Cannery turned museum? Welcome to the Hiroshima City Museum of History and Traditional Crafts. It is more than just a building. It is a time capsule.
Let’s step back in time. Imagine Hiroshima in 1911. The city buzzed with military activity. The Imperial Army needed supplies. So, the Ujina Army Provisions Depot was built. This red brick building was a key part of that effort. It was a cannery. It produced horse fodder.
The Hiroshima City Museum of History and Traditional Crafts building played many roles. It polished rice. It conducted research. It served as a storehouse. The cannery operated until 1944. Valuable machinery was moved as the war intensified.
Students converted the property into a farm. They lived inside the cannery. On August 6, 1945, they experienced the atomic blast. An intense flash. A massive sound. The windows shattered. The roof crumpled. Steel beams bent. But the students survived. They were 3.2 kilometers from the hypocenter.
The former cannery became a temporary overflow ward. It was for the injured. Many died while waiting for care. Post-war, it transformed again. It became a Calbee food factory. This lasted until the 1980s.
In 1985, the building found new life. The Hiroshima City Museum of History and Traditional Crafts opened. It became an important cultural asset. Today, you can explore Hiroshima’s history here. It focuses on the city’s waterborne economy. Fishing. Mollusk collecting. Seaweed harvesting. Boating. These are all represented.
The Hiroshima City Museum of History and Traditional Crafts displays artifacts. These show how things used to be. One corner recreates a mid-twentieth century living room. It features modern appliances. A television. A refrigerator.
The Hiroshima City Museum of History and Traditional Crafts also hosts special exhibitions. One exhibition focused on the movie In This Corner of the World. It displayed images of 1930s Hiroshima. It showed the shopping district of Nakajima-honmachi.
See the Aioi Bridge in its earlier forms. It shows how the city changed. The Hiroshima City Museum of History and Traditional Crafts features a preserved roof support beam. The atomic bomb bent it. It stands as a reminder of the past.
The Hiroshima City Museum of History and Traditional Crafts is a testament to Hiroshima’s resilience. It connects the past with the present. It is a place to learn. It is a place to remember. It is a place to appreciate Hiroshima’s unique story.