【広島今昔】段原市民を原爆から守った比治山。再開発の歴史と年間約2,000万円の赤字を出す巨大エスカレーターを探訪

Today I walked around Danbara in Minami Ward, Hiroshima City, and Hijiyama Hill, which rises before it. Are you familiar with the town of Danbara? It's about a 15-minute walk from Hiroshima Station, nestled at the foot of a small hill called Hijiyama, a familiar area to Hiroshima residents. [The Day Hijiyama Protected Danbara] August 6, 1945, the day Hiroshima was instantly reduced to a burnt-out wasteland. Miraculously, the town of Danbara escaped major damage. The reason is Hijiyama Hill, which rises before it— This small hill, about 70 meters high, protected Danbara from the heat rays and blast of the atomic bomb. Of course, there were casualties and damage. However, compared to other towns closer to the hypocenter, Danbara, sheltered by Hijiyama Hill, had many buildings remaining. [Post-War Era as an Antiques District] Immediately after the war, a shopping district lined with antique shops sprang up, particularly in Ohata-cho (around present-day Danbara 1-chome and 2-chome). The reason was that it functioned as a market where people who had lost their homes in the atomic bombing brought their belongings to buy and sell. Kimono, furniture, tableware, paintings, mementos of family—it was a place where the last possessions of people who had lost everything in the war gathered. [40 Years of Redevelopment Beginning in 1972] Danbara, which escaped war damage, remained a densely populated urban area with narrow streets and old wooden houses packed tightly together. In 1972, the then-mayor of Hiroshima, Setsuo Yamada, launched a large-scale redevelopment plan. In 1989, Hiroshima Women's Commercial High School relocated to Saka-cho, Aki-gun, as the core of the redevelopment. Between 1992 and 1995, the old town names of Ohata-cho, Higashiura-cho, Naka-cho, Shin-machi, Suehiro-cho, and Minami-Danbara-cho were abolished and integrated into the new "Danbara" and "Danbara-Minami" areas. The redevelopment was completed in 2015, a full 43 years after the project began. It was one of the longest redevelopment projects in Hiroshima's urban development history. [From Satty to Hiroshima Danbara Shopping Center] In 1997, the Hiroshima East commercial building was completed, and the following year, 1998, "Hiroshima Satty" opened. In October 2011, management was transferred to Aeon, and it became the current "Hiroshima Danbara Shopping Center." Many people surely remember the Satty era. There was a cinema complex, and families would watch movies and shop before going home—that kind of holiday scene has always been a part of this location. [A Giant Escalator with Annual Maintenance Costs of Approximately 20 Million Yen] And Danbara's famous landmark is the "Hijiyama Skywalk." It's a 207.4m long elevated pedestrian walkway connecting the Hiroshima Danbara Shopping Center and Hijiyama Park. It opened on March 23, 1998, at a total construction cost of 1.76 billion yen (of which 530 million yen was a national subsidy). However, it has seen very few users, especially on weekdays, and has been criticized from the start for its poor cost-effectiveness compared to its annual maintenance costs of approximately 20 million yen. In the early 2000s, an administrative lawsuit was filed against the city, and in the 2010 budget review, the attending committee members unanimously voted for its "abolition." Nevertheless, due to issues such as removal costs, it was decided to keep it running from 2011 onwards, and it continues to operate to this day. Climbing Hijiyama on foot is quite a challenge, but this takes you to the summit in just a few minutes. It smoothly transports you from the town of Danbara to the middle of Hijiyama. [80 Years of Danbara as Seen from the Summit of Hijiyama] At the top of the Skywalk is Hijiyama Park, known for its cherry blossoms. It's a historical and cultural spot, home to the Hiroshima City Manga Library, the Rai Sanyo Buntokuden, and the Army Cemetery. Standing on the northern observation deck, you can see the town of Danbara, which you walked through today, below, and beyond that, Hiroshima Station, the city of Hiroshima, and even the Atomic Bomb Dome. How many lives and townscapes did this small mountain, Hijiyama, protect on that day in 1945? And how has Danbara, which was protected, changed over the past 80 years? 80 years in Danbara is a reflection of Hiroshima's postwar history. If you attended Hiroshima East during the Sati era, remember the old town name of Danbara, have memories of Hijiyama Park, are a graduate of Hiroshima Women's Commercial High School, or have ridden the Skywalk—please let us know in the comments! ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 📺 Exploring Hiroshima Then and Now This channel features on-location filming of stations and streetscapes undergoing redevelopment in Hiroshima, showcasing both nostalgic and current scenes. Please subscribe to our channel. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ #Hiroshima #Danbara #Hijiyama #HijiyamaSkywalk #HiroshimaDanbara #Sati #HiroshimaWomen'sCommercialHighSchool #Hi...