At that time, Niho, Eba, and Ujina (present Motoujina) were islands in the shallow bay. Earth and sand, washed down by the Ota River, accumulated in the bay over a long period of time and formed a number of flat islands. At that time people began to occupy these islands and called the area "Gokaura" or "Gokasho" or "Gokason" (Five Villages). Some say that the name of Hiroshima came from the fact that the castle was built on the largest of the islands. (Hiro means large; shima means island.)

Hiroshima Castle is also called "Rijo" (the Castle of the Carp). This is because "Koi" in Koi-ura, the whole area where the castle was located, is a homonym of carp in Japanese.

The Moris had their first contact with Hiroshima when the Kamakura shogunate appointed them lords of Yoshida in Takata County. Steadily extending their influence over the area, they wanted a foothold on the coast for both economic and military reasons.

Since commercial traffic on the Seto Inland Sea was then under the control of the Ouchi family and commerce on the Sea of Japan north of Hiroshima was controlled by the Amako family, the Moris were in an insecure position. However, during the time of Motonari, Terumoto's grandfather, they transferred their allegiance from the Amakos to the Ouchis, who gave them land in Kabe, Fukawa-Kami-Shimo, Nukushina and Kumura. Motonari then advanced south along the Ota River. He collided with the Takeda Clan based in Kanayama Castle (Gion-cho), who were responsible for the Province of Aki (the greater part of the present Hiroshima Prefecture); with the Amako Clan, who were allied with the Takedas, and with the priestly family which ruled Itsukushima. Motonari conquered these rulers one after the other and as a result of the fall of the Takedas, the Ouchis entrusted him with the Takedas' former lands. Motonari now had the land on the shore of Hiroshima Bay which he had wanted.

In 1555, Motonari defeated Harukata Sue, who had betrayed Yoshitaka Ouchi, and forced him to commit suicide. After that, he subjugated two domains of Bocho (presently a part of Yamaguchi Prefecture) and united the whole Chugoku district under his sway. Plans for Terumoto to build Hiroshima Castle were probably made during the days of Motonari.

With the completion of the castle, as retainers moved in from Yoshida, merchants and artisans were recruited from many places. Thus, a new castle town, befitting a great feudal lord, was born. Gokason, which had been nothing more than a group of tiny fishing villages among the reeds suddenly became a bustling town. Bridges and roads were constructed, including the Motoyasu Bridge, the Honkawa Bridge, and the road running in front of the castle from east to west connecting Horikawa-cho, Hirataya-cho, Nakajima-hon-machi (presently in Peace Memorial Park), and Sakaimachi. The Sanyo highway which had run north of Gokason now ran through the town.

Rivers running through the town were utilized for water transport, connecting the town with the Seto Inland Sea. Tenjin-machi (east of Peace Memorial Park) on the Motoyasu River, then called Funa-machi, had a flourishing wharf. In addition, two canals were built, the Hirataya in the east, and the Seito (over which the Takano Bridge was built) in the west, to serve as harbors. Onomichi-cho, Shioya-cho, Nishiuoya-cho, Horikawa-cho, Higashiuoya-cho and Shinsenba (Funaba)-cho developed along these canals. The canals have since been filled in and are now used as roads.

There were also medieval market traders. At Tokaichi-cho in the west, there was a regular market for vegetables, fruits, and processed farm products such as straw mats, tatami mats, and baskets made of bamboo, brought in from places on the upper courses of the Ota River. Tokaichi itself was said to have been a market transferred from Yoshida, and the regular market days were very busy.

These traditional neighborhood names, established during the days of the Moris, the Fukushimas and the Asanos, were retained until the community reorganization which followed the devastation of the atomic bombing. After the death of Hideyoshi Toyotomi on August 18, 1598, Ieyasu Tokugawa began to extend his power. Terumoto Mori, commander-in-chief of the opposing western army, was defeated by the Tokugawa forces at the battle of Sekigahara, and forced to withdraw into the two domains of Bocho (present Yamaguchi Prefecture). Thus he was lord of Hiroshima Castle for only ten years.

