Hiroshima peace memorial museum, Hiroshima

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, in central Hiroshima, was established in August 1955 to collect and display belongings left by the victims, photos, and other materials that convey the horror of the destruction of the city by an American atom bomb on August 6, 1945, supplemented by exhibits that describe Hiroshima before and after the bombings, and others that present the current status of the nuclear age.

The bomb that fell on Hiroshima killed as many as 140,000 people, and another American atom bomg that fell on Nagasaki three days later killed 80,000 by the end of 1945, half on the days of the bombings, and thousands more from injuries or illness attributed to exposure to radiation released by the bombs. In both cities, the overwhelming majority of the dead were civilians.

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, where the museum is located, was once the busiest downtown commercial and residential district of the city, that was flattened by the explosion. It contains several memorials and monuments, museums, and lecture halls, which draw over a million visitors annually.


Hiroshima in the aftermath of the atomic bombing.

SOURCE: Courtesy of Japan National Tourism Organization, used with permission.

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