Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park
広島平和記念公園
The ground zero of the atomic age, transformed into the world's most powerful argument for peace
About Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park occupies the former Nakajima district, which stood at the hypocenter of the August 6, 1945 atomic bombing. At its center stands the Peace Memorial Museum, whose renovated exhibits draw on diaries, melted lunchboxes, and scorched school uniforms to put a human face on what the word 'atomic' actually meant at 8:15 AM. The A-Bomb Dome looms across the Motoyasu River: the only structure left standing near the hypocenter, preserved deliberately in its ruined state as a permanent witness. The park itself is open 24 hours and free. Most visitors need 2 to 3 hours; many find they need to sit quietly afterward.
Essential Tips
The museum opens at 7:30 AM for online-ticket holders (counters open at 8:30); tour groups pack the galleries from 10 AM onward
The museum admission is ¥200. Pay it. The renovated exhibits justify far more.
Do the museum before the park monuments, not after. You'll understand what you're looking at.
The East Building and the Main Building are connected inside; follow the suggested route from the staff
Allow time to sit quietly somewhere after the museum. Most people need it.
The park is open 24 hours and free; an evening walk alone is worth doing
August 6th is the Peace Memorial Ceremony: deeply significant, genuinely moving, but the city is full and hotels are booked months ahead
Avoid bringing large bags; museum lockers are small and the queue for bag check can delay entry
Photography is permitted throughout the museum, but read the room before shooting
The A-Bomb Dome is across the Aioi Bridge, a 5-minute walk north of the cenotaph. Do not skip it
Ring the Peace Bell before you leave
Hiroshima okonomiyaki is the best meal after a morning here; head to Okonomimura in Shintenchi, about 17 minutes east on foot
JR Pass holders: the Sanyo Shinkansen stops at Hiroshima Station. From there, trams cover everything for ¥240 flat.
Don't Miss
Peace Memorial Museum (Main Building)
The 2019-renovated main building is where the visit lands hardest. Rather than statistics, the exhibits work through individual stories: a child's charred tricycle, a watch stopped at 8:15, a shadow burned into stone steps by the flash. Come for the 7:30 AM opening with an online ticket (the counters open at 8:30). Allow 75 to 90 minutes. The exit deposits you directly into the park, which you'll want.
A-Bomb Dome (Genbaku Dome)
The Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall survived in skeletal form because the bomb detonated almost directly above it, driving the blast force straight down rather than sideways. Preserved exactly as it stood after the bombing, it was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996 over the objections of the United States and China. Walk across the Aioi Bridge for the straight-on view that appears in nearly every photograph taken of Hiroshima.
Children's Peace Monument
A bronze girl stands atop a granite pillar, arms outstretched, holding a golden crane. The monument is dedicated to Sadako Sasaki, who developed leukemia from radiation exposure at age 2 and spent her final year folding paper cranes, believing she could fold 1,000 and be granted a wish. She fell short. Her classmates finished the cranes. They then lobbied for this monument, dedicated in 1958. At its base: thousands of paper cranes sent by children from around the world, replaced regularly.
Cenotaph and the View Through to the Dome
The Cenotaph for A-bomb Victims (designed by Kenzo Tange) frames a precise axis from the Peace Flame through the Cenotaph arch to the A-Bomb Dome across the river. Stand at the cenotaph and look north: the alignment is deliberate, connecting commemoration to witness. The inscription translates as 'Let all the souls here rest in peace, for we shall not repeat the evil.' The 'we' is intentionally ambiguous.
Peace Bell
Cast in 1964, the Peace Bell hangs in an open pavilion on the eastern side of the park. Visitors are welcome to ring it. The tone carries across the park. Ring it before you leave.
What to Do Here
Museum and Monument Circuit
The full visit in the right order: museum in the 7:30–8:30 AM online-ticket window, then a slow walk north through the park hitting the Children's Peace Monument, Cenotaph, Peace Flame, and Peace Bell before crossing to the A-Bomb Dome. End at the riverside for a few minutes of quiet before the city pulls you back in.
Tips:
- Buy your museum ticket online in advance to avoid the queue at peak times
- Do the museum first while you are fresh and can absorb it properly
- The East Building (reached first from the south entrance) covers pre-war Hiroshima and scientific context; the Main Building covers the human experience
- Bring water. There is nowhere to eat or buy drinks inside the museum.
