Cities And Memory

The Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome) is one of the most recognisable symbols of the dropping of the first atomic bomb. However, just across the river is the Peace Clock Tower which chimes every day at 8:15am - the exact time the first atomic bomb was dropped on a human population and changed the world forever. In 1996, it was selected by the Japanese Environment Agency as one of the "One Hundred Sounds the Japanese People Wish to Preserve."  The first 45 seconds of the recording captures ambient sounds from the location on December 6, 2024 – birds, the hum of traffic, people passing on their way to work. Then at 8:15am exactly, the chimes of the atomic clock begin – as they have done since 1967 when the clock was constructed. They last less than 1 minute but remind us of a moment in time that should never be forgotten – both for those who suffered horribly from it, and for our own future survival. The remainder of the recording returns to the sounds of modern Hiroshima progressing into the future.  U