Reconstructing Hiroshima as a peace memorial city: local agency and identity-making in peacebuilding

Abstract

Today, people all over the world associate Hiroshima with peace. It also, however, has a history as a military city. Noting the importance of this historical background, this study traces Hiroshima’s post-Second World War reconstruction process from the perspective of local peacebuilding. Applying a two-pillar framework of local peacebuilding and identity-making to an analysis of written historical records, the study explores how local agency was manifested in the post-war reconstruction of Hiroshima. Key to Hiroshima’s peacebuilding process was the 1949 Hiroshima Peace Memorial City Construction Law, which not only provided the financial means for reconstruction but also helped shape Hiroshima’s identity as a peace memorial city. This identity served as a vision for the city’s planning process and facilitated its reconstruction, although the local government’s original plan was contested by citizens. By demonstrating how city identity formation can be an accelerator of the reconstruction process, our findings can inform contemporary peacebuilding studies.

Keywords:

• Local peacebuilding
• identity-making
• local agency
• Hiroshima
• Peace Memorial City

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The Committee for the Compilation of Materials on Damage Caused by the Atomic Bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Hiroshima Nagasaki no Gembaku Saigai. [Atomic Damages of Hiroshima and Nagasaki] (Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 1979).

2 There are various estimates and it is difficult to arrive at an agreed precise number: M. Yuzaki and H. Kamioka. ‘Jinkosuii Kara Mita Hibakujinkoh Narabini Shiboushasuu No Kentou Dai1pou: Sono Houhou to Hiroshima No Gaikyou’ [‘Studies on Population Affected by the Atomic Bomb and The Number of Deaths Based on Population Change. First report: The Method and The General Situation in Hiroshima’], Hiroshimaigaku 29, no. 3 (1976), 193–203. For Hiroshima City’s official view: <https://www.city.hiroshima.lg.jp/soshiki/48/9400.html> [accessed 30 July 2023].

3 ‘the radioactivity in the area exposed to the atomic bomb will not disappear for about seventy years. Hiroshima will be a devastated land for nearly seventy-five years’: Dr Harold Jacobson as reported in the Atlanta Constitution (see <http://www.hiroshimapeacemedia.jp/?p=21913>), 8 August 1945, and also The Washington Post on 8 August 1945. M. Ogasawara. ‘75 Nen Wa Kusaki Mo Haenu’ Toiu Gensetsu Kara: Genshiryokuhakyoku No Jidai Ni Okeru Kyouikugaku No Kadai’ [‘From the Discourse That ‘No Plants Would Grow for 75 Years’: The Challenges of Pedagogy in The Era of Atomic Energy Collapse’], Kodomogakuronshu, 2 (2015), 15–26.

4 Hiroshima's Reconstruction Vol. 15 Rehabilitation of Infrastructure (in Japanese): <https://hiroshimaforpeace.com/reconstruction-15/> [accessed 6 September 2023].

5 An English translation of this law is available on Hiroshima City’s website: <https://www.city.hiroshima.lg.jp/www/contents/1391050531094/html/common/5d775774011.htm> [accessed 30 July 2023].

6 ‘Hiroshima for Global Peace’ Plan Joint Project Executive Committee (HGPPJPEC), Hiroshima Prefecture and City of Hiroshima, Learning from Hiroshima’s Reconstruction Experience: Reborn from the Ashes (Hiroshima: Hiroshima Prefecture, 2014), 46.

7 HGPPJEPEC, 56.

8 Roger Mac Ginty and Oliver P. Richmond, ‘The Local Turn in Peace Building: A Critical Agenda for Peace’, Third World Quarterly 34, no. 5 (2013), 763–83.

9 Lisa Yoneyama, Hiroshima Traces: Time, Space, and the Dialectics of Memory (Berkeley & Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1999).

