Hiroshima Castle Keep Closes, Ending 68-Year Run

Hiroshima, March 23 (Jiji Press)–Hiroshima Castle’s keep in the western Japan city of Hiroshima in the namesake prefecture has closed after 68 years as a museum due to structural aging. The facility, which ended its run on Sunday, is located within Hiroshima Castle Ruins, a national historic site, in Hiroshima’s Naka Ward. After being destroyed by the 1945 U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima in the closing days of World War II, the main tower of Hiroshima Castle underwent a temporary wooden reconstruction before being rebuilt in reinforced concrete in 1958. Ayaka Matsumoto, a 27-year-old caregiver from the city’s Higashi Ward, visited the castle keep with her 6-year-old daughter. “I wanted her to experience the history of Hiroshima Castle,” she said, adding she would “miss being able to go inside.” Yuji Yamagata, a 66-year-old self-employed visitor from the city of Kurashiki in Okayama Prefecture, which neighbors Hiroshima, said, “I would welcome a restoration in wood.” The city is considering rebuilding the keep in wood and plans to decide on a development approach in five or more years. “I hope (the keep will) remain in people’s memories as a story passed down across generations,” Akihiko Omura, head of the facility, said at the closing ceremony on Sunday. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]