A Brief Chronology of Programs on the Atomic Bombings and Peace Issues

Keeping A-Bomb Experiences Alive in Times of Proliferation

6.15	Japan establishes PKO (Peacekeeping Operations) Cooperation Law
6.15	1st UN Conference on Disarmament Issues held in Hiroshima
9.29	Hiroshima municipal assembly approves proposal to request World Heritage Site listing for the Atomic Bomb Dome
10	Britain and USA halt nuclear tests
11.30	UN General Assembly adopts text of Chemical Weapons Convention(CWC) by unanimous resolution.

1.3	USA and USSR sign 2nd Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START Ⅱ) (not promulgated)
3	South Africa declares destruction of nuclear weapons (6 completed weapons and 1 being manufactured)
5.13	Hiroshima City decides to preserve buildings etc. that give testament to the atomic bombing
6.7	Council formed to promote registration of Atomic Bomb Dome as World Heritage Site
8.15	Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa becomes first prime minister to talk of Japan's responsibility for the war at memorial ceremony for war dead and expresses remorse regarding the people of neighboring countries who died and their families
11.6	Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa visits South Korea and apologizes for Japan's colonial aggression

6.1	Reconstruction of Peace Memorial Museum completed and East Building opens
8.6	Peace Declaration at Peace Memorial Ceremony describes atomic bomb as "patently illegal under international law" and the "development and possession of nuclear weapons" as "a crime against humanity"
12.16	Atomic Bombing Victims' Relief Bill passed

Fading Traces/ Efforts to Preserve Buildings, Trees and Bridges Damaged by the Bomb
With the approach of the 50th anniversary of the bombing, the number of survivors was declining fast. Traces of the bombing were also disappearing. Out of concern that all traces might eventually be erased, Hiroshima citizens submitted a request for the permanent preservation of buildings exposed to A-bomb radiation. The city authorities responded in 1993 with official registration of surviving buildings, trees and bridges within 5 kilometers of the epicenter. They called for the cooperation of the owners and provided conservation subsidies.
As of December, 2004, 94 buildings remained within 5 km of the epicenter, including the Atomic Bomb Dome; 25 were public properties and 69 privately owned.
150 trees are preserved in 52 places within 2 km of the epicenter. The paulownia of the Peace Memorial Park is among the best known.

     Out of more than 50 bridges in Hiroshima City, only six remain within 5 km of ground zero. They highly regarded as historical assets to be passed on to future citizens of Hiroshima.
   The people who witnessed the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki came to feel a renewed responsibility to hand on their memories as a record that could contribute to global peace in the 21st century. Many programs made during this period featured survivors in Hiroshima, who volunteered to relate their tragic experiences.
    By making and airing these records of witnesses, television, too, strove to keep the memories alive.
    *Japan Travelogue Storyteller beneath a Pawlownia in Hiroshima Peace Park (1993)
    *Japan Document 40th Anniversary of the Return of the Amami Islands, The Post-war Saga of the Bomb-scarred Women