広島宿(Hiroshima inn town/castle town) part 2: the hypocenter of atomic bomb

 Let’s keep exploring Hiroshima inn town/castle town!

We are getting close to the hypocenter of atomic bomb.
Trams in Hiroshima city is another A-bomb survivor. Up today, there are two trains that survived the atomic bomb explosion and are still operating. 
Going through an arcade street. 
Hypocenter is just a step off from San’yodo/Saigoku Kaido route. 
The hypocenter is above 600m of today’s Shima Internist Hospital, formerly known as Shima Hospital. Today’s Shima Internust Hospital is run by the grandson of the founder of Shima Hospital. The original hospital building was destroyed by the atomic bomb. 

Crossing Motoyasu bridge. Originally named by lord Terumoto Mori in late 1500s after his uncle, Motoyasu Mori, the bridge built in 1926 survived the atomic bomb explosion. This is the closest bridge to the hypocenter. And the bridge was used until 1992 when the current bridge was built. 
Now we are in the Peace Memorial Park. 
The building on the left side after crossing the bridge is another A-bomb survivor building. 
There was a worker on the date of the atomic bomb in 1945. He happened to be in the basement when the bomb exploded. He was the only survivor near the hypocenter. This building is also city-registered. The basement is a museum, and the first floor is a souvenir shop. 
Flame of Peace, an iconic monument of the Peace Memorial Park is here. 
Before A-bomb explosion, there used to lots of businesses in this area. 
My blog is supposed to explore old routes of Japan. However, Hiroshima city parts are basically all about the atomic bomb. 
You will see lots of monuments and ruins about A-bomb here. For more details other than what I mentioned in my blog, I would defer to other blogs/vlogs. 
Please visit Peace Museum to find out how different this area was prior to the A-bomb. 
Crossing Honkawabashi bridge. The bridge piers survived the atomic bomb explosion and has been in use up today. Originally the bridge was named as Nekoyabashi bridge before 1897.
By the other side of the bridge, there is Gangi, a structure build with granite stone, used as landing for boats. 
This Gangi landing structure is seen in many places in rivers of downtown Hiroshima. This is one of a few things from San’yodo/Saigoku Kaido time for most part. 
Hiroshima inn town/castle town is close to the end. 
Crossing Tenmabashi bridge. Apparently this was the only bridge during Edo period. The When the atomic bomb was exploded, the brudge was under construction for the new bridge. Part of structure was burned and bent, but it did not fall. The current one was built in 1950. 
Near the bridge, there is Myosen-inari shrine. I did not find much info about it, but looks like it was originally build somewhere else and then relocated to the current place. 
This is one of sites from the time of San’yodo/Saigoku Kaido highway: Hiroshima Tenmangu. The shrine was established in 1827, wishing to protect the town from fire. What’s interesting is that, usually Tenmangu worships Michizane Sugawara(845-903), who was a scholar and a politician, died in northern Kyushu, and is considered as the god of study. But this Tenmangu is more for protection of fire. 
The shrine was destroyed by the atomic bomb in 1945, and rebuilt thereafter. 

The last two pictures were taken by me in 2024, from the very route of San’yodo/Saigoku Kaido highway. As mentioned several times, today you are not gonna see hints of old San’yodo/Saigoku Kaido time in the city center of Hiroshima. However, the city vibe still remains as before, despite tragic destruction of the city in 8/6/1945. 
We are leaving Hiroshima inn town/castle town with the prayer of silence. 

The next stop is Kusatsu unofficial inn town. 



References: basically, see the reference in my previous article, “Hiroshima inn town/castle town part 1”. 

Hiroshima Tenmangu. Neko no Ashiato(in Japanese only: 広島天満宮。広島県広島市西区の神社　猫の足跡) https://tesshow.jp/gallary/hiroshima/shrine_nishi_tenman.html (Accessed in 9/13/2025)
Honkawabashi bridge. Wikipedia.com(in Japanese: 本川橋　ウィキペディア) https://ja.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%9C%AC%E5%B7%9D%E6%A9%8B (Accessed in 9/9/2025)
Motoyasu Bridge. Wikipedia.com.(in Japanese only: 元安橋　ウィキペディア) https://ja.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%85%83%E5%AE%89%E6%A9%8B (Accessed in 9/9/2025)
Myosei Inari shrine. Neko no Ashiato(in Japanese only: 明清稲荷神社。広島県広島市西区の神社　猫の足跡) https://tesshow.jp/gallary/hiroshima/shrine_nishi_myosen.html (Accessed in 9/13/2025)
Shima Hospital. Wikipedia.com. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shima_Hospital (Accessed in 9/9/2025)
Tenmabashi bridge. Wikipedia.com(In Japanese: 天満橋　ウィキペディア) https://ja.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%A4%A9%E6%BA%80%E6%A9%8B_(%E5%BA%83%E5%B3%B6%E5%B8%82) (Accessed in 9/10/2025)


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