After the Moris had left Hiroshima, Masanori Fukushima, who had taken the side of the Tokugawa at the battle of Sekigahara, arrived as governor-general of Geishu and Bishu (present Hiroshima Prefecture). He came from Kiyosu Castle in Owari (present Aichi Prefecture). As the Fukushimas' rule began, Hiroshima developed rapidly. Communities were organized under magistrates, neighborhood groups were set up to control the populace, and each group had an appointed senior leader. This system lasted for over 260 years until the Meiji Restoration.

Expansion of the city area was also promoted and the following areas were developed: Kanon-Shinkai which covers most of the present Kanon-machi area, Kirishitan-Shinkai which is the present Takeya-cho, Fujimi-cho area, Kokutaiji-Shinkai which is the present Kokutaiji-cho, Roku-chome-Shinkai, Kakomachi-Shinkai, Funairi-Shinkai and the eastern and southern parts of Hijiyama.

The Fukushimas endeavored to improve the domain by carrying out a land survey. However, they were moved to Tsugaru (present Aomori Prefecture) in Oshu (Tohoku district) because they had Hiroshima Castle, which was damaged by a flood in 1619, repaired without permission from the Tokugawa Feudal Government. The rule of the Fukushimas lasted for only about 20 years.

On August 8, 1619, Nagaakira Asano entered Hiroshima from Wakayama in Kishu (a part of the present Kinki district) replacing the Fukushimas. The Asanos, close allies of the Tokugawa rulers, were installed as the key to Tokugawa control of the Chugoku district and, with lands assessed at 426,000 koku of rice, they ruled for 250 years until the time of the Meiji Restoration. Under Asano rule the city continued to grow and prosper.

Like the Fukushimas, the Asanos added new areas to the city. According to a map drawn in the Kansei period (1789 1801), new land was added beyond the newly developed Kirishitan addition. In the same way, newly filled-in land was added to the Hijiyama and Roku-chome additions. Progress in filling in shallow areas of the bay to create new land was as dramatic as the leveling of mountains to create new housing areas today.

In addition, quite a few newly developed areas, large and small, are recorded on old maps drawn about that time. In this way, Hijiyama, Nihoshima, and Eba, originally islands, became part of the mainland.

During the Asano period, there were almost no military disturbances. In parallel with the development of a rich samurai culture, the culture of the townspeople, with their increased economic strength, also made rapid progress. As the Tokugawa regime promoted Confucianism, the lords of the Asano Clan gave important positions to Confucian scholars. For example, they invited Jozan Ishikawa from Kyoto. In 1725, a school exclusively for the children of clansmen was established in Hakushima and the establishment of private schools and temple schools was encouraged. With these educational policies, a rich culture began to bloom.

Sanyo Rai, a son of Shunsui Rai who was a Confucian scholar serving the Asano Clan, helped to develop the ideas which led to the Meiji Restoration. His book the Nihongaishi (an Unofficial History of Japan) left a deep impression on the minds of people at that time. He was also a distinguished poet. There are still many people who love to recite his poems.

The visit of the American mission under Perry in 1853 undermined the Tokugawa regime which had kept Japan closed to foreign influence, and stimulated people to look in new directions. As the political situation grew strained, the Asano, as an influential clan of the Chugoku district, rapidly rose to higher political position.

As the feudal rulers of Japan, divided between those who wanted to preserve the status quo and those who insisted on change, engaged in heated controversy, the intervention of the traditional nobility in the imperial court moved the focus of political activity from Edo (Tokyo) to Kyoto. In the midst of these rapid changes in the political situation, the strength of the Tokugawa government gradually weakened. At the same time, such influential clans as the Satsuma-han (the Shimazus), the Choshu-han (the Moris) and the Tosa-han (the Yamanouchis) rapidly gained strength. Among them, the Choshu-han took the lead in the movement to overthrow the Tokugawa government with the slogan, "Revere the Emperor! Expel the Barbarians." They had the backing of the Imperial Court, the traditional nobility, and many young samurai. It is said that the Moris led the movement in order to pay off old scores their defeat at the battle of Sekigahara.

