What can be learned from Hiroshima’s reconstruction experience?
The first point to be noted is that destruction in itself does not mean the end. The first step in Hiroshima’s reconstruction began the very instant following the atomic bombing when it seemed that everything had been lost.
Second, reconstruction is an act that generates something new and simultaneously revitalizes what had been handed down from the past and nearly lost. Hiroshima’s reconstruction did not create everything anew. It was also an initiative that brought back social functions, culture, and traditions that had existed in the Hiroshima communities before the bombing.
The third point is the significance of the stances that those who have directly experienced tragedy take as they tend to be the ones who most strongly long for peace. The presence of A-bomb survivors—their thoughts and attitudes—were essential to the construction of a city of peace in the reconstruction period.
Fourth, the road to reconstruction is not a straight path. In the course of Hiroshima’s reconstruction, friction, opposition and clashes often occurred. However, the efforts for reconstruction may be even further solidified by overcoming those hardships.
Fifth, achieving reconstruction requires the active awareness of every citizen, even more so than special organizations, leaders, and other systems. Important roles were also played by the War Damage Reconstruction Agency, leaders such as the governors and mayors, people of the prefectural and city governments who were in charge, and systems such as the Hiroshima Peace Memorial City Construction Law. However, what ultimately achieved and anchored the reconstruction was the repeated, everyday efforts of individual citizens who possessed and acted with a keen awareness that they were “citizens of the City of Hiroshima, a city of peace.”