Kannon Junior High School. A name etched in sorrow, forever linked to the horrors of August 6, 1945. On that fateful morning, the students and staff of Kannon Junior High, then known as Hiroshima Second Middle School, were not in their classrooms. They were 600 meters from the hypocenter, at Nakajima-honmachi, engaged in building demolition as part of the war effort. Lined up along the Honkawa riverside, awaiting instructions, they were caught in the atomic blast. Most perished instantly, their bodies burned beyond recognition. The monument before you, a simple rock face inscribed with “ireihi” (monument for the dead), stands as a testament to their sacrifice. On the back, etched into the stone, are the names of the students and employees who died. Initially, 352 names were recorded, a number representing the best knowledge at the time. Later, a 1999 survey by a newspaper company painstakingly identified 306 individuals who perished in the bombing. The monument itself was completed on August 6, 1961, sixteen years after the devastating event. It was established by the Bereaved Family Committee and Hiroshima Prefecture. Beside this main monument stands another, erected in 1953. Its inscription, penned by former principal Sadae Furuta, reads: “As we think of your faces and deeds, there are no words. We can only weep.” It speaks volumes about the profound loss felt by those left behind. Imagine the lives cut short, the potential extinguished. Kannon Junior High School, a place of learning, transformed into a symbol of the devastating consequences of war.
芸州廿日市御本陣旧跡
“A castle built on the plain?” you might ask. “Isn’t that a bit…exposed?” And indeed, the Hiroshima Gokoku Jinja, the