Some clans were displeased that the Choshu-han had made such a spectacular advance into the central government. The Satsuma-han and the Aizu-han working together succeeded in expelling the Choshu-han. However, the Choshu-han marched on Kyoto in an attempt to regain power, and finally staged the "Kinmon-no-Hen." Because of this incident, it was called "the emperor's enemy."

In 1864, the subjugation of Choshu was undertaken by the combined forces of the the Hiroshima-han Tokugawa government and the anti-Tokugawa clans. Ordered to lead the attack on Choshu, the Hiroshima-han became the focus of political concern. The Tokugawa officials, and the armies of each clan entered Hiroshima, which had become a base for the entire army. Although the situation was critical, peace was restored without a battle when the Choshu-han apologized and beheaded three of its leaders. The heads of the three were received at the Kokutai Temple in Hiroshima (moved to Koi Pass in 1977) and the attack was called off. However, some of the lower warriors in Choshu who were dissatisfied with this settlement organized an attack force of farmers and townsmen with arms imported from England. They concluded a secret agreement with the Satsuma-han to further intensify the movement for overthrowing the shogunate. Knowing of this movement for overthrowing the shogunate was determined to subjugate the Choshu-han. However the clans, in financial dificulty, could not meet the Tokugawa orders to dispatch troops. The Tokugawa government no longer held power as in the past, and rapid changes in the world were bringing about the breakdown of feudalism.

Hiroshima became a military base for the Tokugawa government with the possibility of becoming a dangerous battle field. However, instead the Hiroshima-han had opposed military action to subjugate the Choshu-han and devoted its energies to mediating between the shogunate and the Choshu-han.

On the death of Lemochi on July 20, 1866, Yoshinobu Hitotsubashi succeeded as shogun. Since he saw that the war was not going in his favor, he stopped the attempt to subjugate Choshu. With this, the powerlessness of the Tokugawa government was revealed to the whole country, and the political situation took a sudden turn from restoring power to the Tokugawa government to the establishment of imperial rule. At a meeting held at the Kyoto Imperial Palace in December 1867, the group who wanted to overthrow the shogunate by force of arms had a heated argument with the group supporting the Tosa-han that wanted to settle the situation peacefully. However, the Hiroshima-han arbitrated between the two parties, and nationwide fighting was avoided.

Although the Battle of Toba-Fushimi (the Boshin War) and other battles were provoked by discontented vassals of the shogun, they ended in the total defeat of the shogun's forces. In 1868, the new Meiji government was formed. With the inauguration of the new government, the system of the administration of local municipalities was also changed.

In July, 1871, the feudal clan system was abolished and the Hiroshima fief became Hiroshima Prefecture. The castle town of Hiroshima began the process of rebirth as one of the most important cities of Japan.

On the pretext of deterring Nagamichi Asano, the former lord, from moving his residence to Tokyo when the rule of feudal clans was abolished and prefectures in history as the Buichi Riot, it was an explosion of the uncertainty which farmers felt toward the new government, and indicated dissatisfaction with the ruling class. Buichiro (from Arita Village in Yamagata County), the leader of the riot, and 8 others were executed.

In April, 1872, the system of local administration was completely changed. The old towns and villages were abolished and the entire country was divided into large districts and subdivided into smaller ones. The town of Hiroshima was one large district subdivided into 4 smaller district. Large districts were administered by officers called kocho and fuku kocho. Small districts also had administrative officers. Hiroshima officially became a city on April 1, 1889, under the new system of municipalities. A physician, Akira Miki, was appointed the first mayor. The population at that time was 83,387. On September 21 of that year the new city hall was opened on the site of the grain warehouse of the Hiroshima-han in Nakajima-shin-machi (at present, Peace Boulevard). This was the center of municipal administration for 39 years until 1928 when the city government moved to its present site in Kokutaiji-machi.

