DE S T INAT IONS
Amid the use of new innovations to tackle challenges in the city’s industrial and agricultural sectors, Hiroshima is also seeing inventive use of technology in a more cultural setting. Tokyo-based design firm teamLab has in the past developed numerous artistic exhibitions around Asia, and throughout February and March (and up until April 7) the company gave the city’s historic Hiroshima Castle a vibrant facelift as part of its “Digitised Hiroshima Castle” installation. The surrounding park was adorned with inflatable eggs ranging from a foot high to over two metres tall, each glowing with an array of ever-changing colours accompanied by soothing music.
HISTORY REIMAGINED
Meanwhile, up on the hill and overlooking the luminescent display below, the castle itself was bathed in light that transitioned from majestic blue and calming turquoise to eerie green and even slightly menacing red. The whole eff ect serves to turn a simple visit through the historic castle grounds into a tranquil, almost meditative experience. Hiroshima is steeped in heritage both ancient and modern, with the
skeletal remains of the Genbaku Dome (Atomic Bomb Dome), one of the few buildings left standing after the detonation of the atomic bomb in August 1945, among the most emblematic in the city. The potential for technology to breathe new life into these historic sites is not lost on BeRise’s Stephen Boura, who cites the use of augmented reality to make London’s Big Ben appear as though it were in the heart of a giant snow globe. “Being here in Hiroshima, our tourism is normally a little depressing because of the content, but it would be cool to do something of similar respect and take Genbaku Dome and wrap it back in its original form,” he says. “That could bring back a bit of a positive image while also having fun with the technology.”
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cameras and lasers. Luce Search has deployed its drones following major disasters in Japan, notably the heavy rain disaster in Hiroshima in 2014, the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake and the 2017 Northern Kyushu floods. Using built-in laser technology, the drones can survey
the landscape while ignoring visual obstructions such as trees and other foliage, enabling the company to draw up three-dimensional maps of large areas of terrain that can easily be analysed for dangers. In just two days, the company surveyed an area of hillside covering three hectares to look for landslides, cracks and other potential weather-induced hazards. This was the largest area ever surveyed using drone-based laser technology in Japan. “This would take about three months to complete if done by people on the ground,” says Yutaka Watanabe, president and founder of Luce Search. The area’s 400 metres of elevation would make it very
difficult for people to traverse manually, he says. Four days aſt er conducting the search, the company was able to provide information to the government allowing it to send out evacuation alerts.
bus ine s s tr a v el ler .c om
Floods and landslides resulted in more than 200 deaths, with many more injured. The scars on the landscape are still visible in Hiroshima
The next step, according to the prefectural government’s
Uemaru, is making sure these alerts are successful. “The issue we’re having now is that it’s so difficult to change people’s behaviour,” he says. “We had to ask them to evacuate and very few people did, so we’re inviting experts in behavioural economics to explore how we can encourage people to evacuate if a storm occurs.” As for the lasting damage of 2018’s rainfall, Uemaru
says that Hiroshima has remained resilient. “When we had the disaster, in economic terms the largest problem we had was with trains and highways being shut down for weeks, though there was some severe damage, especially in the supply chains,” he says. “But if you look at the figures, they’re basically back to normal.” BT
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