JAPAN | The Hiroshima Peace Memorial, the Peace Memorial Park and the Peace Memorial Museum

Autumn 2025. We – Sam and Danny, Michel and Wille, and Timothy – are travelling to Japan for a quite classic tour of the Land of the Rising Sun. We are flying separately as we used miles. On the planning: Tokyo, Kanazawa, Shirakawa, Osaka, and Expo 2025, Hiroshima, Himeji, Miyajima, Kyoto, Nara, Nagoya, Hakone, and back to Tokyo. Three weeks plus some extra days.

It will come to no surprise peace is a big issue and theme in Hiroshima. Being in the site of the first ever atomic bombing attack, the city focuses on commemoration and warning against war.

And like the Great Wall of China, the Acropolis where the Parthenon is, the Colosseum and the Vatican in Rome, the Western Wall or Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, the Kaaba in Mecca; Hiroshima is a place where you think “wow, I’m really here, on this place with enormous significance in the world”.

Hiroshima Peace Memorial

The Hiroshima Peace Memorial (広島平和記念碑, Hiroshima Heiwa Kinenhi), originally known as the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall, and now commonly referred to as the Genbaku Dome (原爆ドーム, Genbaku Dōmu) or Atomic Bomb Dome, is a preserved ruin located within Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996.

The structure is one of the few buildings that remained standing near the hypocentre of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945. The bomb, detonated three days before the attack on Nagasaki and nine days before Japan’s surrender, killed more than 140,000 people by the end of that year. The ruin is preserved permanently as a memorial to the victims and as a reminder of the catastrophic consequences of nuclear warfare.

Original building

The building was designed by Czech architect Jan Letzel and completed in April 1915. Initially named the Hiroshima Prefectural Commercial Exhibition Hall, it featured a distinctive copper dome. It was renamed the Hiroshima Prefectural Products Exhibition Hall in 1921 and later, in 1933, the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall (Hiroshima-ken Sangyō Shōrei-kan).

Situated in Hiroshima’s central business district beside the Aioi Bridge, the hall served primarily as a venue for art and industrial exhibitions, and as a showcase for local products.

Atomic bombing

At 8:15 AM on 6 August 1945, an American B-29 bomber, the Enola Gay, dropped the world’s first atomic bomb used in warfare over Hiroshima. The weapon, equivalent to 15,000 tons of TNT, exploded approximately 600 metres above the city, directly over the Shima Hospital, only about 150 metres from the Industrial Promotion Hall.

The intended target had been the Aioi Bridge, but the bomb missed by 240 metres. Everyone inside the building was killed instantly. Because the explosion occurred almost directly above, the building’s vertical columns withstood the downward blast, allowing parts of its walls and the dome’s metal framework to remain intact. The structure’s earthquake-resistant design also contributed to its survival.

Preservation

The hall was one of the few structures left standing in the devastated area around the hypocentre. Known thereafter as the Genbaku Dome, it became the subject of debate: some citizens wanted it demolished, while others argued for its preservation as a symbol of remembrance and peace. When Hiroshima’s post-war reconstruction began, the ruins were retained.

Between 1950 and 1964, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park was developed around the Dome. In 1966, the Hiroshima City Council formally decided to preserve it permanently, naming it the Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome).

Preservation work took place in 1967, supported by domestic and international donations. Subsequent reinforcement projects were carried out between 1989 and 1990, and again in later years to ensure stability. The structure today remains largely as it appeared immediately after the bombing, with minimal alterations apart from internal supports to prevent collapse.

As a political and commemorative site

The Hiroshima Peace Memorial has become a focal point for anti-war, anti-nuclear weapons, and anti-nuclear power demonstrations. The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony, held annually on 6 August, takes place in the surrounding park.

On 27 May 2016, Barack Obama became the first sitting President of the United States to visit the memorial. Later that year, Prime Minister Shinzō Abe visited the USS Arizona Memorial in Honolulu in Hawaii as a reciprocal gesture. The leaders of the G7 also visited the site during the 49th summit in May 2023.

UNESCO World Heritage status

In December 1996, the Genbaku Dome was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List under cultural criterion (vi). It was recognised as a powerful symbol of both the unprecedented destructive power of nuclear weapons and humanity’s desire for peace and the abolition of war.