10 Kazuya Fukuoka, ‘Memory and Others: Japan’s Mnemonic Turn in the 1990s’ in Routledge Handbook of Memory and Reconciliation in East Asia, Paperback edition, ed. by Mikyoung Kim (Abingdon & New York: Routledge, 2019), 63–78.

11 Ishimaru’s work (1979, 1980, 1981) is a compilation of interviews with people who engaged in the restoration of Hiroshima. N. Ishimaru, ed., Hiroshimashi Sensai Fukkoh Keikaku Kankeisha No Shougen. [Verbal evidence of people involved in the rehabilitation plan for war damage in Hiroshima City] Vol. 1 (1979), Vol. 2 (1980), Vol. 3 (1981).

12 See, for instance, Michael Pugh, ‘Local Agency and Political Economies of Peacebuilding’, Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism 11, no. 2 (2011), 308–20. Paris argues, though, that the concept of liberal peace continues to be valid, as most critiques do not deny liberal peace as a whole: Roland Paris, ‘Saving Liberal Peacebuilding’, Review of International Studies 36, no. 2 (2010), 337–65.

13 Mac Ginty and Richmond, 769.

14 Roger Mac Ginty, ‘Where is the Local? Critical Localism and Peacebuilding’, Third World Quarterly 36, no. 5 (2015), 850.

15 Hanna Leonardsson and Gustav Rudd, ‘The “Local Turn” in Peacebuilding: A Literature Review of Effective and Emancipatory Local Peacebuilding’, Third World Quarterly 36, no. 5 (2015), 825–39.

16 Elisa Randazzo, ‘The Paradoxes of the “Everyday”: Scrutinising the Local Turn in Peace Building’, Third World Quarterly 37, no. 8 (2016), 1351–70.

17 Ibid., 1356.

18 Stefanie Kappler, ‘The Dynamic Local: Delocalization and (Re)localization in the Search for Peacebuilding Identity’, Third World Quarterly 36, no. 5 (2015), 875–89.

19 Johan Galtung, ‘Three Approaches to Peace: Peacekeeping, Peacemaking, and Peacebuilding’, in Peace, War, and Defense, ed. by Johan Galtung (Copenhagen: Christian Ejlers, 1975), 282–304.

20 Boutros Boutros-Ghali, An Agenda for Peace: Preventive Diplomacy, Peacemaking and Peace-keeping (New York: United Nations, 1992).

21 Hideaki Shinoda, ‘Post-war Reconstruction of Hiroshima: From the Perspective of Contemporary Peacebuilding’, IPSHU English Research Report Series 22 (Hiroshima: The Institute for Peace Science Hiroshima University, 2008).

22 Note that ‘Searching for a New Identity’ was the title of Part IV of the report, but the term ‘identity’ was never actually used in the text.

23 Adam Roberts, ‘Transformative Military Occupation: Applying the Laws of War and Human Rights’, American Journal of International Law 100, no. 3 (2006), 601–2.

24 Constanze Schellhaas and Annette Seegers, ‘Peacebuilding: Imperialism’s New Disguise?’, African Security Review 18, no. 2 (2009), 1–15.

25 Mac Ginty (2015); Kappler (2015).

26 Annika Björkdahl and Stefanie Kappler, Peacebuilding and Spatial Transformation: Peace, Space and Place (Abingdon and New York: Routledge, 2017).

27 Ibid., 13–14.

28 Ibid., 96–115.

29 Mihalis Kavaratzis and Mary Jo Hatch, ‘The Dynamics of Place Brands: An Identity-based Approach to Place Branding Theory’, Marketing Theory 13, no. 1 (2013), 71.

30 Mary Jo Hatch and Majken Schultz, ‘The Dynamics of Organizational Identity’, Human Relations 55, no. 8 (2002), 989–1018.

31 Noriyuki Kawano and Luli van der Does, ‘Heritage of the Atomic-Bomb Experience: What Needs to be Conveyed?’ Hiroshima Peace Science 39 (2017), 69–93.

