Overview

• On July 16, Hiroshima City opened the underground ossuary beneath the Peace Memorial Park’s atomic bomb memorial tower to journalists for the first time since 2015.
• The ossuary holds the remains of about 70,000 bomb victims, including 812 identified by name but without known relatives and 178 sets of unidentified remains in wooden boxes.
• Public viewings of the site began in 1994 and this fifth press showing marks a key effort to commemorate the bombing’s victims on the 80th anniversary.
• Since 1968, Hiroshima has published a list of identified victims, leading to the return of 1,002 remains to families and permanent enshrinement of 623 others at the tower.
• The Hiroshima Municipal Government and Hiroshima Sensai Kuyokai manage the memorial and are using the reopening to raise awareness and trace next of kin.