- The park circuit after the museum takes 30 to 60 minutes depending on how long you spend at each monument
Evening Walk
The park after dark is a different place entirely. The Peace Flame reflects in the river, the A-Bomb Dome is lit from below, and nearly everyone is gone. The monuments, free of tour group traffic and noise, are considerably more affecting. Worth doing even if you've already visited during the day.
Tips:
- The tram runs until around midnight; Genbaku Dome-mae stop is right at the northern edge of the park
- The A-Bomb Dome is illuminated at night
- Safe and well-maintained; locals walk and jog through the park in the evening
- The Motoyasu River lantern floating on August 6th evening is one of Japan's most moving rituals
Hiroshima Full Historical Day
Spend the morning at Peace Park, then walk north to Hiroshima Castle and on to Shukkeien Garden for the afternoon. The castle's stone walls and moat came through the blast less than a kilometre from the hypocentre, though its keep has been closed since March 2026. Shukkeien, the Asano lords' garden, was all but destroyed and took about 30 years to restore.
Tips:
- Hiroshima Castle is 18 minutes north of the A-Bomb Dome on foot
- Closing times: the castle's rebuilt Ninomaru buildings at 5:30 PM from April to September and 4:30 PM from October to March; Shukkeien at 6 PM from mid-March to mid-September and 5 PM the rest of the year. Last entry is 30 minutes before closing at both
- Shukkeien is a 13-minute walk east of the castle and costs ¥350 (school pupils free)
- Finish with okonomiyaki at Okonomimura in Shintenchi, about 20 minutes' walk south of Shukkeien
Plan Your Visit
Opening Hours
park
24 hours, year-round (free)
museum
7:30 AM – 7:00 PM (August: until 8:00 PM; December–February: until 6:00 PM); last entry 30 minutes before closing. Entry from 7:30 to 8:30 AM and in the last hour needs an online ticket
closed Days
December 30–31
Best Time to Visit
Book an online ticket for the 7:30–8:30 AM window and you get through before tour groups arrive around 10 AM. The park itself is worth visiting at dusk or after dark when it is empty and quiet.
Avoid:
August 6 (Peace Memorial Ceremony draws enormous crowds; the event is moving but the city is completely packed). Golden Week. After 10 AM on any day.
Nearby
A-Bomb Dome (Genbaku Dome)
UNESCO World Heritage Site preserved in its post-bombing state, directly across the Motoyasu River.
300 m
Hiroshima Castle
Its 1958 keep has been closed since March 2026, but the moat, the stone walls that came through the blast and the rebuilt Ninomaru are free, with about 350 cherry trees around them.
1.5 km
Shukkeien Garden
A 1620 stroll garden rebuilt after the bombing, quiet and genuinely beautiful, with a matcha tea house.
2.2 km
Okonomimura
Five-story building of Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki vendors. The best affordable lunch option after the park.
1.2 km
Hondori Shopping Arcade
Hiroshima's main covered shopping street, useful for coffee, lunch, and a transition back to everyday life.
700 m
Gallery
The view through the Cenotaph arch to the A-Bomb Dome is a deliberate architectural alignment. Stand here.
The dome survived because the bomb detonated almost directly overhead, driving the blast downward
Thousands of folded cranes are delivered here from schoolchildren around the world every year
The flame has burned continuously since 1964, pledged to burn until the last nuclear weapon is destroyed
The early online-ticket window beats the tour groups, who arrive around 10 AM
The park at dusk, when the tour buses have gone and the river goes quiet
History
founding
Peace Memorial Park was formally established in 1954 on the site of the Nakajima district, a dense residential and commercial neighborhood that was destroyed entirely by the atomic bombing. The park and museum were designed by architect Kenzo Tange, whose Cenotaph and layout created the deliberate north-south axis connecting the Peace Flame, the Cenotaph, and the A-Bomb Dome.
significance
Hiroshima was the first city in history to be targeted by an atomic weapon in wartime. The bomb detonated at 8:15 AM on August 6, 1945, at an altitude of 580 meters above the Shima Hospital, approximately 160 meters from the A-Bomb Dome. An estimated 70,000 people died instantly; total deaths by the end of 1945 reached approximately 140,000. The park and museum exist to ensure these facts remain specific and human, not abstract.
reconstruction
The Peace Memorial Museum's main building was closed for major renovation from 2017 to 2019. The redesigned exhibits replaced mannequins and dioramas with personal belongings, photographs, and first-person testimonies from hibakusha (atomic bomb survivors). The approach was deliberately more intimate than the previous design, and considerably more affecting.
name Origin
The A-Bomb Dome's official Japanese name is Genbaku Dome (原爆ドーム). It was the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall before the bombing. The city debated for decades whether to demolish or preserve it. The decision to preserve it as a World Heritage Site in 1996 was opposed by the United States and China, both of which abstained from the UNESCO vote.
