South Hiroshima · KureNo.621★★★Open in map →

Yamato Museum

historyThe classic — done right

The city museum on Kure's waterfront, built around a one-tenth model of the battleship Yamato and the industrial history of the yard that made her. Reopened after a full rebuild of its displays.

FromHiroshima Station
~40 minJR rapid, then 5 min walk
Get off atKure Station (JR Kure Line)
On foot
Yamato Museum

Directions ↗

Where it is

25 more notes in Hiroshima · open the map →

What to look for — in walking order

Yamato Plazathe central hall, where the 26.3-metre model of the battleship lies bow to stern
The Kure history gallerythe making of a navy town, from quiet bay to the yard that built the ship
The large exhibits halla Zero fighter, a midget submarine and a manned torpedo, shown as objects rather than models
The upper gallerieshands-on displays on ship design and the science of the sea, looking down on the model
The outdoor exhibitslarge pieces set outside the entrance, with the harbour and the JMSDF museum opposite

How to actually get there

Hiroshima Station → Kure Station (JR Kure Line, Akiji Liner rapid about 33 min, 510 yen).
Kure Station → Yamato Museum (walk about 5 min on the raised concourse).
Start in the central hall with the model, then work up through the galleries above it.
Cross to the harbour front afterwards, or continue on the Kure Line east toward Tadanoumi.

JR Kure Line rapid from Hiroshima Station: Hiroshima Station →(JR Kure Line, Akiji Liner rapid, about 33 min; local trains take about 47 min)→ Kure Station, fare 510 yen. From the station a raised free concourse leads straight out toward the museum, about five minutes on foot with no road to cross.
Return from Kure Station: Trains run back to Hiroshima from Kure Station through the evening, so the return needs no planning. The Kure Line also continues the other way, toward Tadanoumi and Mihara, if you are heading east rather than back into the city.

Directions from my location (Google Maps) ↗

About the place

Kure grew around a naval shipyard, and the museum stands on the harbour that yard worked. Its formal name is the Kure Maritime Museum, and its subject is wider than one ship — the shipbuilding, steelmaking and engineering that turned a quiet bay into an industrial city, and what that industry did to the people living in it. A scale model of the battleship Yamato fills the central hall, and the upper galleries look down onto it. Real objects stand alongside: a Zero fighter, a midget submarine, a manned torpedo. The city runs the place, not a private foundation.

How to enjoy it

Doors open at 9:00 and the last admission is 17:30, a long enough day to take the museum properly and still walk the harbour front afterwards. It closes on Tuesdays, except through Golden Week, the summer holidays and a few other set periods, when it opens every day. Coming straight off the morning train from Hiroshima gives you the model hall before the tour groups reach it.

Background & history

The museum opened in 2005, and it has been the centre of Kure's visitor map ever since. In 2025 it closed for more than a year, the first complete rebuild of its displays since it began. It reopened on 23 April 2026, the same date on the calendar as its original opening day. The renewal added new material and digital displays around the exhibits that were already there.

Before you go

Cash: Admission to the permanent exhibition is 1,000 yen for adults, 300 yen for high school students and 200 yen for junior high and elementary students. Special exhibitions are ticketed separately from those figures.
Good to know: The museum closes on Tuesdays, moving to the following day when the Tuesday falls on a public holiday, and over the New Year period. It stays open daily through Golden Week and the summer school holidays. The displays were rebuilt for the 2026 reopening, so older guidebooks describe rooms that no longer exist.
Another way: The Kure Line reaches Kure from Mihara in the east as well, which makes the museum easy to combine with Tadanoumi and Okunoshima. By road, the Kure interchange on the Hiroshima–Kure expressway is close by, and several municipal car parks nearby give a discount to visitors.
After you get off: Leave Kure Station on the harbour side and follow the raised free concourse; it runs toward the museum forecourt and takes about five minutes.