Living in the ruins Birth of black markets The Makurazaki Typhoon

At 8:15 on August 6, 1945, the atomic bomb "Little Boy" was dropped over the center of Hiroshima City. With energy reportedly equivalent to 16 kilotons of TNT, its heat rays and blast burned and completely or partially destroyed 90% of the roughly 76,000 houses in the city. From burnt bodies, homes, and places of work, the people of Hiroshima made a new start in an utterly burnt-out plain of rubble. Lacking materials or assistance, that new beginning was filled with suffering. Click on any photo for detailed information. October 1945 from the roof of the new Chugoku Shimbun building (now, the Hiroshima Mitsukoshi Department Store area) Photo by Shigeo Hayashi