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Hiroshima City Rest House
former Taisho-ya Kimono store |
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#1: The route in front of the Rest House runs the same as before the A-bombing. |
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 Design: MASUDA Kiyoshi
Location: Nakajima-cho, Naka-ku, Hiroshima City
Original Purpose of Use: Kimono store
Present Purpose of Use: Tourist Information
Completed in: 1929
Structure: RC, three-storied & basement
map (mapion)
map (Google Map) |
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The present Peace Park area used to be called Nagajima-cho and downtown
before the war (photo #2). Taisho-ya Kimono Store, or Japanese traditional
garment store, originally stood across the river from the present location.
It moved here in 1929. It was made of reinforced concrete and emerged among
wooden row-rise houses. The whole city could be seen from the rooftop.
Inside was a store with display cases and customers entered with their
shoes on. The store where you could shop with your shoes on was revolutionary
in Hiroshima then.
However, in December 1943, the store was closed due to the intensified
war. The Fuel Rationing Control Union of Hiroshima Prefecture bought the
building and renamed it the Fuel Hall.
The architect was MASUDA Kiyoshi (1888-1977). He was an expert of
reinforced concrete structure. The Fuel Hall was only 170 m away from the
hypocenter. It survived the intense explosive blast and didn't collapse
in spite of its proximity to the hypocenter, though the interior burned
out (photo #4). That was probably because the ferroconcrete building was
sturdy and there were few openings facing the hypocenter.
After the war, this building was used as the Fuel Hall for a while,
then purchased by the city in 1957 and used as an office for reconstruction.
In 1982, it was refurbished as Tourist Information called Rest House and
has been standing up to this day. There are no remnants from pre-war days
inside since the interior completely burned; the basement has been intact
as it was since the A-bombing. The basement can be visited on application.
This building is one of few witnesses of pre-war Hiroshima and its
existence is quite valuable. Argument has erupted about dismantling it
due to deterioration, but I personally believe this is a legacy to be passed
on to the future. |
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#2:Nakajima Area before the A-bombing
Before the A-bombing, Hiroshima was built in conventional human scale and the Nakajima area was downtown. The Industrial Promotion Hall (A), Aioi-bashi bridge, an intended target of the A-bombing (B), Honkawa Elementary School (C), and Fuel Hall (D) are seen. |
#3:Layout of Peace Memorial Park
Peace Boulevard (a) is perpendicular to the line which connects The Museum (b), Cenotaph (c), and A-bomb Dome. Additionally, the City Auditorium (d) was built
on the premises. The Fuel Hall (e) was the only remaining building from
the former Nakajima area. |
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#4 : Fuel Hall after bombed |
#6 |
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#5 |
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Created on Feb 24, 2004 Last updated on Jul 4, 2008 Written by makoto Translated by jasmine Photos taken by makoto Camera: CanonPowerShotG3 |
| Photos on this page are licensed under a Creative Commons License. You are free to copy and make commercial use of them under the conditions
"Attribution" and "No Derivative Works". [about copyright] |
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 PEACE CENTER INDEX |
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| (CC) arch-hiroshima 2006 |
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