For some ten years before and after the birth of Hiroshima City, there were major projects and events which determined the direction of Hiroshima as a city. The construction of Ujina Harbor was one of these. Although there had long been a plan to develop a new area on Ujina Bay, objections were raised by former warriors who were opposed to the use of founds appropriated for their rehabilitaion when clans were abolished, and by fishermen who feared losing their fishing grounds. The prefectural governor, Sadaaki Senda who assumed office in 1880, was enthusiastic about the construction of Ujina Harbor and successfully talked them into agreement. On September 5, 1884, a ground-breaking ceremony was held. The harbor was nearly completed by November 1889, at a total cost of more than 300,000 yen, several times more than the original estimate. With this construction work, the sea from the Minami-Shinkai southward to Ujina Island was reclaimed, forming 2,076,442 m² of new land.

Ujina Harbor was built to serve as a water gateway (commercial port), which would ensure the prosperity of Hiroshima.

On June 10, 1894, Sanyo Railway, which had been opened as far as Itozaki, was extended to Hiroshima. Hiroshima Station was built in Higashi-Matsubara in Osuga Village. A month later, when the Sino-Japanese War broke out, Hiroshima Station and Ujina Harbor became very important for military transportation. The construction of a military railway (the Ujina Line) between the station and the harbor was started on the day after war broke out. It was completed in only 16 days.

In September 1897, the Sanyo Railway was extended westward to Tokuyama. Both Yokogawa and Koi stations were constructed at that time. The Kure Line was opened in 1903 for military reasons. The Kabe Line (operated by the Great Japan Railway Corporation) was built in 1910 and the Geibi Line (operated by the Geibi Railway Corporation) in 1915. At this time train transportation superseded shipping on the Ota River.

The Meiji Restoration provided the opportunity for the castle town of Hiroshima to be reborn as an economic and cultural city. However, as the Meiji government pursued its policy of strengthening the military, it soon became apparent that Hiroshima, at the center of the Chogoku district with a good harbor, was ideally situated for military purposes.

After the abolition of clans and the establishment of prefectures, the First Detached Garrison of Western Japan was set up in Hiroshima Castle. In 1873, the Hiroshima Garrison of the Fifth Military District, one of six garrisons in the entire nation, was established with Hiroshima and nine other prefectures under its administration. Thus Hiroshima became a military city. When the 1lth Infantry Regiment was organized, its units were stationed in Hiroshima. In 1886, the Hiroshima Garrison was renamed the Fifth Division. New military installations were built one after another not only in the castle but also outside the castle, steadily strengthening Hiroshima as an army base.

When the Sino-Japanese War broke out in August 1894, the Fifth Division the Russo-Japanese War was the first to be sent to the front. They were followed by soldiers from all over Japan. Leaving Ujina Harbor daily for active service overseas, Ujina Harbor was a very active port with many military transports coming and going.

On September 15, Emperor Meiji moved the Imperial Headquarters to the Hiroshima Castle where he planned strategy. An extraordinary session of the Imperial Diet was held in the provisional Diet building built in a corner of the west drill ground (around the site of the Hiroshima Castle) with civil and military officials accompanying the emperor.

Hiroshima looked as if it were the national capital. Until the emperor left Hiroshima on April 27, 1895, the city was unprecedentedly prosperous and busy, with high government officials coming and going, soldiers leaving for the front, wounded soldiers returning, and trades-people and workers coming from all over Japan.

The war brought more people to Hiroshima and resulted in the expansion of military installations. Thus Hiroshima made rapid progress as one of the important military cities of Japan.

In 1904, as the Russo-Japanese War broke out, Hiroshima was again brought to the tore as a target-scale army base of operations.

Through these wars, the industrial economy of Hiroshima grew rapidly and the establishment of stock exchanges, banks, and industries was promoted. Hiroshima became an economic city as well as a military city. It also had the appearance of an educational city equipped with a number of educational facilities.