The designation was not without controversy. Delegates from the People’s Republic of China and the United States expressed reservations: China feared the site might obscure Japan’s wartime aggression and the suffering of other nations, while the US argued that the memorial lacked full historical context. The United States ultimately dissociated itself from the inscription decision.

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park

The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park (広島平和記念公園, Hiroshima Heiwa Kinen Kōen) is a large public park located in the centre of Hiroshima. Designed by architect Kenzō Tange and his team at Tange Lab, the park opened on 1 April 1954 and attracts over one million visitors annually.

The park stands on what was once Hiroshima’s busiest commercial and residential district. The area was completely destroyed by the atomic explosion, leaving an open field on which the memorial park was later constructed.

Today, the site includes museums, monuments, and memorials dedicated to the victims of the bombing and to the promotion of peace. Each year, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony is held in the park on 6 August to remember the victims and reaffirm the city’s commitment to peace.

The Peace Memorial Park with the Cenotaph and the Dome.

Children’s Peace Monument

The Children’s Peace Monument is dedicated to the thousands of children who died as a result of the bombing. It depicts a young girl raising a folded paper crane towards the sky. The statue was inspired by the story of Sadako Sasaki, a girl who developed leukaemia from radiation exposure and folded over one thousand paper cranes in the hope of recovery. Today, children from around the world send paper cranes to the monument, which are continuously displayed nearby as offerings for peace.

Rest House of Hiroshima Peace Park

The Rest House is one of the few surviving pre-war buildings in the area. Originally built in 1929 as the Taishoya Kimono Shop, it was later used by the Hiroshima Prefectural Fuel Rationing Union. When the atomic bomb exploded, the building’s roof collapsed, its interior was gutted, and almost everyone inside was killed—except Eizō Nomura, who survived in the basement and lived into his eighties.

After the war, the building was restored and used for reconstruction offices. It now serves as a visitor information centre and souvenir shop, while the basement is preserved as it was in 1945.

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony

Each year on 6 August, known as A-Bomb Day, the city holds the Peace Memorial Ceremony in front of the Cenotaph. The event begins at 8:00 AM, culminating in a minute of silence at 8:15—the exact time of the bombing—to honour the victims and express hopes for lasting peace.

Lantern Ceremony

In the evening, thousands of paper lanterns bearing messages of peace are floated down the Motoyasu River, symbolically sending the souls of the victims to rest.

Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims

Established by the national government, the Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall commemorates all those who died in the bombing. The underground hall includes a Hall of Remembrance, featuring a 360-degree panorama of destroyed Hiroshima created from 140,000 tiles, representing the estimated number of victims by the end of 1945. Above the entrance, a clock is stopped at 8:15.

Memorial Cenotaph

At the park’s centre stands the Memorial Cenotaph, a saddle-shaped concrete arch that shelters a stone chest containing the names of all known victims of the bombing. The monument, unveiled on 6 August 1952, aligns visually with the Peace Flame and A-Bomb Dome.

Its inscription, written by Tadayoshi Saika, reads:

安らかに眠って下さい過ちは繰返しませぬから or “Please rest in peace, for we shall not repeat the error“.

The phrase was intentionally left ambiguous to encompass all humanity and to avoid assigning blame, expressing a universal plea for peace.

Peace Flame

Lit in 1964, the Peace Flame has burned continuously and will remain alight until every nuclear weapon on Earth has been destroyed.

Peace Bells

The park contains three Peace Bells. The largest, installed in 1964 and designed by Masahiko Katori, bears inscriptions in Greek, Sanskrit, and Japanese meaning “Know yourself“. Visitors are encouraged to ring the bell for world peace. Another bell is housed in the Peace Memorial Museum, and a smaller one is used exclusively during the annual ceremony.

Atomic Bomb Memorial Mound

This grassy mound contains the cremated remains of approximately 70,000 unidentified victims of the atomic bombing.

Cenotaph for Korean Victims

Among the many victims of Hiroshima were thousands of Koreans who had been brought to Japan under colonial rule. The Cenotaph for Korean Victims honours their suffering and sacrifice. Its inscription commemorates Prince Yi Wu and more than 20,000 other Koreans who perished in the bombing.

