| Description |
In the lower center is the Hiroshima Chapter of the Japanese Red Cross Society, completely destroyed by fire. (With pool of rainwater on the flat roof, caved in by the blast, the structure is in a dilapidated state.) The delta in the center is Nakajima-honmachi, and at its tip is Jisenji-no-hana (tip of Jisenji Temple). From left: Nippon Kan-i Kasai Insurance Company, Hiroshima Branch; Jisenji Temple; Shin-Ohashi Bridge; Honkawa Bridge (completely collapsed by the Makurazaki Typhoon on September 17); Tsukamoto-cho branch of Geibi Bank; the completely destroyed and burned auditorium of Honkawa National Elementary School; and a Hoanden. Aioi Bridge spans over the bifurcation point of the Honkawa and Motoyasu Rivers. Miyajima Island is in the upper left. Shigeo Hayashi, then 27, was a still photographer in the physics group of the investigation team organized by the Special Committee for the Investigation of Atomic Bomb Damages. From October 1 to 10, he took photos in Hiroshima, amid rumors of the threat of residual radiation. In order to convey the devastation of Hiroshima caused by a single bomb, he took a 360-degree panorama in 16 shots from the observation tower of the Hiroshima Prefectural Commerce Association (today’s Hiroshima Chamber of Commerce and Industry), located 260 meters from the hypocenter. |