Hiroshima, secure in its position as a military city, grew and prospered as wars and incidents occurred throughout the Meiji and Taisho periods. Therefore, Hiroshima was little influenced by the cutback in armaments during the 1920s.

Along with expansion of its role as a military city, Hiroshima became a modern city.

After the Manchurian Incident, the Shanghai Incident, and the outbreak of the full-scale war between Japan and China, the Japanese army and navy launched an attack on the northern Malay Peninsula and attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on December 8, 1941 (Japan time). Japan rushed into the Greater East Asia War (the Pacific War). In Hiroshima, a center of military affairs since the Sino-Japanese and the Russo-Japanese wars, military installations were expanded and various heavy industries developed rapidly.

In 1942, a Marine headquarters (under the command of Lieutenant General Fumio Saeki) was set up in Ujina, and related units were placed on the coast around Hiroshima City. Later, when the atomic bomb was dropped, these units, located about 4 kilometers away from the city, escaped destruction. They sent out relief squads and took a very active part in aiding the wounded, clearing the dead bodies and cleaning the streets.

After the outbreak of the war, the air defense setup of the city was rapidly strengthened and was much stronger than in other cities. However, after Japan, which had been victorious in the early stages of the war, lost the battle of Guadalcanal in 1943, the military situation grew steadily worse, and it appeared that the mainland of Japan would be turned into a battlefield. The army hurriedly prepared for a decisive battle on the mainland. With these preparations Hiroshima was to take on a new role. Japan was divided into two parts; the First General Headquarters was placed in Tokyo, and the Second General Headquarters (under the command of Marshal Shunroku Hata) in Hiroshima, where the headquarters of the Chugoku District Governor-General (led by Isei Otsuka), the highest administrative body commissioned by the central government, was also established.

In 1944, U.S. forces occupied Saipan, the last strategic point of the Japanese army on the south Pacific front, and established an air base from which to attack the mainland of Japan. In November full-scale air raids were begun, devastating the cities of Japan one by one.

Under such conditions, Hiroshima City began the evacuation of students above the third grade of elementary school and of other citizens whose presence was not essential. With the threat of incendiary bombings, demolition of buildings to make fire lanes was carried out on a wide scale. For the demolition of buildings, volunteer army corps in various places, organized according to the National Volunteer Army Conscription Law, and mobilized students of various middle schools and girls' schools were gathered to engage in the work each day.

An evacuation plan for citizens was made in preparation for the outbreak of a major conflagration caused by air raids. The evacuation destination of each neighborhood association was specified in advance in order to avoid confusion. The evacuation of people that had been organized at the outset of the air raids was prohibited near the end of the war in order to secure personnel necessary for air defense.

On August 6 1945, one atomic bomb instantly destroyed almost all of the houses and buildings in Hiroshima. They caught fire immediately and were reduced to ashes. In the case of wooden houses, those which were within one kilometer of the hypocenter were smashed at the moment of the explosion. Those in the area between one kilometer and two kilometers from the hypocenter were completely destroyed. Those in the area two to three kilometers away were severely damaged. Even houses three to four kilometers from the center of the explosion were badly damaged.

In the case of reinforced concrete buildings, the roofs of those near the center of the explosion collapsed. Some of the buildings were flattened and became piles of rubble.

A fierce fire followed destruction by the violent blast caused by the explosion. Every building within one kilometer of the hypocenter was totally destroyed by the fire whether it was wooden or reinforced concrete. The buildings located one to two kilometers from the center were mostly destroyed by the fire, and those two to three kilometers from the center were partially destroyed.

Hiroshima Prefectural Government Hall, which was a wooden building 900 meters from the hypocenter, was flattened and burned. Hiroshima City Hall (1.2 kilometers from the center) also caught fire and the entire building was gutted, although the main shell of the hall which was reinforced concrete, was left standing.

Mayor Awaya died at his home and a great many officials were killed in their offices. The A-bomb destroyed all levels of administration, transportation facilities, including railroads, the communication system, journalism, offices, factories of private and public corporations, and all other facilities. The total destruction of these facilities caused such great confusion that it was utterly impossible to grasp the number of dead and wounded.

