Project Hiroshima
Description of the Project: The class will be divided into groups of around 5-7 students
each called “han” (Japanese for “group”). Each group member will take on the role of a
citizen of Hiroshima during the final days of World War II, 1940-1945. The groups will
organize into neighborhoods located in various parts of Hiroshima city or on the
neighboring island, Miyajima. Groups will meet on a daily basis and work together to
develop two aspects of their character’s story: personal life/character and neighborhood
life/relationships.
We will begin by selecting/creating characters and describing them and their lives, both
in prose (writing) and, to an extent, through drawing them. Once characters are fairly
developed, groups will discuss relationships between the characters in their
neighborhoods. Lastly, groups will create the buildings, streets and communal items
(neighborhood well, fire fighting equipment, yagura (fire watch tower), bomb shelter,
etc.) that comprise their part of town.
As some of you are aware, last year we constructed our city out of paper and eventually
burned it, recreating the Allied bombings near the end of the war. This year the
culmination of the project will be slightly different. I will announce the event later in the
course.
A Brief History of Hiroshima
Hiroshima has always had an intimate relationship to the ocean. Its location at the
southwest end of Honshu, Japan’s main island, also made it strategically important during
Japan’s wars with Russia, China and Korea. Hiroshima’s harbor served as a launching
point for Japan’s navy and army.
Hiroshima straddles the delta of the Ota River. Evidence shows that the area has been
populated since ancient times. There are artifacts from both the Jomon (c. 7500-250 BC)
and Yayoi (c.250 BC-250 AD) cultures in the region.
Hiroshima began to take shape as a town in the middle ages. In 1221 the Takeda clan
came into power in Hiroshima, building Kanayama Castle, and the town began to
develop with the castle at its center. Below is a view of Hiroshima Castle as it appears
today; it is a modern creation made of concrete, but replicates the general structure of a
Japanese castle.
The Takedas remained in power on and off until the mid 1500s, when the Mori
clan succeeded them. When Japan was unified under Toyotomi Hideyoshi in the
late 1500s, the Mori clan became daimyo (provincial lords) with a large territory
centered around Hiroshima. In 1589 the Moris built a new castle and dubbed the
city “Hiroshima,” meaning “wide island.”
After the battle of Sekigahara in 1600, power switched to the Fukushima clan.
The Fukushimas continued to expand the town, constructing roads linking the
city to Shikoku in the southeast and Izumo in the north.
The city continued to develop during the Edo Period (1600-1868) under the rule
of the Asano clan; the population of the Hiroshima area reached 70,000 around
the year 1820. The city had come into its own, and now ranked with Edo, Osaka,
Kyoto, Nagoya and Kanazawa as one of Japan’s major cities. Foreign ships
began to visit the port, and business was booming. Hiroshima produced cotton,
hemp, paper, bamboo goods, vegetables, seaweed and oysters, which were
shipped to the Osaka/Kyoto region to be sold.
1868 marked the beginning of the Meiji Period. Power was restored to the
Emperor, who now governed Japan from Edo (renamed Tokyo). As part of Meiji’s
many modernizations, Japan was reorganized into prefectures. The castle town
of Hiroshima became Hiroshima ward, then Hiroshima city in 1888. At the time it
was about 27 square km. in size, with roughly 80,000 residents.
The late 1800s saw much development of the waterfront, including the
construction of wharfs and railroads. In 1894 the San’in railroad, a trunk line
connecting Hiroshima to Osaka and other major cities, was completed.
1894 also saw the beginning of the Sino-Japanese war. Hiroshima was a critical
strategic port for sending supplies and soldiers to the Chinese mainland. This
pattern continued during the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-5.
Throughout the 1920s Hiroshima continued to grow as more of the surrounding
villages joined the city. The 1930s saw more modernizing of the waterfront and
expansion of waterfront businesses.
Beginning with the Manchurian Incident in 1931, Hiroshima became an important
military base for the Japanese army, and many Japanese soldiers were sent off
to foreign shores at the port at Ujina.
On August 6, 1945 America dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, which
exploded in mid-air 580 m. above the town. All of the downtown and many of the
suburbs were destroyed by the blast, and close to 200,000 people lost their lives.
In 1949 a special order was passed for the rebuilding of Hiroshima as a “city
commemorating peace.” Since then Hiroshima has become a worldwide symbol
of peace and international cooperation and friendship.