The people of Seattle raised funds in 1950 to buy Hiroshima playgrounds so children could play and grow. They were inspired by the words sent back by Mayor William Devin, published in the Seattle Times. He led a group of business and civic leaders on the first goodwill tour of Japan by any American mayor after World War Two. The trip must have been informed if not inspired by Seattle’s house building volunteers including Floyd Schmoe, but that was never mentioned in the papers.
Devin’s messages back to Seattle were poignant and insightful, but when he got to Hiroshima he and the rest of the group were left in shock. He could not pay for the children’s recreation center that Hiroshima planned, but he knew that he could raise money for the playgrounds. Devin donated all of the salary from the Seattle Times for playground equipment, and he and tour chair Sol Levy began a fundraising drive.
What led me here
About fifteen years ago I stumbled on stories of many gifts from Seattle to Japan after World War Two. That led me to give a talk at the 2010 Pacific Northwest Historian’s Guild conference about totem poles given to Tokyo and Kobe, and the social impact of the Kobe pole. I called that talk “Missiles of Peace” after stumbling on the idea of “waging peace” and seeing a Warren Magnuson quote, “Instead of bursting out into war, we may have a bursting of peace in the world.”
I still intend to turn that talk into an article, and also write about other gifts like saplings for the reforestation of Japan. But meanwhile I’d like to share the gift we gave to Hiroshima’s parks.
The Hiroshima playgrounds equipment
In June 1951, Mayor Devin announced that Seattle would gift one slide, one jungle gym, and one set of six swings. The announcement of successful fundraising and gift happened at the Japanese Trade Fair, an event at UW’s Hec Ed Pavilion. Later that year, Devin traveled to Japan and presented the playground toys at a special event.
One of the leaders on the trip with Mayor Devin in January and February 1950 was Sol Levy. I wrote about Levy previously at the “Father of Cub Scouts” from his time in Port Angeles in the 1920s. By 1950 he was a business leader in Seattle and a regional Scouting leader. He joined the trip in both contexts, and I believe his meetings in Japan helped to revive Scouting there. The destruction of Tokyo and obliteration of Hiroshima must have weighed extra heavily on Sol Levy, thinking back on his Cub Scout pack’s plea for peace in 1928.
The playground equipment presented by Mayor Devin was purchased by Levy and shipped from Seattle on American Mail Line. So it was a gift of materials, not simply a gift of funds to build the playground.
In 1952 Sol Levy shared photographs of the Hiroshima playground equipment in use with the Seattle P-I. One was published, showing a slide full of children.
Mayor Devin also shared photographs with the Seattle Times. He received them from the mayor of Hiroshima. The Seattle Times published a photo of the jungle gym installed and being used. It was described as “in a part of the city razed by the atomic bomb”.
How many Hiroshima playgrounds did we give?
The story of one playground is very clear.
But a November 1951 Seattle Times article hints that our gift was much larger. Describing Devin’s presentation in Japan, the article ended, “The equipment will be placed in parks and sports centers”. That sounds like more than one park’s worth. Much more.
Indeed, there are many more Hiroshima playgrounds with identical equipment. A while back, a friend informed me that Kannon-shinmachi Dai-ichi Park has a very similar jungle gym to the one photographed in the Seattle Times. But it is a bit taller, so clearly a different park. Kannon-shinmachi Dai-ichi Park is in what was an industrial area in 1945, still standing after the bombing. (I observed this in a before/after/current aerial map at reearth.io.) So it’s definitely not the location featured in 1952 photos.
Looking in the blast area, I found another jungle gym in Tenma Park that is very similar but not quite the same as what we gave.
Furthermore, the story must be larger than just the city of Hiroshima. When I went looking for other parks in Hiroshima, I stumbled on an exact match to our jungle gym in a different city, Fukuyama, in the playground in the Fukuyama Castle Park grounds. Simple searches turn up more, like a near match in Kuri no Ki Park in North Hiroshima. So it appears that the same equipment we gave was later purchased for use in parks across Hiroshima at least.
The jungle gym photo’s caption read “Each swing, maze and slide bears a plate expressing the good will of Seattle toward the Japanese people.”
That’s definitely more Hiroshima playgrounds than one single set of playground equipment.
I think the people of Seattle bought all of the old, simple steel playground equipment in City of Hiroshima, and in many other parks around the prefecture.
Close inspection might reveal some of those plaques.
Images from papers and magazines
The impact on Devin
The full account of Devin and his group’s visit to Hiroshima, published in the Seattle Times after his letter arrived from Nagoya. It read,
“We arrived on General MacArthur’s plane this morning at an airfield about 20 miles from Hiroshima and traveled by car to the west side of the city, where we were served a meal of American food.
“After lunch we all went in cars, I with the mayor, to see the damaged area. When we reached a river about one mile from the center of town, the mayor said:
“‘From here on everything was completely destroyed by fire.’
“At the City Hall a most touching experience occurred. As we drove up to the front I noticed quite a large number of persons gathered there. The mayor and I got out first, and the rest of our party followed.
“Inside the building were two lines of people. The entire crowed applauded as our party walked through.
“We were served tea and cakes, and the mayor proceeded to show us on a map where the damage occurred. On the opposite wall were maps showing their plans for rebuilding the city.
“He told us of their hopes to build a large center for children, with playgrounds, science buildings, etc, costing $1,500,000.
“One of the characters in John Hershey’s book, ‘Hiroshima,’ Dr. Sasaki, came in and brought a history of the blast. He showed us his terribly burned and misshapen hands and scarred body.
“I wanted to say something, but it was most difficult. Most of our party were in tears. I gulped a couple of times and proceeded to tell them what I knew every one of us was thinking!
“‘Why should you, who have suffered this sacrifice of the ages, give to us, who perpetrated it, gifts and hospitality as you have?’
“‘I shall do all that I can among my people to help you in your courageous efforts to rebuild your once-beautiful city into an even more beautiful city, dedicated to a determination that this never again shall happen to any city in the world.’
“On the way back to Tokyo in the plane our party was rather quiet and serious. We had touched the most stupendous tragedy of our age and had found the victims not bitter, not resentful, but friendly, hospitable, meek and courageous.
“If I had $1,500,000 I’d build that children’s center as lasting evidence that we in America respect and love our fellow men in spite of what wars compel us to do.”
“Hiroshima makes profound impression on Mayor Devin”, Seattle Times, January 31, 1950, page 7
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