Army troops deployed around Hiroshima Castle, which was the center of Hiroshima as a military city, were nearly annihilated. On the evening of August 6, Vice Inspector General Hattori of the Chugoku District Superintendent's Office, Director of Hiroshima Prefectural Police Ishihara, and Governor Takano, who had returned from a business trip, gathered at Tamon-in Temple at the entrance to Hijiyama Park. They formed both a temporary prefectural government office and a temporary air-defense headquarters. Thirteen hours later they reported the disastrous situation and asked for help from the central government and other related organizations. Therefore relief activities on the day of the explosion were limited to the Akatsuki Corps sent from Ujina, naval personnel sent from the naval base at Kure, and a few small hospitals which survived the disaster.

After the typhoon had passed, autumn suddenly arrived. Beautiful weather continued for some time and green weeds started to grow here and there in the burnt city. The plants were horseweed, which grew as tall as an adult person. Using the horseweed as a main ingredient, dumplings were made and sold in Eba and other areas which had remained unburnt. People who could go no longer on an empty stomach ate them to relieve their hunger, though they were unappetizing.

According to foreign news dispatches, Hiroshima, contaminated by radioactivity, would be barren for the next 70 years and no one would be able to live there. However, finding green weeds starting to grow again, hibakusha (A-bomb survivors) were given new hope for life.

Around the middle of September, elementary school children who had been evacuated returned to the city and schools were reopened in the burnt-out shells of ferroconcrete buildings. However, many classes had to be held outside and there were no teaching materials. Moreover the children could not concentrate on their studies because of their empty stomachs. Among those children who had returned were some who had lost their homes, parents, and brothers and sisters. Some of them were eventually either put in the custody of relatives living at a distance or adopted.

Around that time, black-market stalls were opened by discharged soldiers and people from other areas along the streets where people gathered in front of Hiroshima Station, and were doing a good business. However, many hibakusha could not afford to buy goods there. They planted vegetable gardens around their shacks after clearing away the rubble. Seedlings and seeds were either supplied by the city office or donated by acquaintances living in the countryside.

Winter in the burnt-out city was the severest one in many years. In this freezing cold weather, hibakusha made fires with the unburnt pieces of wood they had raked up. With this scanty heat they warmed themselves and managed to survive.

The reconstruction of Hiroshima began with relief activities, mainly by the army (the Akatsuki Unit), immediately after the bombing. They removed the countless dead bodies in the first four or five days, cleared the principal roads for truck traffic, and of course helped to house and treat the wounded. Since the war was still going on, it was urgent to restore the functions of the important military bases. Emergency measures were taken to restore communications, electricity, and transportation.

When the army, which had been the main force in the reconstruction work, was disbanded at the end of the war, the work slowed. The city government, almost totally destroyed by the bombing, was not capable of taking over the reconstruction work and was forced to depend heavily on aid from other areas of Hiroshima Prefecture and neighboring prefectures. Through the relief work of these groups, Hiroshima City gradually began to grope its way back to life.

On February 22 1946, Governor Kusunose invited a number of leaders to the prefectural office for a round-table discussion on the reconstruction and future of Hiroshima. The following is a summary of the statements of each person present.

Governor Kusunose
I prefer the word reconstruction to restoration. There are two aspects of reconstruction. One is short-term reconstruction, such as reparing streetcar lines, building bridges and temporary houses as quickly as possible. The other is long-term reconstruction, which can not be carried out soon because of the present shortage of building materials. We need to work on it step by step. How about collecting drawings of reconstruction plans for Hiroshima from people all over the world?

Yoshiro Saeki (religious historian)
I'm opposed to the idea of building Hiroshima as a large city. A small scale, carefully planned Hiroshima is better. The present state of metropolitan Tokyo is a result of the failure of party politics. Such a situation should be avoided. I think that we should allow Hiroshima to grow larger in a natural way.