Gates of Peace

Installed in 2005, the Gates of Peace consist of ten large steel gates inscribed with the word “peace” in 49 languages. The gates symbolise both the “nine circles of Hell” and the “living hell of Hiroshima” created by the bombing.

Memorial Tower to the Mobilised Students

Erected in 1967, the Memorial Tower to the Mobilised Students honours over 10,000 students who died during wartime mobilisation, including those killed in the atomic bombing. The twelve-metre-high tower features the Goddess of Peace and eight doves, with reliefs depicting students engaged in wartime labour. Audio guides in Japanese and English explain the memorial’s background and significance.

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum

The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum (広島平和記念資料館, Hiroshima Heiwa Kinen Shiryōkan) is dedicated to documenting the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 and to promoting world peace and the abolition of nuclear weapons.

The museum opened in August 1955, together with the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Hall (now the International Conference Center Hiroshima). Designed by the renowned architect Kenzō Tange, it forms part of the Peace Memorial Park complex, which was conceived as both a site of remembrance and a symbol of hope for humanity’s future.

Since its opening, the museum has become one of Japan’s most visited educational and commemorative institutions. Between 1955 and 2005, it received approximately 53 million visitors, averaging more than one million each year, many of them schoolchildren from across the country.

According to the museum’s English guide, “The Peace Memorial Museum collects and displays belongings left by the victims, photos, and other materials that convey the horror of that event, supplemented by exhibits that describe Hiroshima before and after the bombings and others that present the current status of the nuclear age. Each of the items displayed embodies the grief, anger, or pain of real people. Having now recovered from the A-bomb calamity, Hiroshima’s deepest wish is the elimination of all nuclear weapons and the realization of a genuinely peaceful international community.”

The museum’s mission is to bear witness to the devastation caused by the atomic bomb, to educate visitors about the dangers of nuclear weapons, and to inspire global efforts toward peace.

In 1994, the museum underwent major renovation and was reorganised into two wings.

The East Wing focused on the history of Hiroshima before and after the bombing, the scientific and political background of the atomic bomb, and post-war efforts for nuclear disarmament. This section included a large model showing the scale of destruction and exhibited documents such as correspondence between scientists and political leaders about atomic research and its consequences.

The West Wing concentrated on the human and material damage caused by the bomb. Its main themes included ‘Material Witness‘, displaying victims’ personal belongings such as clothing, watches, and hair; ‘Damage by the Heat Rays‘, showing the effects of intense heat on wood, glass, metal, and stone; ‘Damage by the Blast‘, illustrating the power of the shockwave; and ‘Damage by the Radiation‘, describing the long-term health effects on survivors.

Another comprehensive renovation began in 2014. The East Wing reopened in 2017 with more interactive exhibits, including a new projection-mapped model of the city to demonstrate the bomb’s effects. During this period, the Main Building (formerly the West Wing) was closed for seismic retrofitting and reopened on 25 April 2019.

The exhibitions were restructured to place greater emphasis on individual stories and belongings, and are now divided into four parts: an introductory exhibition in the East Wing, ‘Reality of the Atomic Bombing‘ in the Main Building, ‘Dangers of Nuclear Weapons‘ in the East Wing, and ‘Hiroshima History‘ in the East Wing.

The museum building, designed by Kenzō Tange, is an outstanding example of post-war modernist architecture. Raised on slender columns, with a minimalist and linear design, it expresses both solemnity and resilience. The building’s alignment with the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims and the Atomic Bomb Dome forms a powerful visual axis that symbolises remembrance, mourning, and the determination to pursue peace.

A visit to the museum

The museum is very poignant. To be honest, the Hiroshima and Nagasaki are in history lessons and books often just mentioned as matter of fact. This is it, the end of World War II. But it’s so much more.

The museum focuses on the before, and after the bombing. It dies not, for instance, discuss the cultural impact. So many manga and anime were influenced by it as the Japanese psyche was influenced by it. Godzilla is the most obvious example. But the museum does not look into that.

That is not necessary. What you see, is enough.

The museum was crowded, which affects the serenity it asks for. But still, an impactful visit.

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