Before the atomic bombing of 6 August 1945, Hiroshima was a city of neighborhoods, shops, schools, bridges and streetcars. It had grown into a regional center whose daily life included work, education, entertainment and travel, alongside an expanding military and industrial role.
This short documentary looks toward the city that existed before the devastation. Pre-bomb images can restore a sense of place and ordinary human activity, but they should not be treated as a complete picture of wartime conditions. Rationing, mobilization, evacuation and the demands of war increasingly shaped residents’ lives.
Hiroshima’s municipal archives and transport records help connect particular buildings and streets to the larger city. That context matters because the bombing destroyed communities as well as structures. Understanding what had occupied those spaces gives meaning to later images of ruins and to the work of remembering, rebuilding and documenting the city after the attack.
Sources and further reading:
What kind of city was Hiroshima before the atomic bombing?
Nakajima District: A-bomb Disaster Marker
The beginnings of Hiroshima’s streetcars
Birth of Peace Memorial City Hiroshima, Part 1: Prewar Hiroshima
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