Aloi Bridge

The Aioi Bridge crosses the confluence of two channels of the Ota River in central Hiroshima, notable for its rare T-shaped plan that makes it immediately recognizable from above. First constructed in 1878 during the Meiji era, it gained a grim place in world history when the bombardiers of the Enola Gay selected its distinctive T-form as their aiming point on August 6, 1945 — the bomb detonated just a few hundred meters away. The current bridge is a postwar reconstruction that preserved the original shape. It now serves as a daily crossing for the thousands who walk from the city toward the Peace Memorial Park, functioning as an unmarked threshold between modern Hiroshima and the event that defined it.