Hanamaki City Museum Theme Exhibition 2025: "80 Years After the War: War and Hanamaki"

On August 15, 1945, the Pacific War, which claimed over 3.1 million lives across Japan, came to an end. Then, on August 10, just before the end of the war, Hanamaki was hit by an air raid by the US military, and many precious lives were lost.
Eighty years have passed since the end of the Pacific War, but war has not yet vanished from the world. In Japan, too, we are now in an age where fewer and fewer people have memories of the war, and we believe that museums have a role to play in sending out the message that war must never be repeated.
This exhibition will introduce the history of the war in Hanamaki and the surrounding areas, focusing on the approximately 15 years from the Manchurian Incident in 1931 to the end of the war in 1945, through valuable materials from that time.

Related Events

Special Lecture: "Hanamaki and War" *This lecture has now ended.

The lecturer will be local historian Akio Kato, author of "The Day Hanamaki Burned," who will talk about the air raids in Iwate Prefecture 80 years ago, why Hanamaki was attacked, the damage it caused, and the war relics that remain in Hanamaki.

Lecture details

• Date and time: Sunday, July 20th, 1:30pm to 3:00pm
• Speaker: Akio Kato (Secretary General of the Iwate War Recording Society, author of "The Day Hanamaki Burned")
• Title: Hanamaki and the War
• Location: Hanamaki City Museum, Lecture Experience Learning Room
• Capacity: 30 people (application required)
• Cost: Free to attend (no admission fee required)
• Application period: June 20th (Friday) 8:30 AM to July 19th (Saturday) 4:30 PM

You can apply for the special lecture by phone or by filling out the application form using the QR code below.
(Note) Sorry, we are currently at capacity.
Please note that we do not accept cancellations on a waiting list.
However, you can only apply if the cancellation occurs within the application period.

Special screening: "Following the Footprints of War: The Fifteen-Year War in Kitakami and Waga" *This screening has now ended.

We will be screening a documentary film produced by the Miyakodori Brothers, natives of Kitakami City, that traces the "traces of war" in the Kitakami and Waga regions.
(Note) In consideration of copyright protection, audio, video, and photography are strictly prohibited during this screening.

Screening details

• Date and time: Monday, August 11th (national holiday) 1:30pm to 3:30pm
• Director: Shinya Miyakodori (scheduled to appear)
• Location: Hanamaki City Museum, Lecture Experience Learning Room
• Capacity: 40 people (application required)
• Cost: Free to view (no admission fee required)
• Application period: Friday, July 11th, 8:30 AM to Sunday, August 10th, 4:30 PM

You can apply for the special screening by phone or by filling out the application form using the QR code below.
(Note) Applications will be closed once the capacity is reached.
Please note that we do not accept cancellations on a waiting list.
However, you can only apply if the cancellation occurs within the application period.

Gallery Talk

• Dates: July 21st (Monday, national holiday), August 9th (Saturday)
  1:30pm to 2:30pm on both days
• Location: Hanamaki City Museum Special Exhibition Room
• Application: Not required
• Cost: Admission fee is required to participate.

Simultaneous event: "Hanamaki City Nuclear-Free Peace Exhibition 2025"

The photo is from the event held in 2023

We will exhibit photo posters of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
For inquiries, please contact the General Affairs Division, General Policy Department, Hanamaki City (0198-41-3506)

• For more information about the Non-Nuclear Peace Exhibition, please see this link.