市立翠町中学校

Can you imagine the weight of history within these very walls? Right here, before us, stands the Hiroshima Municipal Midorimachi Junior High School. The school, initially established in 1939, has undergone a series of transformations mirroring the tumultuous times it has witnessed. It first opened its doors as the Hiroshima Municipal Third Higher Elementary School. This wasn’t your average elementary school. It catered to older students, those who had completed six years of basic education, offering a higher level of learning for two to three years. But destiny, as it often does, had other plans. The winds of war swept through Japan, and in 1941, the education system was reshaped. The school became the Hiroshima Municipal Third National School, a testament to the changing national landscape. After the war, in 1947, a new era of education dawned with the postwar reforms. The school transitioned into the Hiroshima Municipal Third Junior High School, marking the birth of the secondary education system we know today. Finally, in 1949, it embraced its current name: Hiroshima Municipal Midorimachi Junior High School. But the story doesn’t end there. This building holds the poignant memory of a student register, found years later, containing a list of victims of the atomic bombing. This discovery ignited a quest for truth, a mission to uncover the experiences of the school community during that fateful day. Students and teachers, survivors of a tragedy that shook the world, shared their stories. Their testimonies were meticulously compiled into a poignant booklet titled “Blank School Register,” a testament to the resilience of the human spirit. Today, this booklet serves as a powerful tool for peace education, ensuring that future generations will learn from the past and strive for a brighter future.