is no record of foreign troops assisting in the reconstruction, but they have contributed to the flow of vital resources. As the aggressor country defeated in the war, Japan remained under Allied occupation until 1952. At that time, foreign specialists were involved in planning.

See also: Post-war Khreschatyk. Price is the question

For example, Stanley Archibald Jarvey of the British Commonwealth Armed Forces (BCOF) acted as an adviser on the reconstruction of Hiroshima and proposed a new layout of the Hakushima area according to Western principles, with a division into blocks separated by wide transportation routes. But his plan was rejected by local authorities as out of step with the Japanese urban context. In total, more than 30 planning options were developed for Hiroshima, but none was implemented in full.

Public housing in Motomati district, June 1946.

Implementation of plans for the reconstruction of all 115 Japanese cities destroyed during the war was not instantaneous, since the first task was to demilitarize the country, starting with the corresponding changes in its constitution. In order to move forward, in November 1945, the Japanese national government established the Agency for the Reconstruction of Affected Cities, and on December 30, the Cabinet of Ministers adopted the "Basic Reconstruction Policy", one of the points of which was the allocation of 10% of the urban area for landscaping. Almost as much in pre-war Hiroshima was the territory occupied by military facilities.

Hiroshima in October 1945, April 1946, December 1948 and February 1953. Photo: Yoshita Kishimoto / Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum

In the reconstruction of Hiroshima, the city planning department of the prefecture of the same name played a leading role, which by November 1946 formulated a plan for the reconstruction of the city, which included projects for roads, parks and green areas, as well as land restoration based on the wishes of the city government and local residents. Road and park reconstruction projects were implemented within the framework of the previously developed Law on Urban Planning.

One of the points of the "Main Reconstruction Policy", adopted by the Cabinet of Ministers at the end of 1945, was the allocation of 10% of the city area for landscaping. Almost as much in pre-war Hiroshima was the territory occupied by military facilities

The first part of the plan included immediate measures such as clearing areas of rubble, demolishing dangerous structures, fully restoring water, sewerage, transport, electricity, gas and telephone networks, as well as construction of temporary housing. It took about 4 years to complete. As for the transition to the main part of the reconstruction, it was clear that due to a lack of funds, the city would not be able to cope with it on its own.

Shinzo Hamai, elected mayor of Hiroshima in 1947, petitioned the Allied headquarters, the national government, and the Japanese parliament to gain support for a special law. In the end, he managed to convince the authorities of the importance of using national funds for the reconstruction of Hiroshima in the status of a peace memorial city and the formulation of a corresponding law on the construction of the peace memorial itself.

Residential buildings in the Peace Memorial Park in August 1955.

Construction of the buildings of the Peace Memorial Park, 1952. Photo: Hiroshima Municipal Archives

In May 1949, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Construction Act, which consisted of seven articles, was passed by Parliament and Headquarters and passed as a special law based on Article 95 of the Constitution of Japan. Article 1 states: "The purpose of this law is to define the reconstruction of the city of Hiroshima as a peace memorial city that symbolizes the human ideal of sincere desire for true and lasting peace," and Article 4 states that local government agencies may be given assets for reconstruction if the national government deems it necessary. Thus, the law opened the way for the reconstruction of Hiroshima with the support of the national government, and memorialism became its main principle.

Peace Memorial Park

After the law was passed, the previous "Hiroshima City Reconstruction Plan" was changed to "Hiroshima Peace Memorial City Construction Plan." During the introduction of changes, a special project for the construction of memorial facilities was approved, in particular the Peace Memorial Park, which became the center of the overall reconstruction plan.

In 1949, a competition was held for its design. The first prize went to a design submitted by a group led by future 1987 Pritzker Laureate Kenzo Tange (1913–2005), who had previously developed his own plan for the reconstruction of Hiroshima. Tange's project was the only proposal that went beyond the park itself and included the 4-kilometer-long Miru Boulevard that now bisects the park.

The Peace Memorial Park has more than 60 monuments and buildings dedicated to the theme of peace. Photo: Angeles Marin Cabello

In February 1951, construction began on an exhibition hall that later became the main building of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. Then, in March of the same year, the construction of the Memorial Hall began, which was named the "Eastern Building". Due to a limited budget, the buildings remained unfinished for some time and were completed in 1955. At that time, there were many self-builds on the territory of the park, which the residents had to vacate.

This happened in 1959, only then did the park come close to real completion. In the architectural solution used by Tange, one can see the significant influence of Le Corbusier, whose five principles the Japanese architect used in his projects, combining them with the traditions of domestic architecture. Already then, Tange was convinced that public architecture would eventually take on enormous proportions in Japan, and his Peace Memorial Park project actually laid the foundation for this development.

Illegal construction in the city of peace

The Reconstruction Act resolved the issue of land ownership and removed the financial obstacles that had slowed the reconstruction of Hiroshima. But at the same time, the work on the memorial city project exacerbated the social differences that existed before the bombing. The demolition of thousands of wooden shacks in the area earmarked for development forced more than 3000 residents—including Korean laborers and members of the lower-class Burakumin—to move to the banks of the Ota River. The fire-prone settlements remained there until the 1970s, when local authorities built high-rise buildings in their place.

High-rise buildings being built next to illegal shacks on the banks of the Ota River, 1972. Photo: Yuichiro Sasaki. Courtesy: Yugo Shioura

The reason for the emergence of this problem is related to the peculiarity of the post-war reconstruction in Japan, which consisted in the fact that the state was responsible only for the creation of urban infrastructure. After the land was prepared for development, the rest of the issues (what types of houses to build, for whom and how to restore communications) were left to the private sector, i.e. the owners of the land, buildings and the residents themselves.

Although there was a system of government loans, it was quite difficult for most citizens to build quality housing on their own. That is why in areas where the reconstruction plan was supposed to have roads, parks and green areas, residents who lost their homes built illegal houses and shops.

For example, the Nakajima area, which later became the Peace Memorial Park, was densely built before the atomic bombing. Being within a radius of 500 m from the epicenter of the explosion, he received significant damage. When, after the war, this territory was designated as a park, the inhabitants were forced to move to other places. Owners of plots of land were able to start a new life on their new property, but those who did not were often left with no choice but to live in illegally built housing.

The need for housing was much greater, leading to a flurry of illegal developments along the banks of the Ota River

Another district, Moto-Mati, which was also located a short distance from the explosion, about 1 km, and suffered devastating destruction, was to be used mainly as a green zone according to the reconstruction plan. However, to counter the housing shortage, the city and prefectural governments, under pressure from residents, decided to build temporary housing in the area. By 1949, 1800 municipal houses were built in the Moto-Mati district.

However, the need for housing was much greater, leading to a flurry of illegal developments along the banks of the Ota River. Later, public housing was replaced by medium-rise residential complexes, but the illegally erected clusters remained in place for a long time. Reconstruction of this territory became the main task of the final stage of the reconstruction of Hiroshima destroyed by the war, which continued in this way until the 1970s.