--- title: Why Hiroshima Was Celebrating Just Two Years After the Atomic Bombing description: On August 6, 1947, the people of Hiroshima announced that their city was a "world mecca for peace." canonical: https://time.com/3974610/hiroshima-peace-festival-1947/ author: Eliza Berman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-06T12:00:32.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:02:17.214Z og:title: Why Hiroshima Was Celebrating Just Two Years After the Bomb Dropped og:description: On August 6, 1947, the people of Hiroshima announced that their city was a "world mecca for peace." og:url: https://time.com/3974610/hiroshima-peace-festival-1947/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt11503d7b86df7177/69885cbba988ca54eb6b3a60/150727-hiroshima-02.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Hiroshima Peace City 1947 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why Hiroshima Was Celebrating Just Two Years After the Bomb Dropped twitter:description: On August 6, 1947, the people of Hiroshima announced that their city was a "world mecca for peace." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt11503d7b86df7177/69885cbba988ca54eb6b3a60/150727-hiroshima-02.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Why Hiroshima Was Celebrating Just 2 Years After the Bomb Dropped ## Video: 70 Years On, Japan Remembers Human Cost Of Hiroshima [Watch (HLS stream): 70 Years On, Japan Remembers Human Cost Of Hiroshima](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/uILQj4KT.m3u8) (1:33)  _Published 2015-08-06. The bombing of Hiroshima 70 years ago remains one of the greatest and most divisive human tragedies in history._  by [Eliza Berman](https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Aug 6, 2015 12:00 PM UTC  Caption from LIFE. Peace procession headed by gaily clad dancing girls streams through the city. Soon after solemn services Hiroshima was filled with a carnival atmosphere. Caption from LIFE. Peace procession headed by gaily clad dancing girls streams through the city. Soon after solemn services Hiroshima was filled with a carnival atmosphere.Carl Mydans—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  by [Eliza Berman](https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Aug 6, 2015 12:00 PM UTC One might have expected the people of Hiroshima, on the second anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb, to convene in mourning for a tragedy still painfully fresh. But on Aug. 6, 1947, the people of that city gathered to send a message of hope and resilience to the world: The epicenter of the bombing was now, they declared, the epicenter of world peace. LIFE Magazine, having assigned Cary Mydans to photograph the festival, described how the tone of that day seemed incongruous to those who read about it in the press: --- > “” --- In the years since the U.S. had dropped the bomb, the city’s population had recovered—not fully, but still rapidly. Of the 60,000 houses that had been destroyed, 23,000 had been rebuilt. Much of this rebuilding was done in the style of American architecture, as Western influence gained a new hold on Japan. As people paraded through town in costume, sang songs and waved ribbons of peace, one U.S. Army colonel stationed there had a hard time believing the celebratory nature of the festival. “All we know is that something’s happened to these people,” he told LIFE. “They want peace, and they want to play a part in that peace.” _Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter_ [_@lizabethronk_](https://twitter.com/LizabethRonk)_._  Caption from LIFE. In peace square, the Governor of Hiroshima tamps the earth around a ceremonial camphor tree. Carl Mydans—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Peace procession headed by gaily clad dancing girls streams through the city. Soon after solemn services Hiroshima was filled with a carnival atmosphere. Carl Mydans—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Boys carry a tree float in the parade at the Peace Festival in Hiroshima on the two-year anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb. Carl Mydans—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Residents of Hiroshima participate in a parade during the city's 1947 Peace Festival. Carl Mydans—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Girls in flower hats watch the parade during the Peace Festival in Hiroshima, 1947. Carl Mydans—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Children march in the Peace Festival parade, Hiroshima, 1947. Carl Mydans—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  High school students sing a song for peace at the Hiroshima Peace Festival, 1947. Carl Mydans—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Peace Festival crowds watch and listen as speeches are delivered. Carl Mydans—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. At the peace treaty ceremony Japanese weep for dead friends and relatives while a memorial bell tolls at the exact hour of the blast. A moment later they dry their eyes and watch a parade. Carl Mydans—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A program for the Peace Ceremony hangs on a wall on the two-year anniversary of the dropping of the first atomic bomb. Carl Mydans—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Girls sell peace ribbons during the anniversary of the bomb dropping in Hiroshima. Carl Mydans—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Girls sell peace ribbons during the anniversary of the bomb dropping in Hiroshima. Carl Mydans—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Today Industrial Promotion Building is still a shell, but rubble has been cleared and many new houses have sprung up around it. Most are as flimsy as their predecessors. 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