32 Luli van der Does and Noriyuki Kawano, ‘Factors Driving Atomic-Bomb Survivors to Offer Their Testimonies: A Statistical Modelling by Binomial Logic Regression Using the 75th Anniversary Survey Results’ (in Japanese). Hiroshima Peace Science 42 (2020), 132.

33 Barry Hart, ed, Peacebuilding in Traumatized Societies (Lanham: University Press of America, 2008).

34 Gregory J. Ashworth, Mihalis Kavaratzis, and Gary Warnaby, ‘The Need to Rethink Place Branding’, in Rethinking Place Branding: Comprehensive Brand Development for Cities and Regions, ed.by Mihalis Kavaratzis, Gary Warnaby, and Gregory J. Ashworth (Cham: Springer, 2015), 6.

35 Ibid., 4.

36 Kawano and van der Does, 86.

37 For the definition of culture of peace: Article 1 of the Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace, A/RES/53/243, 6 October 1999. Hiroshima City's ultimate goal is to be an 'international peace culture city'. A booklet published by Hiroshima City in February 2023 explains peace culture as a culture that denies all forms of violence: Hiroshima City, Heiwa Bunka No Shinkoh - Arayuru Bouryoku Wo Hiteisuru Bunka No Kouchiku [Promotion of Peace Culture – Establishing a Culture That Denies All Forms of Violence] (Hiroshima: Hiroshima City, 2023).

38 HGPPJPEC, 16–17.

39 Shinso Hamai, A-bomb Mayor: Warnings and Hope from Hiroshima (Hiroshima: Publication Committee for the English Version of A-bomb Mayor, 2010), 61.

40 Award for the best essay on ‘Construction of a Utopian Hiroshima’ by Sankichi Toge (President of the Hiroshima Youth Cultural Association), 2 August 1946, reprinted in Hiroshima City, Hiroshimashinshi, Shiryohen II [New History of Hiroshima, Reference Material II] (Hiroshima: Nakamotohonten, 1982), 92. Translation by the authors.

41 A private rehabilitation plan of Shigeru Watanabe (Officer of City Restoration Bureau), April 1946, reprinted in Hiroshima City, 86.

42 HGPPJPEC, 29.

43 The two advisers were Lieutenant John D. Montgomery from the US Army and Major Harvey Stein from the Australian forces.

44 Minute of the 11th Restoration Commission meeting, 17 May 1946. The Minute is reprinted in Hiroshima City, 48–52. Translation by the authors.

45 The authors are grateful for a comment on this point by an anonymous reviewer.

46 The first post-war mayor, Shinso Hamai, recalls in his memoire that despite repeated request by the mayor and councillors, the national government declined the provision of subsidies. A government official explained: ‘…we have to rebuild 120 destroyed Japanese cities with virtually empty coffers. Just because your city has the extra A-bomb “hardship” doesn’t mean you get extra funds’: Hamai, 89.

47 Ishimaru (1980), 13. Translation by the authors.

48 Ibid., 24.

49 Ran Zwigenberg, Hiroshima: The Origins of Global Memory Culture (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014), 46.

50 The minutes of the fifth meeting of the House of Representatives, No. 26, Official Gazette, Extra News, 11 May 1949. The minute is reprinted in Hiroshima City, 239–46.

51 An interview with Tsukasa Nitoguri by Prof. Ishimaru: Ishimaru (1980), 26.

52 Ishimaru (1980).

53 Article 4, Hiroshima Peace Memorial City Construction Law.

54 Article 1, Hiroshima Peace Memorial City Construction Law.

55 Article 95: A special law, applicable only to one local public entity, cannot be enacted by the Diet without the consent of the majority of the voters of the local public entity concerned, obtained in accordance with the law. The English translation of the Japanese Constitution is available at: <https://japan.kantei.go.jp/constitution_and_government_of_japan/constitution_e.html> [accessed 30 July 2023]

56 War-damage Rehabilitation Operation Study Group and Plotting Unit (WROSG), Sensaifukkohjigyoshi [Record of War-Damage Restoration Operation] (Hiroshima: Unix, 1995), 50.

