Peace Statue (Nishigawa Greenway Park)

The Peace Statue (平和像, Heiwa-zō) stands in the Nishigawa Greenway Park (西川緑道公園), a 2.4-kilometer linear park developed along both banks of the Nishigawa Canal (西川用水) running north-to-south through the heart of Okayama City. The statue was erected on June 29, 1954 — exactly nine years after the devastating air raid — as a spiritual landmark symbolizing Okayama's cultural recovery and its resolve never to repeat the tragedy of war.

The Nishigawa Canal and its surroundings played a harrowing role during the air raid of June 29, 1945. When 138 B-29 bombers unleashed approximately 890 tons of incendiary munitions on the city beginning at 02:43, no air-raid warning had been issued. As the firestorm engulfed the densely built wooden neighborhoods, panicked residents fled toward the nearest water — the Nishigawa Canal and the larger Asahi River. Survivors' accounts describe desperate scenes of people plunging into the shallow canal water while burning debris and white-phosphorus bomblets continued to fall around them.

The statue was one of the earliest commemorative acts by the city of Okayama following the war. It was established as both a memorial to the 1,737 dead and as an expression of the citizens' aspiration for enduring peace. The choice of the Nishigawa Canal — a site of both wartime horror and postwar renewal — was deeply symbolic.

The Nishigawa Greenway Park itself was developed over nine years from 1974 to 1982, transforming the utilitarian canal corridor into a verdant public space with approximately 38,000 trees of about 100 species, fountains, sculptures, and water terraces. The Peace Statue now stands within this transformed landscape, where the once-desperate refuge has become a beloved urban oasis. The park is listed among Okayama's premier cultural amenities and hosts seasonal events throughout the year.

Each June 29, memorial observances are held in Okayama to mark the anniversary of the air raid, with the Peace Statue serving as a focal point for reflection and remembrance.