| The remains of the Odamasa Shoten store with the Chugoku Shimbun newspaper building behind it, in Ebisu-cho District. Odamasa Shoten was demolished as part of the rebuilding of Hiroshima. The atomic bomb dropped by the American bomber Enola Gay on August 6, 1945, exploded almost directly above the employees of the Chugoku Shimbun as well. More than a 100 employees instantly lost their lives while on their way to work or in this head office building, 2,950 feet (900 meters) from the hypocenter). An employee later recounted, “All the glass windows shattered as the bomb exploded, and the exterior tiles on the new [Chugoku Shimbun] building were ripped off and scattered in all directions. One employee was blown from the second floor by the bomb blast. It became momentarily pitch dark from the dust and flying debris. Soon it seemed that the chemicals in the storage on the fourth floor had caught fire, and burning debris falling down the walls lit up the area.” Many of the surviving employees had suffered various degrees of injuries. Directly after the bomb, the Chugoku Shimbun building was totally burned out, including the rotary presses and other facilities, leaving only the exterior walls. However, 1 rotary press and its associated equipment had been evacuated to Nukushina in the eastern part of the city. This press played an important role in restarting operations. After the war，The Chugoku Shimbun worked for Hiroshima’s revival from the ruins and development, moving into a new building in present Dohashi-cho next to The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in 1969. United States Army Signal Corps photographer Technician 5th Class Charles D. Rosecrans, Jr. (February 13, 1920 – September 7, 1950) covered the Pacific War and was headed to Korea when his plane crashed, killing all 11 people aboard. | |
| Image Filename | wwii2256.jpg |
| Image Size | 150.25 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 883 x 694 |
| Photographer | Charles D. Rosecrans, Jr. |
| Photographer Title | United States Army Signal Corps |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | September 8, 1945 |
| Location | Ebisu-cho |
| City | Hiroshima |
| State or Province | Hiroshima |
| Country | Japan |
| Archive | Library of Congress |
| Record Number | LC-USZ62-63395 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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