57 Hiroshima City, 263–4.

58 WROSG, 258.

59 Ishimaru (1979), 33.

60 WROSG, 60.

61 WROSG, 159; Ishimaru (1979), 33, 61.

62 Marina Nishi, Hiroshima No Fukkoh No Sengoshi: Haikyo Kara No ‘Koe’ To Toshi [Post-war History of Hiroshima’s Reconstruction: ‘Voices’ from Ruins and the City] (Kyoto: Jinbunshoin, 2020).

63 Judgment of Hiroshima District Court, 17 October 1984. Case no. Showa 44 (Administrative Case U) No. 32. The text in Japanese is accessible at: <https://thoz.org/hanrei/%E5%BA%83%E5%B3%B6%E7%9C%8C/%E5%BA%83%E5%B3%B6%E5%9C%B0%E6%96%B9%E8%A3%81%E5%88%A4%E6%89%80/%E6%98%AD%E5%92%8C44(%E8%A1%8C%E3%82%A6)32/?page = 0 > [accessed 30 July 2023].

64 Hiroshima City Life Studies Group (HCLSG), Hiroshima Hibaku 40-nenshi: Toshi No Fukkoh [Pictorial history of forty years since the atomic bombing: Reconstruction of HIROSHIMA] (Hiroshima: Ohmura Insatsu, 1985), 70.

65 WROSG, 21.

66 An interview with Mr. Tadashi Niimi by Prof. Ishimaru. Mr. Niimi was the leader of a club which started farming in Motomachi based on an ideology akin to primitive communism: Ishimaru (1981), 9.

67 WROSG, 261.

68 HCLSG, 102.

69 WROSG, 131–3.

70 WROSG, 132–3.

71 Hamai, 95.

72 A letter of intent to establish the Hiroshima Peace Festival Association and the Rules of the Association, 20 June 1947. The original text of the letter is reprinted in Hiroshima City, 399.

73 HGPPJPEC, 148–9.

74 HCLSG, 101.

75 Fraudulent acquisitions of land in the post-war period were believed to have occurred, taking advantage of the destruction of land registers and the death of landowners. The authors have not been able to substantiate these stories to date.

76 WROSG, 35, 69.

77 Ibid., 262–3.

78 Ibid., 146.

79 Ibid., 304–5.

80 Ishimaru (1980), 13.

81 Ashworth et al., 4.

82 Chad R. Diel, ‘Envisioning Nagasaki: from “Atomic Wasteland” to “International Cultural City”, 1945–1950’, Urban History 41, no. 3 (2014), 497–516.

83 One of the authors was involved in some of JICA’s training programs. This is anecdotal information.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mari Katayanagi

Mari Katayanagi is Professor and Vice-Director of the International Peace and Coexistence Programme at the Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences of Hiroshima University. She holds a PhD in Law from Warwick University, UK. Previously she served at the UN peacekeeping operation in Croatia and then the Office of the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina as a political adviser. Her research and teaching focus on peacebuilding and human rights. Her publications include Human Rights Functions of United Nations Peacekeeping Operations (Kluwer Law International, 2002), and contributions to Preventing Violent Conflict in Africa (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013) and Confronting Land and Property Problems for Peace (Routledge, 2014).

Noriyuki Kawano

Noriyuki Kawano is Director of the Centre for Peace at Hiroshima University. He holds a PhD (Doctor of Medicine) from the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Hiroshima University (2005). He has worked with the Research Institute for Radiation Biology and Medicine, Hiroshima University as an Assistant Professor (2001–2009) and Institute for Peace Science, Hiroshima University as an Associate Professor (2009–2013) and as a Professor (2013 – present). He researches global nuclear disasters (Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Semipalatinsk/Semey, Chornobyl and Fukushima) and Peace Studies.