Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima to be designated 'Special Historic Site'
It would be the first such designation for a structure built since the Meiji Period, which started in the latter 19th century.
A panel at Japan's Cultural Affairs Agency recommended the designation on Friday.
The brick building was erected in 1915 and served as the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotional Hall. It partially survived the 1945 atomic bombing of the city.
Also called Genbaku Dome, the structure is already designated a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The building was only about 160 meters from ground zero, but the shell of the dome miraculously survived the bombing while inner parts of the building burned down.
The panel said it regards the structure as having extremely high value as a symbol of disaster from the first-ever atomic bombing in history, which is preserved in the same state as immediately after the explosion.
The most recent monument designated a Special Historic Site to date is Goryokaku, a western-style fort in Hokkaido, which was completed in the late Edo Period in the 19th Century.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Japan Times
11 hours ago
- Japan Times
Just a moment...
Verifying you are human. This may take a few seconds. needs to review the security of your connection before proceeding. Verification successful Waiting for to respond...
NHK
a day ago
- NHK
Tokyo 10-year-old boy tells stories of atomic bomb survivors
A 10-year-old boy from Tokyo is among the people who are telling the stories of atomic bomb survivors in Japan. Fifth-grade elementary school student Hosoi Soshi is the youngest person to have passed a screening for the role of talking about the suffering of hibakusha, as such survivors are called. He is a volunteer for a non-governmental association dedicated to promoting peace. Hosoi has been hearing the experiences of a Nagasaki bomb survivor, 83-year-old Mitamura Shizuko. On Monday, he visited Nagasaki and watched Mitamura's picture-story show about the bombing and her life afterwards. He said he wanted to study her manner of speaking to help him with his own storytelling. Hosoi was accompanied by his 14-year-old sister Sanae. She took videos of the presentation to draw inspiration for her illustrations to be shown during her brother's narrative. Hosoi said people telling these stories are becoming scarce 80 years after the bombings, so it is important that the baton is passed on to the next generation. He said he wants to improve his storytelling to convey the foolishness and tragedy of atomic bombing to many people. Mitamura said she is very impressed with his effort. She said she wants him to not work too hard from the start, and to try and convey the message of peace in his own way.
NHK
a day ago
- NHK
Riding the rapids on Japan's last log rafts
Deep in rural Wakayama, a centuries-old river rafting tradition is making waves with its first-ever female crew member steering both the raft and a cultural shift.
