55 Peace "Watch" Tower
Date of completion August 6, 2001
Established by Nonprofit Organization Peace Watch Club
Designer : Atsuo Okamoto
Shape
The tower is made of granite (0.8 meters wide, 0.4 meters long and 3.1 meters high). Placed on atop of the tower is a round clock, showing the current time. Under the clock is a digital display indicating the number of days since the A-bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Beneath that is another display showing the number of days since the last nuclear test was conducted. Installed on the bottom of the tower is a cogwheel device.
Motive for the erection
To prevent memories of the atomic bombing from fading away and to warn against repeated nuclear testing, the Peace "Watch" Tower was created and donated to Hiroshima City.
Noteworthy characteristics
1. Number of days displayed
Of the two digital displays on the tower, the upper one indicates the number of days since the A-bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, while the lower one shows the number of days since the last nuclear test was conducted. Every time a nuclear test is conducted, "the number of days since the last nuclear test was conducted" is reset to zero.
2. Cogwheel device
The cogwheel device under the digital displays implicitly warns that human history continues to tick toward its end if nothing is done.
The device consists of 15 cogwheels lined up from top to bottom.
The concept is: the cogwheel at the top rotates 100 times per minute, but it will spin faster if the earth shows signs of being in danger. If it reaches the immovable cogwheel at the bottom, the clock will automatically self-destruct.
In order to stop the cogwheel from spinning, we must work toward abolishing all nuclear weapons and seek for an age of coexistence among humankind without dependence on military force.
The Peace "Watch" Tower reminds us to stop these cogwheels from rotating — reminds us to put our heads together to eliminate nuclear weapons, and reminds us to put an end to our dependence on military force, to live in an age of peaceful coexistence.