Yoko Ota (novelist)
The banks of the rivers of Hiroshima should become green areas and parks. Constructing apartments on the outskirts of the city is an urgent need in order to provide living facilities for the A-bomb victims who are now compelled to live in shacks. Many trees should be planted in the city. I would like to interweave dream and reality in harmony and enrich the citizens' lives.

Tomiko Koura (deputy mayor of Kure City)
I want to keep the vast expanse of the burnt-out area intact as a memorial graveyard for the sake of everlasting world peace. I have doubts about building a city on the place where countless numbers of people have died. It is not necessary to build the new Hiroshima on its old site. I think that we should search for a new place in the suburbs and construct the new Hiroshima there.

Hikojiro Oshio (director of the broadcasting department of NHK Hiroshima Central Broadcasting Station)
Presently I feel strongly that we need to improve the level of culture. I would like to see a library constructed soon even if it is just a shack. Also movie theaters and playhouses should be built as soon as possible to meet the needs of citizens who are hungry for culture.

Mr. Hayashi (assistant abbot of the Hiroshima Betsuin Temple)
The delay in reconstruction is the result of the lack of a comprehensive city plan. The routes of the main roads at least should be decided at once. Temples should be scattered one in each community instead of clustering them in one area as they were before the war. Then they could be utilized by the local people for various activities, serving as community auditoriums.

Yoshiro Fukui (artist)
I would like to see wide roads constructed and greenbelts built along the riversides. I want to see Hiroshima become a modern city displaying the highest quality of Japanese creative culture.

The outline of the opinions expressed above shows much enthusiasm among the people for the reconstruction of Hiroshima as a peaceful modern city full of green vegetation. However, at that time, these ideas were considered dreams.

In the summer of 1946, in the outskirts of the burnt-out area, Danbara and Niho in the east, Ujina and Eba in the south, Koi, Kogo and Kusatsu in the west, Misasa-hon-machi 4-chome and Oshiba in the north, the population increased rapidly from an influx of people who had fled the city at the time of the bombing, demobilized soldiers, and repatriated people from China and Korea. Though various shops and recreational facilities in temporary wooden buildings started to appear, the completely burnt-out areas remained empty except for a few places, such as the areas in front of Hiroshima Station, Matoba-cho, Yokogawa and Koi, where black markets were thriving. The nearer one approved the hypocenter, the more vacant lot remained where horseweeds grew thickly.

Centering on August 6, 1946, a Peace Restoration Festival was held. Amidst tears, the surviving citizens of the city prayed for the peace of the souls of the A-bomb victims and pledged themselves to the restoration of world peace. A Hiroshima Citizens' Rally for the Restoration of Peace was held on August 5 at what had previously been the Gokoku Shrine (near the present Hiroshima Baseball Stadium). About seven thousand people gathered carrying nags draped in black and banners on which the slogan "World peace begins from Hiroshima" was written. Being under Allied occupation, government agencies could not sponsor such a festival. In addition, permission to hold a festival had to be granted by the general headquarters of the occupation forces in Tokyo and its branch in Kure. The festival was carried out under occupation surveillance and no anti-American speeches or actions were permitted.

Exactly at 8:15 on August 6, sirens were sounded all over the city. Streetcars, buses and people all stopped moving and those in offices stood, leaving their pens and abacuses on their desks, and paid silent tribute to the victims for one minute. This first anniversary Peace Restoration Festival was of deep significance. It gave people, crushed by privation, a glimmer of hope which heightened their desire for restoration of the city.

The city developed a basic plan for restoration and proceeded by organizing a restoration bureau in January 1946, and a restoration council in February in the burnt-out city hall. The plan to build Peace Boulevard (100-meter-wide avenue) was also made at that time. Though administrative agencies and the people of Hiroshima had very strong enthusiasm for the plan, it was extremely difficult to carry it out since the damage done by the A-bomb was so complete and because Japan was under military occupation. The hibakusha had not recovered their physical strength and had no energy to engage in the restoration of their city, living, as many did, in wretched hovels which did not even shelter them from rain. It was only around 1949 or 1950 that they resumed some semblance of normal living.