Getting There
Hiroshima Electric Railway (Tram)
Station: Genbaku Dome-mae
Walk: 1 minute to the A-Bomb Dome; 5 minutes to the museum
The most direct access. Take Line 2 (towards Miyajima-guchi) or Line 6 from Hiroshima Station. 15 minutes. This is the right choice.
Hiroshima Electric Railway (Tram)
Station: Fukuromachi
Walk: 8 minutes to the museum from the south
Useful if coming from Hondori or the downtown hotel area on Lines 1 or 2.
Walking from Hiroshima Station
Station: Hiroshima Station
Walk: 25 minutes along Peace Boulevard
A reasonable option if you want to see the city before arriving at the park. Flat walk along a wide boulevard.
Hiroshima Electric Railway (Tram) from Miyajima
Station: Genbaku Dome-mae
Walk: 1 minute
Many visitors combine Miyajima and Peace Park in one day. Take the tram all the way from Miyajimaguchi for ¥240, no transfer needed.
Location
1-2 Nakajimacho, Naka Ward, Hiroshima 730-0811
Nearest: Genbaku Dome-mae (Hiroshima Electric Railway Lines 2 & 6) (1 minute to the A-Bomb Dome; 5 minutes to the museum)
Book tours & activities near Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park
via Klook
Find nearby hotels in Naka-ku
Compare prices across booking sites
More Attractions
Senso-ji Temple
Tokyo's oldest temple: a 645 AD Buddhist site with a lantern-hung gate, 89-shop street, and 30 million visitors a year
Tokyo Skytree
634 meters of Tokyo: Japan's tallest structure with two observation decks and Mount Fuji visible on clear winter days
Meiji Shrine
A 175-acre forest in central Tokyo holding a Shinto shrine dedicated to Emperor Meiji, who opened Japan to the modern world
teamLab Borderless
Step into a surreal world where digital art comes alive around you
teamLab Planets
Walk through water, wade through flowers, and lose your sense of where the art ends and you begin
Shimanami Kaido
A cycling guide to Japan's greatest ride: 70km island-hopping across the Seto Inland Sea
Shibuya Crossing
The world's busiest pedestrian crossing, and Tokyo's most iconic spectacle
Shibuya Sky
Tokyo's best observation deck: open-air rooftop with nothing between you and the city
Ghibli Museum
The museum Miyazaki designed himself: no door sales, timed entry, no photography inside, and a life-size Robot Soldier on the roof
Imperial Palace & East Gardens
Edo Castle's moats still ring the emperor's home, and its old inner compounds are now the free East Gardens
Tsukiji Outer Market
Tokyo's greatest food market: fresh sushi, street food, and culinary chaos since 1935
Toyosu Fish Market
Tokyo's modern wholesale fish market: tuna auctions behind glass and sushi breakfast on the upper floors
Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden
Three gardens in one: Tokyo's most celebrated park and its greatest cherry blossom destination
Tokyo Tower
Tokyo's original icon: cheaper, less crowded, and more romantic than the Skytree
Ueno Park & Museums
Tokyo's cultural centre: four national museums in one park, plus cherry blossoms that draw about 3.3 million visitors
Akihabara Electric Town
Tokyo's otaku hub: anime, electronics, retro games, and maid cafés stacked floor to ceiling
Tokyo Disney Resort
Two world-class theme parks: Disneyland for the classics, DisneySea for the most beautiful Disney park ever built
Fushimi Inari Taisha
Ten thousand vermillion gates winding up a forested mountain: Japan's most-visited Shinto shrine
Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion)
A gold-leaf temple reflected in a mirror pond: Kyoto's most-reproduced image
Kiyomizu-dera
Kyoto's hilltop temple with a wooden stage that floats above the treetops
Arashiyama Bamboo Grove
Five hundred metres of bamboo reaching 20 metres overhead, filtering light to green: free, open at dawn, packed by 9 AM
Arashiyama Monkey Park Iwatayama
Wild macaques on a mountain overlooking Kyoto: the monkeys roam free and you're the one in the cage
Nijo Castle
The shogun's Kyoto stronghold: nightingale floors, golden screens, and 400 years of power politics
Nishiki Market
Kyoto's kitchen for 700 years, five blocks of pickles, tofu, and things you have never tasted before
Ryoan-ji Temple
Fifteen stones in white gravel, only fourteen visible from any angle, and no one knows what it means
Philosopher's Path
