Aioi Bridge

This is a T-shaped bridge, which is rare across Japan, spanning the fork where the Motoyasu River branches off from the Honkawa River in central Hiroshima City. Due to its distinctive shape, it was designated as the Aiming Point (AP) for the Enola Gay bomber when the atomic bomb was dropped on August 6, 1945. Although the current bridge was rebuilt in 1983 (Showa 58), it remains an important location that conveys the history of the bombing, situated immediately next to the Atomic Bomb Dome.

The Aioi Bridge spans the confluence and fork of the Honkawa River (formerly the Ōta River) and the Motoyasu River, which flow through the center of Hiroshima City. Its most significant feature is its extremely rare structure across Japan: a T-shape when viewed from above, due to a connecting span that diverges from the center of the bridge toward the Nakajima district (now the Peace Memorial Park) to the south.

Although the atomic bomb detonated above Shima Hospital, approximately 300 meters away from the Aioi Bridge, the bridge was located very close to the hypocenter and was struck by tremendous thermal radiation and a shockwave. The bridge girders were deformed, and many of the railings were blown into the river. Records indicate that almost everyone near the bridge was killed instantly on the day of the bombing, and countless bodies of victims lay on the bridge and along the riverbanks.

Restoration work began shortly after the bombing, and the bridge was fully repaired by 1949. However, the current Aioi Bridge was replaced in 1983 (Showa 58) due to aging.