Hiroshima Day
Today on the 73rd anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, the residents of the Japanese city will pause to remember the day in 1945 that changed the course of history.
On August 6, 1945, US bomber Enola Gay dropped the first atomic bomb ever used in military combat on Hiroshima. The Allied forces dropped a second atomic bomb on the city of Nagasaki three days later.
The device that exploded over Hiroshima destroyed about two-thirds of the city’s structures in a blinding flash of light. At the time, Hiroshima’s population was approximately 300,000. The atomic bomb immediately killed 80,000 and injured 35,000 more. By the end of 1945, 60,000 more people had died because of the aftereffects of the blast.
Hiroshima today is a prosperous manufacturing hub with a population of over 1.1 million. Almost 70% of the buildings in Hiroshima were demolished in the blast. The routines of daily life are much like any other large city in Japan.
The city has launched a forward-looking planning process called Hiroshima 2045: City of Peace and Creativity, with a focus on designing a modern, distinctive urban landscape. Still, the memories of the past are never far away.
Every year, on August 6, the church bells ring at 8:15 am, the exact moment the bomb was dropped. This symbolic act begins a day of remembrance ceremonies that culminates in the hauntingly beautiful Toro Nagashi festival, where hundreds of lanterns are floated down the Motoyasu River, in front of the Atomic Bomb Dome.
The rise of Hiroshima like a Sphinx from the ashes…is indeed a triumph of humanity!
