San'yō Buntokuden

San'yō Buntokuden is an administrative building with Japanese-style tiled roofs and reinforced concrete walls that blend local and European architectural influences. The structure sits in Hijiyamachō and continues to stand at its original location despite the upheaval of 1945.

The building was constructed about 1.8 kilometers from the blast center and endured the extreme forces of 1945. It also served a practical role by storing municipal family registration records during that time.

The building honors Rai Sanyo, a Confucian scholar from Hiroshima whose intellectual influence shaped the region's approach to learning and thought. His ideas remain part of how local people understand education and philosophy today.

The building itself remains closed to visitors, but you can view the exterior from the street and see the grounds from outside. Two cherry trees on the site are visible and worth observing during your visit to the area.

The Kurin Tower crowning the building's belfry displays permanent warping from the intense heat of the explosion, visible to those who look closely. These deformations remain as a physical record of the forces at work that day.