The , originally the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall, and now commonly called the Genbaku Dome, , is part of Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, Japan, and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996. people killed in the bombing. It is permanently kept in a state of preserved ruin as a reminder of the destructive effects of nuclear warfare.

Original building

The Product Exhibition Hall building was originally designed by Czech architect Jan Letzel. The design included a distinctive dome at the top of the building. It was completed in April 1915 and was named the Hiroshima Prefectural Commercial Exhibition (HMI).

Atomic bombing

During the Second World War, at 8:15 a.m. on 6 August 1945, the first atomic bomb ever used in war was dropped on Hiroshima. The bomb possessed a force equivalent to 15,000 tons of TNT, and effectively obliterated the city. Hiroshima was chosen as a target because it was an important port on southern Honshu, the headquarters of the Japanese Second General Army, with 40,000 military personnel in the city, and the only large city that was not known to have a POW camp. Intended for the Aioi Bridge, the bomb missed its target by and exploded directly over Shima Hospital, which was very near to the Genbaku Dome. The center of the blast occurred horizontally and vertically from the Dome. Everyone inside was instantly killed.

Because the explosion was almost directly overhead, the building kept its shape. Its vertical columns resisted the blast's nearly vertical downward force, and parts of the concrete and brick outer walls remained intact. The building's durability can also be attributed to its earthquake-resistant design; it has survived earthquakes before and since the bombing.

Preservation

thumb|237px|The Genbaku Dome amidst the devastation in October 1945. Photograph by [[Shigeo Hayashi, one of two photographers attached to the academic survey teams.]]

thumb|237px|Emperor [[Hirohito visiting Hiroshima in 1947. The memorial can be seen in the background.]]

Due to its stone and steel structure, the building was the only structure left standing near the bomb's hypocenter. Soon commonly called the Genbaku ("A-Bomb") Dome, due to the exposed metal dome framework at its apex, the structure was scheduled to be demolished with the rest of the ruins, but most of the building was intact, delaying the demolition plans. The Dome became a subject of controversy, with some locals wanting it torn down while others wanted to preserve it as a memorial of the bombing and a symbol of peace. Ultimately, when the reconstruction of Hiroshima began, the building's skeletal remains were preserved. The Dome has undergone two minor preservation projects to stabilize the ruin, notably between October 1989 and March 1990. The leaders of the 49th G7 summit visited the Memorial on 19 May 2023.

Domestically, the memorial is a common venue for antiwar, anti-nuclear weapons and anti-nuclear power protests. Hiroshima's municipal government holds the annual Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony at the Memorial.

UNESCO World Heritage Site

In December 1996, the Genbaku Dome was registered on the UNESCO World Heritage List based on the Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage.

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File:Hiromuseum.jpg|Products Exhibition Hall in its original condition (c. 1921–1933)

File:Genbaku Dome 2.jpg|Hall, taken from Motoyasu Bridge (c. 1921–1933)

File:HiroshimaAtomicBombDome1921.jpg|Nighttime photograph, 1921

File:Hiroshima Peace Memorial 1929.jpg|Photograph in March 1929

File:A-Bomb Dome close-up.jpg|Citizens of the city pass by the Hiroshima Peace Memorial on their way to a memorial ceremony on 6 August 2004

File:Gambaku Dome of Hiroshima.jpg|The Dome, photo taken from the southwest side

File:Ganbaku Dome of Hiroshima from distance.jpg|Distant view of the Dome; shot is taken from the Aioi Bridge

File:GenbakuDome02.jpg|Side view of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial

File:A-bomb dome closeup.jpg|Close up of the dome

File:HiroshimaGembakuDome6747.jpg|Dome with plaque

File:Hiroshima Peace Memorial before and after bombing.jpg|Peace Dome, then and now

File:A-bomb dome.jpg|Genbaku Dome in 2007

File:A-bomb dome at night.jpg|Genbaku Dome at night

File:A-Bomb Dome at Night.JPG|Genbaku Dome at night

File:Paper cranes.jpg|Origami cranes

File:Hiroshima dome.JPG|Hiroshima dome as seen from the memorial park

File:Hiroshima Peace Memorial9.jpg|Overcast in the spring (May 2017)

File:Origami cranes at Hiroshima Peace Memorial.jpg|Origami cranes at Hiroshima Peace Memorial

File:Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome).jpg|Genbaku Dome in moonlight (November 2018)

File:Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima.jpg|Atomic Bomb Dome pictured in 2020, 75 years after the bombing

File:Hiroshima A-bomb dome.jpg|Genbaku Dome seen from Orizuru Tower in 2019

File:High noon sun over the Genbaku Dome silhouette on 13 February 2017.jpg|High noon sun over the Genbaku Dome silhouette on 13 February 2017.

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See also

  • Hiroshima Witness
  • Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church
  • St. Nicholas Church, Hamburg
  • Coventry Cathedral
  • Tourism in Japan
  • List of World Heritage Sites in Japan
  • The Ribbon International
  • Hiroshima rages, Nagasaki prays

References

  • Entry on UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) website
  • U.S. Attending 2010 Hiroshima Memorial&nbsp; – video report by Democracy Now!
  • Google street view interactive walkthrough of memorial park and atomic bomb dome by Geographic.org