The former Taishoya Kimono Shop located opposite the Children's Peace Monument was built in 1929 and has been the park's rest house and gift shop since 1982. The building was repaired after the explosion. Only the exterior and one person in the basement survived.
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park: Rest House. It was built as the Taishoya Kimono Shop in March 1929. It was used as a fuel distribution station when the shortage of fuel began in June 1944. On August 6, 1945, when the bomb exploded, the roof was crushed, the interior destroyed, and everything consumable burned except in the basement. Eventually, 36 people in the building died of the bombing; 47-year-old Eizo Nomura survived in the basement, which had a concrete roof through which radiation had a more difficult time penetrating. He survived into his 80s.