-
-
The Sanyō Buntoku-den Memorial Hall
Built in 1931 for the 100th anniversary of the death of Rai Sanyō, a Japanese Confucian philosopher in the later Edo period, Buntoku-den Memorial Hall is characterized by its thick, western-style walls and Japanese roof topped with an ornamental Buddhist kurin spire.
The building served as a storehouse for the majority of the city's family registration documents under the worsening war situation. Only 1,820 meters from the hypocenter, the force of the August 6 blast warped the kurin spire and while the documents stored inside were scattered in the blast wave, they managed to escape being devoured in the firestorm.
Post-war, the Hall served in a variety of capacities, including as a library and social education facility. Today the building itself remains, although currently closed to the public.
Courtesy of the Hiroshima Municipal Archives.
Courtesy of the Hiroshima Municipal Archives.
The Kurin Tower, which was warped by the blast, has been preserved.
Information
The Sanyō Buntoku-den Memorial Hall
-
- Address
- 1-7 Hijiyama-cho, Minami-ku, Hiroshima City
-
- Tel
- 082-242-7831 (Peace Promotion Division at City Hall)
-
- Access
- Streetcar: Take the 5 streetcar line headed for Hiroshima Port (Hiroshima-kō // 広島港) and get off at Hijiyama-shita (比治山下); it's about a two minute walk from there.
-
- Distance from the hypocenter
- 1820m
-
- MAP
- Tap the name of the facility on Google Map and tap "View on Google Maps" to launch the application.