Hiroshima, Japan : Peace Memorial Park

Chances are if you're visiting Hiroshima you will be visiting Peace Park. It's an amazing place, but obviously makes for a very sad afternoon as well. But I recommend making the stop. It'll give you some new perspectives.

In front of the Memorial Park is the Peace Memorial Museum. It's only 50 Yen to get in, and that's about 50 cents, so you can certainly afford it.


A room on the bottom floor shows two scale models, one of Hiroshima before the bombing and one after. That visual was astounding. Timelines throughout the museum outline the day of the bombing, and stories from survivors are scattered throughout the museum. There are artifacts from Hiroshima as well, melted glass and roof tiles, watches, clothes.

Sadako's Paper Cranes

Another section focuses on the story of Sadako Sasaki, a young girl who survived the bombing but became sick from the radiation. Believing in the story that folding 1,000 paper cranes would grant the folder one wish, she began creating them one at a time. She reached beyond 1,000 but did pass away shortly after. Along with the story and pictures, many of her paper cranes are in the museum.

Cenotaph with the Atomic Bomb Dome in the distance

The museum is sobering, but amazing. It depends on how much you want to read as to how much time you need in the museum, but I would recommend at least an hour. Once through the museum you can wander the gardens and memorials. The main memorial is the Cenotaph for the A-Bomb victims, a large arched memorial over the cenotaph containing the names of all of the victims. The park also has the Children's Peace Monument, based on the story of Sadako Sasaki and built in remembrance of the victims who were children. The monument stands tall with a girl on top holding onto a large crane. Display cases around the monument display paper cranes that school children have sent in over the years.

Children's Memorial

Paper Cranes - Strands of 1,000

The park also is home to the Peace Flame. The flame was lit in 1964 and will stay burning until all nuclear bombs are destroyed throughout the world. The Atomic Bomb Memorial Mound contains the ashes of unidentified victims. There are many more monuments and special sites of remembrance. Check here for a complete list of all that you may want to see.



After wandering through the park you'll come to the Atomic Bomb Dome. This is the only building that was left standing after the bomb was dropped, and today it is still preserved exactly as it was after the bombing. The floors are still littered with rubble and most of it is just a ruin. It's a stark example, on a small scale, of what the bomb did.

If you need a pick me up after the museum and the park there are plenty of streets full of life nearby. Take a streetcar to just about any stop and you'll find shopping and eating centers. If you stumble upon the Don Quixote you should go in, it's a fascinatingly weird store.

For advice on places to stay, check my accommodations blog, and for transportation advice for Hiroshima, check the transportation blog, here.