Monument to the Mobilized Students

This is a memorial tower erected to console the souls of the mobilized students and teaching staff from schools across the country who were victims of the atomic bombing. These individuals were conscripted and mobilized for work in military factories, as well as for building demolition and other related tasks, during the final stages of World War II.

At the time of the atomic bombing, many mobilized students were engaged in building demolition work near the hypocenter (clearing houses to create firebreaks) or working in military factories. A large number of those students working outdoors at the moment of the blast were either killed instantly or critically wounded by the immediate thermal radiation and blast wave. The victims included many students mobilized not only from within Hiroshima Prefecture but also from distant regions such as Kyushu and Kansai.

The memorial tower is a 12-meter high structure finished with Arita porcelain panels. It features a Statue of the Goddess of Peace and eight doves. The tower has five layers, widening towards the base, and a memorial flame burns at its central pillar.

The four relief panels on the left and right sides of the tower depict: "Food Production Work," "Sewing Work by Female Students," "Iron Work in Factories," and "Hiroshima's Lantern Floating Ceremony." On the back of these panels are inscribed the names of the 351 schools across Japan from which the mobilized students came, along with the memorial song for the mobilized students, "Honō Hatete wa" (When the Flames Subside).