Hiroshima Field Trip 2026
Master of Social Development and Administration (MSDA) Course
Mar 02, 2026
OVERVIEW
Hiroshima Field Trip on January 30 and 31, 2026
On January 30, we took the shinkansen to Hiroshima. The first day was entirely devoted to immersing ourselves in the events of 1945, namely the atomic bombing of the city. We visited the Peace Memorial Park, walking from the side of the bomb explosion to the bridges. The atmosphere of the space prompted deep reflection and understanding of the tragedy. (Anhelina)
In the afternoon, the guided tours focused on the former Bank of Japan building and a former elementary school. By looking at these places, which were once part of everyday city life, the tours connected the memory of the atomic bombing with daily experience and showed how the impact of the explosion became a concrete and heavy reality. (Xinwei)
In the afternoon, the guided tours focused on the former Bank of Japan building and a former elementary school. By looking at these places, which were once part of everyday city life, the tours connected the memory of the atomic bombing with daily experience and showed how the impact of the explosion became a concrete and heavy reality. (Xinwei)
Vermilion gate photo by Shiwen
On the second day, we travelled to Miyajima Island to visit the Itsukushima Shrine, a UNESCO World Heritage Site originally built in 593 and rebuilt in 1168. Seeing the vermilion torii gate standing in the sea and the shrine buildings supported over the water was truly breathtaking. Visiting the shrine taught me about the remarkable resilience of Japanese architecture and its deep connection to nature and spirituality. The shrine, which has endured for over 850 years in a marine environment, demonstrated how traditional craftsmanship and careful preservation can sustain cultural heritage across generations. The harmony between the built environment and the surrounding landscape reflected the Japanese concept of scenic beauty, blending human creativity with nature. (Hannah)
Trip Report
Transforming Trauma into Peace: Space, Memory, and Hiroshima
Zhang Xin
During this Hiroshima field trip, guided by Professor Nakano’s analysis of spatial organization, we moved between the Peace Memorial Park, a former elementary school, and a bank building, observing how memory operates across urban sites. Within the Park, the central axis from the museum to the cenotaph and the Atomic Bomb Dome demonstrates how spatial design orchestrates a narrative of destruction and peace.
Beyond the monumental landscape, the most powerful moment for me was visiting a preserved elementary school classroom, where survivors and families once wrote messages on the blackboard in search of missing loved ones. The simplicity of those handwritten words conveyed grief in its rawest form, far removed from curated exhibitions. It reminded me of a summer camp in Seoul ten years ago, where hearing Hiroshima survivors’ testimonies first shaped my understanding of historical trauma as lived and ongoing rather than distant and abstract.
Returning to Hiroshima, I sensed a continuity between personal testimony and institutional remembrance. Reading Kenzaburō Ōe’s Hiroshima Notes alongside this visit sharpened this realization. Ōe writes that “what was destroyed in Hiroshima was not merely the surface of the city, but the very conditions of human existence.” This perspective led me to reconsider the calm and orderly spatial narrative of the Peace Memorial Park.
The architectural layout transforms catastrophic suffering into a structured and emotionally manageable narrative of reflection. As Ōe suggests, modern society organizes suffering through symbols and institutions, rendering unbearable pain endurable. Experiencing the park through this lens revealed a tension between remembering violence and containing its disruptive force.
The contrast between the raw blackboard messages and the curated memorial landscape shows how personal grief resists symbolic resolution. I learned that architecture participates in governing memory by shaping emotional responses and collective narratives. Memorial spaces are not neutral environments, but mechanisms that transform trauma into socially acceptable forms of remembrance.
Zhang Xin
During this Hiroshima field trip, guided by Professor Nakano’s analysis of spatial organization, we moved between the Peace Memorial Park, a former elementary school, and a bank building, observing how memory operates across urban sites. Within the Park, the central axis from the museum to the cenotaph and the Atomic Bomb Dome demonstrates how spatial design orchestrates a narrative of destruction and peace.
Beyond the monumental landscape, the most powerful moment for me was visiting a preserved elementary school classroom, where survivors and families once wrote messages on the blackboard in search of missing loved ones. The simplicity of those handwritten words conveyed grief in its rawest form, far removed from curated exhibitions. It reminded me of a summer camp in Seoul ten years ago, where hearing Hiroshima survivors’ testimonies first shaped my understanding of historical trauma as lived and ongoing rather than distant and abstract.
Returning to Hiroshima, I sensed a continuity between personal testimony and institutional remembrance. Reading Kenzaburō Ōe’s Hiroshima Notes alongside this visit sharpened this realization. Ōe writes that “what was destroyed in Hiroshima was not merely the surface of the city, but the very conditions of human existence.” This perspective led me to reconsider the calm and orderly spatial narrative of the Peace Memorial Park.
The architectural layout transforms catastrophic suffering into a structured and emotionally manageable narrative of reflection. As Ōe suggests, modern society organizes suffering through symbols and institutions, rendering unbearable pain endurable. Experiencing the park through this lens revealed a tension between remembering violence and containing its disruptive force.
The contrast between the raw blackboard messages and the curated memorial landscape shows how personal grief resists symbolic resolution. I learned that architecture participates in governing memory by shaping emotional responses and collective narratives. Memorial spaces are not neutral environments, but mechanisms that transform trauma into socially acceptable forms of remembrance.
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