A 2-kilometer canal walk named after a philosophy professor who thought here every morning for 30 years
Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan
Eight floors spiraling down around a Pacific Ocean tank big enough to hold whale sharks
Osaka Castle
A 1931 museum keep on Tokugawa walls up to 32 m high, with a stone wall of Hideyoshi's buried castle to see underground
Kuromon Market
Osaka's kitchen: a 200-year-old market where chefs and visitors eat the city's freshest seafood
Sumiyoshi Taisha
Japan's oldest shrine architectural style and its most striking arched bridge: a world away from the tourist trail
Universal Studios Japan
Super Nintendo World, the Wizarding World, and one of Asia's best theme parks: all in Osaka Bay
Nara Park
Nearly 1,700 wild deer roam freely: bow to them and they'll bow back for a cracker
Todai-ji Temple
The world's largest wooden building and a 15-metre bronze Buddha: scale that leaves you speechless
Kasuga Grand Shrine
Three thousand lanterns lining a forest path to the shrine that has protected Nara since 768 AD
Kamakura Great Buddha (Kotoku-in)
A 13th-century bronze Buddha, 11 meters tall, that has sat in the open air since a storm destroyed its hall in 1498
Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine
The shrine at the center of Kamakura: a 1.8-kilometer approach from the sea, two clan ponds, and yabusame horseback archery since 1192
Hasedera Temple
A 9-meter gilded Kannon statue, hydrangea season that draws thousands, and an ocean view that makes the climb worth it every day
Hokokuji Temple
Two thousand bamboo stalks, a tea house inside the grove, and a quieter alternative to Kyoto's famous bamboo
Enoshima Island
A 4-kilometer island with a three-part shrine, sea caves, a lighthouse, and more cats per square meter than almost anywhere
Nikko Toshogu Shrine
Japan's most extravagant shrine: 55 gold-lacquered buildings, 5,000 carvings, and the tomb of the shogun who unified Japan
Kegon Falls
A 97-meter waterfall from Lake Chuzenji, with a paid elevator to the base and a winter freeze that turns it into a wall of ice
Lake Chuzenji
A volcanic caldera lake at 1,269 meters, the source of Kegon Falls, and Nikko's best place for autumn foliage views over open water
Hakone Shrine
A 1,200-year-old mountain shrine on Lake Ashi, best known for a red torii gate that rises directly from the water
Owakudani
An active volcanic valley on the Hakone Ropeway, with sulfur vents, black eggs boiled in hot springs, and Mt. Fuji overhead on clear days
Kitano Ijinkan
Kobe's hillside district of 19th-century foreign residences: Victorian houses, consulate buildings, and the Weathercock House, from when Kobe was Japan's most cosmopolitan port
Arima Onsen
One of Japan's three oldest hot spring towns: two distinct spring types, 30 minutes from Kobe, with ryokans that have been operating for centuries
Nunobiki Herb Garden
A hillside herb garden above Kobe reached by ropeway, with views over Kobe Bay and the Kii Peninsula, plus Nunobiki Falls on the walk up
Meriken Park & Kobe Port Tower
Kobe's red drum-shaped tower, a quake-scarred wharf left exactly as 1995 left it, and a harbor that lights up at dusk
Cup Noodles Museum
The museum dedicated to instant noodles: design your own Cup Noodle, see the original 1958 kitchen where ramen was invented, and learn why Momofuku Ando changed how the world eats
Yokohama Chinatown
Japan's largest Chinatown: 200+ restaurants in one district established in 1859, with four colored gates and street food around every corner
Sankeien Garden
A 17-hectare garden in Yokohama containing historic buildings relocated from Kyoto and Kamakura, including a 1457 three-story pagoda from a Kyoto temple
Fukuoka Yatai Food Stalls
Fukuoka's open-air food stalls: sit at a counter under a canvas canopy, eat tonkotsu ramen or yakitori, and talk to the owner, Japan's most social street food experience
Kushida Shrine
The central shrine of Hakata: year-round, it holds a 10-meter festival float; in July, the Yamakasa race starts here at 4:59 AM
Ohori Park
A large lake park in central Fukuoka, built on the old castle moat, with a 2-kilometer circuit walk, rental boats, and 1,000 cherry trees
Kenroku-en Garden
The Maeda lords' garden beside Kanazawa Castle: the two-legged Kotoji-toro lantern, the snow-roped Karasaki pine, and a free week at cherry time
