Yuichiro Sasaki (1917-1980), an independent photographer, recorded Hiroshima’s devastation and recovery from the atomic bombing. Mr. Sasaki, one of Hiroshima’s leading photographers of that era, began focusing his lens on the A-bomb Dome shortly after the bombing and went on to capture the dawn of the nuclear age. Nearly every day, up to the last years of his life, Mr. Sasaki would bicycle around the city and take photos. His passion for photographing Hiroshima began when he returned to his hometown and found the city in ruins.
Yuichiro Sasaki was born in today’s Nishi Tokaichi district in downtown Hiroshima and studied photography at a photography school in Tokyo.After Japan’s defeat, he returned to Hiroshima on August 18, 1945. He carried with him some rolls of film, which were given to him as severance pay. He found that 13 members of his family had perished, including his mother, his brother and his brother’s family, and his sisters.
“I was just going to take photos of the places where my relatives died…but then I wanted to take photos of another place, and then another. That’s how I went deeper and deeper into this.” He ended up taking photos of grave markers all over the Hiroshima delta. Mr. Sasaki described his work in the ruins of the city: “I continued pressing the shutter, and before I knew it, I had taken 100,000 pictures. The negatives mean everything to me now.” Overcoming an eye disease, he remained an independent photographer, his words conveying pride in the way he chose to live his life.
A-bomb Dome stands in ruins (December 1945). The road in the foreground is Hondori shopping street, which leads to what is now Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. On the far left is Honkawa National School, next to which stands a radio tower of the Hiroshima Post Office. The tower did not collapse because it was almost directly under the hypocenter. In the center is the building of the former Hiroshima Chamber of Commerce and Industry. To the right of the torii gate of Gokoku Shrine is where the municipal baseball stadium is now located. Two photos have been placed side by side to form this image.A-bomb Dome seen from the west bank of Motoyasu River (1947). Designed by Jan Letzel, a Czech architect, the building opened in 1915 as the Hiroshima Prefectural Commercial Exhibition Hall and became a Hiroshima landmark. (Its name was changed to the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall in 1933.) Other photos by Mr. Sasaki show that the wall to the left of the building’s façade was still standing in 1945, but had collapsed by the time this photo was taken.A-bomb Dome in “Hiroshima Photo Album,” published during the occupation period (August 1, 1949). Dome at daybreak (Industrial Promotion Hall),” appeared on the front page of the photo collection compiled by Yuichiro Sasaki and published by the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Service Committee in October 1949. (Hiroshima Mayor Shinso Hamai served as president of the committee.) The first book of photos of the atomic bombing published in Japan, it was found recently in the library of Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. The book includes 24 photographs, including some of citizens that were taken on the day of the bombing by Yoshito Matsushige, a photographer for the Chugoku Shimbun. (Mr. Matsushige died in 2005.)A-bomb Dome enclosed with bamboo fences, with panel of explanation in English (1949). A priest from Sairenji Temple hung a panel which provided an explanation of roof tiles that were charred in the atomic bombing. The tiles were referred to as “tiles of light and shadow” or “mementos from a visit to the hypocenter” and were put on display at the temple, located to the south of the A-bomb Dome. (The priest died in 1974.) The dome is now surrounded by iron fences. The wall on the right has since collapsed, and the flight of stairs is now exposed.A-bomb Dome enclosed with bamboo fences, with panel of explanation in English (1949). A priest from Sairenji Temple hung a panel which provided an explanation of roof tiles that were charred in the atomic bombing. The tiles were referred to as “tiles of light and shadow” or “mementos from a visit to the hypocenter” and were put on display at the temple, located to the south of the A-bomb Dome. (The priest died in 1974.) The dome is now surrounded by iron fences. The wall on the right has since collapsed, and the flight of stairs is now exposed.Wall of A-bomb Dome covered with graffiti (1951). Mr. Sasaki took many photos of the A-bomb Dome’s walls covered with graffiti, presumably by soldiers of the occupation forces or foreign visitors. One of the scrawls appears to be “No More Hiroshimas.” Carp streamers fly in the background over the Saiku-machi area (now, part of Naka Ward) to the south of the dome.Monument commemorating Emperor’s visit stands by A-bomb Dome (1951). The four-meter-high, six-meter-wide monument was erected in December 1947 to commemorate Emperor Hirohito’s visit. On the left side of the monument was a picture which depicted the Industrial Promotion Hall before the bombing, and on the right side was a picture of the building after the bombing, which is shown in separate photos. Above the picture is a stone sculpture used as the head of a fountain located on the site of the former Promotion Hall. The Tourism Association of the City of Hiroshima placed a panel, which read “Atomic Bomb Memorial.” Next to the panel are explanations of the atomic bombing both in Japanese and English. They showed the general view back then that “The explosion of the first atomic bomb over this building marked the conclusion of the Second World War.A-bomb Dome stands in Peace Memorial Park, undergoing construction (1952). Peace Memorial Park was designed in 1949 by Kenzo Tange, who graduated from the former Hiroshima High School and was an associate professor at the University of Tokyo at that time. (Mr. Tange died in 2005.) There were still makeshift dwellings on the site after the construction began. Behind these dwellings is the Rest House. This photo, showing A-bomb survivors and others engaged in the construction of the park, conveys Mr. Masaki’s sharp sense as a photographer and his warm feelings toward Hiroshima.A-bomb Dome viewed from rooftop of the former Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s four-story building (1953) . In 1953, ownership of the A-bomb Dome was transferred from the prefecture to the City of Hiroshima. Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum is in the rear. The construction of the museum began in March 1951, but was suspended the following year because of a lack of funding. Dubbed a “birdcage” because of its design, the museum was completed in August 1955. All residents living on park land, including the area around the A-bomb Dome, moved out of the park in 1959. It took many years for Hiroshima to establish the foundation for its rebirth.A-bomb Dome 62 years after the bombing. After a resolution to preserve the A-bomb Dome was passed by the city council, the structure underwent three preservation projects: the wall to the left of the façade was assembled in 1967, and preservation work was also carried out in 1989 and 2002. Behind the dome, to the right, is Shima Hospital, the hypocenter of the bomb. (Photograph by Hiroshi Takahashi)