In April 1947 Shinzo Hamai was elected mayor by popular vote in the first post-war Elected by Popular Vote election. Hiroshima was newly born on the principle of democracy.

Mayor Hamai, hoping to make Hiroshima the Mecca of all people who long for world peace, established the Hiroshima Peace Festival Association and decided to hold a Peace Festival on August 6 every year. He also decided to issue a Peace Declaration. (The generic name of this ceremony had been the "Peace Memorial Ceremony" since 1965. However, its name was changed to the "Ceremony to Pray for Peace" in 1968 and again to the "Peace Memorial Ceremony" in 1975. This name continues to be used today.)

On August 6 1947 the first Peace Festival was held in an open area in Jisenji-no-hana (This area is now included in Peace Memorial Park). The festival took place around a wooden peace tower which was built for the occasion. After a silent prayer by the people present, the Peace Bell was rung. Then Mayor Hamai took the platform and read aloud to the world the first Peace Declaration. "This horrible weapon brought about a 'Revolution of Thought', which has convinced us of the necessity and the value of eternal peace. That is to say, because of this atomic bomb, the people of the world have become aware that a global war in which atomic energy would be used would lead to the end of our civilization and the extinction of mankind. This revolution in thinking ought to be the basis for an absolute peace, and imply the birth of new life and a new world." Mayor Hamai expressed his convictions eloquently, speaking from his own experience as a hibakusha.

This annual Peace Declaration has stirred interest throughout the world. Each year many people send encouraging and supporting words to the Hiroshima city government.

Rev Kiyoshi Tanimoto of Nagarekawa Church, a hibakusha, was interviewed in Tokyo by a United Press correspondent, Lutherford Poats, in 1948 and the interview appeared in the Stars and Stripes, the newspaper of the American armed forces. In this article Poats used a new expression "No More Hiroshimas", which was reprinted in other American newspapers. Alfred Parker, custodian of Tenth Avenue Baptist Church, Oakland, California, was struck by this message and immediately proposed a "No More Hiroshimas" movement to people of 26 countries.

With this as a beginning, people all over the world became interested in the movement, and "Hiroshima Day" meetings were held on August 6 in many parts of the world.

Mayor Hamai, in the second Peace Festival in 1948, read his Peace Declaration: "We pray in sincerity that there may never be another Hiroshima in any part of the world." His words were translated into English and written on the Peace Tower in huge letters. Thus he expressed his determination to make Hiroshima a Mecca for world peace.

Hiroshima is no longer merely a Japanese crty. It has become recognized throughout the world as a Mecca of world peace. From this standpoint, Mayor Hamai felt that the reconstruction of Hiroshima should be initiated by the Japanese Government and in that way the new peaceful Japan could gain credibility with foreign countries. The city assembly agreed and passed a resolution unanimously favoring his proposal, a "Petition for the General Reconstruction of Hiroshima from Atomic Bomb Damage."A petition was sent to the government. This developed into a movement to enact a special law initiated by members of the Diet, and a "Hiroshima Peace Memorial City Construction Law" was enacted. Nagasaki City joined the Hiroshima movement and a similar "Nagasaki International Culture City Construction Law" was passed.

In a special poll of residents, carried out on July 7, 1949, an absolute majority approved of the law and it went into effect on August 6, 1949. Under Article I of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial City Construction Law which consists of 7 articles, it is written that "This law aims at the construction of Hiroshima as a Peace Memorial City, a symbol of the ideal of making lasting peace a reality." During the feudal period, Hiroshima prospered as a castle town of the Mori Clan, one of the influential clans of western Japan. The Mori Clan was followed by the Fukushima Clan and the Asano Clan. After the Meiji Restoration, Hiroshima developed and grew into one of the largest and most important military bases of Japan. Destroyed by the first atomic bomb ever used in warfare, Hiroshima rose from the ashes as a Mecca of world peace.