page_title: Human Shadow Etched in Stone
section_title: Hiroshima Branch of Sumitomo Bank
hierarchical_section_title: Human Shadow Etched in Stone / History / Hiroshima Branch of Sumitomo Bank
caption_attribution_description: 日本語: 被爆後の住友銀行広島支店
context_page_description: Human Shadow Etched in Stone is an exhibition at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. It is thought to be the residue of a person who was sitting at the entrance of Hiroshima Branch of Sumitomo Bank when the atomic bomb was dropped over Hiroshima. It is also known as Human Shadow of Death.
context_section_description: Human Shadow Etched in Stone was originally part of the stone steps at the entrance of the Hiroshima Branch of Sumitomo Bank, located 260 meters from ground zero. The current location of the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Hiroshima Branch is Kamiya-cho 1 Chome.
  The bank was built in 1928. It was designed by Kenzo Takekoshi (竹腰健造) at the department of engineering of Sumitomo Group (now Nikken Sekkei), and was constructed by the Obayashi Corporation. The building was constructed out of reinforced concrete, with four floors above ground and one below with an open ceiling up to the third floor. The rooms for business, reception and coinage were on the first floor, the meeting rooms and cafeteria on the fourth floor, and the boiler room in the basement. It was built south of the head office of Geibi Bank (Now head office of Hiroshima Bank,) which had been built the year before and was almost the same size. It was designed in a general Romanesque architectural style, and was characterized by a large arch with molding on its front facade.
  It was not totally destroyed in the bombing of August 6, 1945. While the interior was destroyed, the exterior remained. The coin room was not damaged, and the cash and passbooks remained. Papers inside the building were blown as far away as Numata-cho by the blast.
  On the morning of the bombing, the bank was to be open as usual. Most of the employees were on their way to the office when the bomb was dropped. There were 29 employees killed immediately (including those in the branch and those on their way to work), 40 were injured and none missing. Some of the survivors died within a few days from radiation sickness, while others worked until retirement. Passersby took refuge in the building as it was close to ground zero, and a large number of bodies were recovered.
  The branch reopened after the war, and the entrance soon became a famous landmark of the damage caused by the atomic bombing. It was officially recognized by Hiroshima City as an A-bomb site. In those days, the shadow was called "Human Shadow of Death". According to a testimony, it was the second most famous sight next to the Atomic Bomb Dome. Sumitomo Bank went to great lengths to preserve the shadow. In 1959 they built a fence surrounding the stone, and in 1967 they covered the stone with tempered glass to prevent deterioration.
  In 1971, the Hiroshima Branch was planned to be rebuilt. The stone around the shadow was cut out and donated to the museum.
caption: Hiroshima Branch of Sumitomo Bank after the bombing. There existed Human Shadow of Death near the person standing at the entrance.
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