20 Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims
(Memorial Monument for Hiroshima, City of Peace)
Built on : August 6, 1952
This monument was built with the desire to reconstruct Hiroshima─the city destroyed by the world's first atomic bombing─as a city of peace. It was designed by Kenzo Tange, then a professor at the University of Tokyo. It resembles an ancient arch-shaped house, in part because of the desire to shelter the souls of the victims from the elements. The monument is inscribed with the words, "Let all the souls here rest in peace; For we shall not repeat the evil." The stone chest in the center holds the registry of the names of persons who died from the bombing, regardless of nationality. Names are added when persons related to a death make application. As of August 6, 2015, the registry comprises 108 volumes with 297,684 names and one volume of many unidentified.