Omicho Market
Kanazawa's 280-year-old fresh food market: Sea of Japan seafood, winter crab, and kaisendon rice bowls eaten in the stall itself
Higashi Chaya District
Kanazawa's largest Edo-period geisha district: a single preserved street of wooden teahouses, gold leaf workshops, and morning calm before the tour buses arrive
Hakone Open-Air Museum
An outdoor sculpture park where kids can run free, adults admire Picasso, and everyone soaks their feet
Hida Folk Village (Hida no Sato)
Over 30 traditional farmhouses from the Japanese Alps, relocated and preserved in one beautiful hillside museum
Hiroshima Castle
Mori Terumoto's castle, 980 m from the hypocentre: the 1958 keep is shut, but the moat, the walls and the Ninomaru are free
Itsukushima Shrine
A shrine built on stilts over the sea, where the tide decides whether the great torii floats or stands on open sand
Korakuen Garden
Wide open lawns, a working tea field, and the black keep of Okayama Castle borrowed as scenery across the Asahi River
Rinno-ji Temple
Nikko's founding temple, where three 8-metre gilded deities stand in for the sacred mountains above the valley
Jigokudani Monkey Park
The only place on Earth where wild monkeys soak in a natural hot spring, at the end of a snowy forest trail
Zenko-ji Temple
A 1,400-year-old temple where the day begins at dawn and salvation is a metal key you find in total darkness
Matsumoto Castle
Japan's oldest five-tiered castle keep, black-walled and moat-ringed, with the Northern Alps stacked up behind it
Nagoya Castle
The 1959 keep is shut, but the Owari lords' palace beside it has been rebuilt in cypress and gold leaf
Ise Grand Shrine (Ise Jingu)
Japan's most sacred Shinto site, rebuilt from scratch every 20 years for 1,300 years so it is forever both ancient and new
Glover Garden
The mansions of Nagasaki's foreign merchants, gathered on a harbor hillside around Japan's oldest Western house
Tsutenkaku Tower
Osaka's retro tower in the Shinsekai neighborhood: 103 meters of 1950s neon nostalgia, the Biliken luck statue, and kushikatsu restaurants on every surrounding block
Shitenno-ji Temple
One of Japan's oldest Buddhist temples, founded 593 AD by Prince Shotoku, with a stone torii gate, a five-story pagoda, and the country's longest-running monthly flea market
Pola Museum of Art
A Western art museum embedded in Hakone's beech forest, with Monet, Picasso, and Renoir displayed in a building designed to disappear into the trees
Kanazawa Castle Park
Seat of the Maeda, lords of Edo Japan's largest domain; its 1788 Ishikawa gate still faces Kenroku-en across a short bridge
21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa
A glass circle in Kanazawa with a free permanent collection including the famous Swimming Pool illusion, and a building that won SANAA the Pritzker Prize
Hirosaki Castle
Tohoku's only original castle keep, ringed by 2,600 cherry trees whose fallen petals turn the outer moat solid pink in late April
Maruoka Castle
Hokuriku's only original castle keep: a small tower under 120 tonnes of stone roof tiles, on a hill ringed with cherry trees
Inuyama Castle
Japan's oldest standing castle keep, on a bluff over the Kiso River, with a top-floor balcony you can walk all the way round
Hikone Castle
A National Treasure keep above Lake Biwa, with its gate turrets, moats and even the lords' stable still standing around it
Matsue Castle
The San'in region's only original castle keep, black-boarded and finished in 1611, with small covered boats circling the moats below
Bitchu-Matsuyama Castle
Japan's only original castle keep on a mountaintop, 430 m up, and on some autumn dawns an island in a sea of cloud
Marugame Castle
Four tiers of curving stone walls stacked 60 m high under a small 1660 keep, with the Seto Ohashi bridges on the horizon
Matsuyama Castle
Ride a one-seat chairlift over the treetops to the youngest of Japan's twelve original castle keeps, in the middle of Matsuyama
Uwajima Castle
A small keep built to impress in the 1660s, on the wooded hill of a five-sided castle that a shogunate spy took for a square
Kochi Castle
The only original castle keep still joined to its lord's palace, on a hill above the avenue where Kochi holds its Sunday Market