Peace Piece

The city where the atomic bomb was dropped for the first time in human history? The city that sends out messages of peace to the world? Or perhaps, the great shrine gate of Itsukushima Shrine that floats on the sea?

While all these images of Hiroshima are valid, there is another side of Hiroshima.

Hiroshima is now known as a tourist destination where many tourists from around the world pray for peace, but we want people to know more about what Hiroshima was like before that fateful day in 1945. In particular, its tradition of “monozukuri” (craftsmanship) which was the driving force behind the city’s remarkable recovery from the devastation of the atomic bombing.

Hiroshima’s craftsmanship dates back 400 years. The Chugoku Mountains, a rich source of timber and iron sand, provided the raw materials for making iron which could be shipped to build and supply the new castle town of Hiroshima via an efficient river network. As well as iron manufacture, the need for religious artifacts associated with Miyajima and Jodo Shinshu Buddhism, and for samurai to supplement their income during times of peace, gave birth to a variety of industries.

These eventually developed into the shipbuilding and automobile industries that became the pillars of Hiroshima’s modern economy. This website introduces a selection of the traditional crafts that still live on in Hiroshima today. Let’s begin our journey around the “Pieces of Peace” on which Hiroshima’s recovery was built.