Hiroshima · NakajimaNo.592★★★Open in map →

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park

historyThe classic — done right

A memorial park on the delta at the centre of Hiroshima. The Atomic Bomb Dome stands at its northern end and the Peace Memorial Museum at its southern end, with a single straight axis running between them.

FromHiroshima Station
~20 minHiroden tram, frequent
Get off atGenbaku Dome-mae (Hiroden tram)
On foot
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park

Directions ↗

Where it is

25 more notes in Hiroshima · open the map →

What to look for — in walking order

Atomic Bomb Domethe skeletal shell of the former promotion hall, on the Motoyasu riverbank
Motoyasu riverbankthe river between the Dome and the park, crossed to enter the composition
Memorial Cenotapha stone arch placed so that the Dome sits inside its opening
National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victimsthe national hall of remembrance within the park grounds
Peace Memorial Museummain and east buildings, entered from the east and walked as one loop

How to actually get there

Hiroshima Station → Genbaku Dome-mae (Hiroden tram line 2 or 6, about 17 min, flat fare 240 yen).
Genbaku Dome-mae → Atomic Bomb Dome (walk about 1 min).
Dome → cross the Motoyasu river and follow the axis south past the cenotaph to the museum (walk about 10 min).
Museum → Hondori tram stop, a short walk east, for the ride back.

Hiroden tram, direct from Hiroshima Station: Hiroshima Station →(Hiroden tram line 2 or 6, about 17 min)→ Genbaku Dome-mae, then about a minute on foot to the Dome. The city tram network runs on a flat adult fare of 240 yen. Trams come often through the day, so no timetable planning is needed.
Return from Genbaku Dome-mae or Hondori: From the museum end of the park it is a short walk east to the Hondori tram stop, on the same network back to Hiroshima Station. Trams run into the evening; if you stay late, check the last departure on the platform.

Directions from my location (Google Maps) ↗

About the place

The park covers 12.21 hectares of the Ota river delta, in the Nakajima district of Hiroshima's Naka ward. Before the bomb this was one of the busiest commercial quarters in the city. The cleared ground was rebuilt not as a garden but as a line. The museum, the cenotaph and the Dome sit on a single axis, so the arch of the cenotaph frames the ruin at the far end of it. The Dome itself is across the Motoyasu river, outside the lawns but inside the composition. Almost everything in the park is arranged to be read from that one line.

How to enjoy it

The museum opens at 7:30, and the first hour inside is the quietest of the day. Walk the exhibition first, then follow the axis north to the Dome as the park fills. In August the doors stay open until 20:00, which lets you reverse the order and finish indoors.

Background & history

The building now called the Atomic Bomb Dome opened in 1915 as a prefectural exhibition hall, designed by the Czech architect Jan Letzel and later renamed the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall. On the morning of 6 August 1945 the atomic bomb detonated almost directly above it. Its brick and concrete shell was the only structure near the hypocentre left with its frame intact, and it was kept as a ruin rather than cleared. It is now inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

Before you go

Cash: The park is free and open at any hour. Admission to the Peace Memorial Museum was 200 yen for adults and free for junior high school students and younger when checked on the museum's official site. Trams take cash and IC cards.
Good to know: The park is open ground between two rivers and takes the wind. Some stretches have no lighting after dark. The museum closes on 30 and 31 December and for a period in mid-February, so check before a winter visit.
Another way: If you are already in the city centre, walk in from the Hondori arcade instead and enter from the museum end, without using the tram at all.
After you get off: From Genbaku Dome-mae walk south along the river for about a minute to reach the Dome. Cross the Motoyasu river into the park and keep straight for the cenotaph and the museum.