Shinzo Hamai
Encyclopedia
was the first popularly elected Mayor of Hiroshima
Hiroshima
is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...

 (served 1947-1955 and again 1959-1967). He created Hiroshima's image as a city of peace.

Life and career

In 1931, he graduated from the Law School of Tokyo Imperial University, and in 1935 became employed by Hiroshima Municipality.

The circumstances of his rise to prominence result from the fact that following the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
During the final stages of World War II in 1945, the United States conducted two atomic bombings against the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, the first on August 6, 1945, and the second on August 9, 1945. These two events are the only use of nuclear weapons in war to date.For six months...

, many municipal employees were killed or incapacitated, while Hamai was only slightly injured. At the time of the explosion, he was at his house located about 3.5 km from the epicenter. His house was partly damaged, but he was still able to walk. He immediately began relief work in cooperation with Japanese army authorities.

In October 1945, Shichirō Kihara
Shichirō Kihara
was mayor of Hiroshima from October 22, 1945 to March 22, 1947 and was elected as member of the Hiroshima Prefectural Assembly in 1911.Following the atomic attack on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, a period of political vacuum was created, as the city lay in ruins its mayor Senkichi Awaya was killed...

 was appointed the next Mayor of Hiroshima, and in December Hamai became his deputy. Following Kihara's dismissal from his duties in March 1947 by the Allied occupation authorities and the reforms conducted in Japan by General McArthur, first mayoral elections were held in Hiroshima in April 1947. In that election, Hamai ran against five other candidates, which included vice mayor Hisao Yamamoto and city council chairman Tsukasa Nitoguri. He won the election and became the first popularly elected mayor of Hiroshima.

As mayor of Hiroshima, he worked to rebuild his city as symbol for peace
Peace
Peace is a state of harmony characterized by the lack of violent conflict. Commonly understood as the absence of hostility, peace also suggests the existence of healthy or newly healed interpersonal or international relationships, prosperity in matters of social or economic welfare, the...

. As part of these efforts, he established a traditional annual speech delivered at the main memorial ceremony on August 6, known as Peace Declaration
Peace Declaration
An annual speech delivered by the Mayor of Hiroshima on August 6, the day that city was destroyed by an atom bomb delivered by a US B-29. That speech has been delivered regularly since 1947, except for 1950, when the US occupation forces prohibited Mayor Shinzo Hamai to deliver the speech...

. The decision to that effect was to turn the anniversary into a festival of peace. He managed to get the support of the US occupation forces to that policy, as they hoped this would reduce criticism of the US government among the people of Hiroshima. In early 1948, several citizens' groups in Hiroshima were formed in order to convince the Japanese government to release former military land for civilian purposes, and together with Hamai decided to work for the enactment of a special legislation regarding the status of Hiroshima. To achieve that end, Hamai made numerous trips to the Japanese Diet in Tokyo along with his secretary Chimata Fujimoto and city council chairman Tsukasa Nitoguri. Following the parliamentary election of January 1949, he got the support of the ruling Liberal Party under Shigeru Yoshida
Shigeru Yoshida
, KCVO was a Japanese diplomat and politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1946 to 1947 and from 1948 to 1954.-Early life:...

 for the initiative. These efforts led to the proclamation of Hiroshima as a city of peace under Japanese law
Japanese law
-Historical Developments:Pre-Modern History The early law of Japan was heavily influenced by Chinese law. Little is known about Japanese law prior to the seventh century, when the Ritsuryō was developed and codified. Before Chinese characters were transplanted and adopted by the Japanese, the...

. The law to that effect was passed in the Lower House on May 10, 1949, and in the Upper House to following day. In order for the law to become effective, it required approval by municipal referendum, which was held on July 7 ended with approval of the new law. The law went into effect on August 6, 1949.

In addition, Hamai worked to establish ties with foreign peace activists, such as Norman Cousins
Norman Cousins
Norman Cousins was an American political journalist, author, professor, and world peace advocate.-Early life and education:...

, who first visited Hiroshima in 1949. In June 1950 Hamai attended a conference in Caux
Caux, Switzerland
Caux is a small village in the Canton of Vaud, Switzerland. It looks out over Lake Geneva from an altitude of 1000 meters.The former Caux-Palace Hotel in the village is the home of Initiatives of Change's conference centre, which can accommodate up to 450 people...

, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

, held by the Movement for Moral Re-Armament
Moral Re-Armament
Moral Re-Armament was an international Christian moral and spiritual movement that, in 1938, developed from the American minister Frank Buchman's Oxford Group. Buchman, a Lutheran, headed MRA for 23 years, from 1938 until his death in 1961...

 established by Frank N. D. Buchman
Frank N. D. Buchman
Franklin Nathaniel Daniel Buchman , best known as Dr. or Rev. Frank Buchman, was a Protestant Christian evangelist who founded the Oxford Group...

. This was his first trip abroad as a mayor.

As part of his efforts to rebuild Hiroshima as a city of peace, he used the services of architect Kenzo Tange
Kenzo Tange
was a Japanese architect, and winner of the 1987 Pritzker Prize for architecture. He was one of the most significant architects of the 20th century, combining traditional Japanese styles with modernism, and designed major buildings on five continents. Tange was also an influential protagonist of...

 to build a monument to the victims in Hijiyama park, now officially named peace park.

One venue of action taken by him was receiving monetary contributions for the reconstruction of his city. One such major source has been residents of Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

, especially of Japanese origin.

He opposed the establishment by the US Army of the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission
Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission
The Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission was a commission established in 1946 in accordance with a presidential directive from Harry S. Truman to the National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council to conduct investigations of the late effects of radiation among the atomic-bomb survivors in...

 and tried to prevent the location of its facilities in Hijiyama park, but did not succeed in that.

During the mayoral election of April 1955, Hamai's popularity was in decline as rumors spread he was under investigation for financial irregularities. On April 28, just two days prior to election day, he was summoned for questioning by the Prosecutor's office, which probably led to his defeat at the polls. The charges were later dropped. He was defeated by mayoral candidate Tadao Watanabe
Tadao Watanabe
was a Japanese politician and Mayor of Hiroshima 1955 - 1959.Was elected to the Lower House of Diet in April 1946, but soon after lost his seat due to the purge of Japanese officials by the US occupation authorities...

, who became the mayor until 1959.

In April 1959 Hamai was reelected as mayor and served in that position until 1967. During this term, he had the opportunity to establish the first sister-city relations with another city, which was the city of Honolulu, Hawaii. These relations were established due to the large percentage of Hiroshima immigrants in Hawaii.

In late 1966 and early 1967 he was at odds with the Japanese government over the preservation of the Atomic Bomb Dome, which the government in Tokyo refused to finance. He put pressure on the government by holding a fund-raising campaign in the streets of Tokyo, which led to the donation of 60 million Yen to that cause.

He died of a heart attack in February 1968. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,900024,00.html

Following retirement in 1967, he published a book of his memoirs in the Japanese language. In 2010, the book was published in English translation made by his son Junso Hamai (born 1936).

In popular culture

Hamai has been extensively mentioned in the documentary book Children of the Ashes by Robert Jungk
Robert Jungk
Robert Jungk , also known as Robert Baum and Robert Baum-Jungk, was an Austrian writer and journalist who wrote mostly on issues relating to nuclear weapons....

. One of the events mentioned in the book was a brief moment in April 1946, when he witnessed a small tree growing in Hiroshima, realizing that despite radioactivity, plants could grow. This episode is depicted in the poem "Shinzo Hamai: 1946" by George Bailin, published in 1988.

External links

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