Hiroshima Peace Memorial: Museum, Tickets and Getting There

Hiroshima asks you to choose how you want to take it in: an open-air walk past the memorials, a museum visit, or both. The park holds the monuments to the victims. The museum tells the story of the bombing through belongings, records and testimony. If you want Miyajima on the same day, plan the museum entry and the ferry first, then fit everything else around them.

History and Memorials

At 08:15 on 6 August 1945, an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, the first use of a nuclear weapon in war. By the end of 1945, about 40 percent of the city's population had died from it.^[1] The Genbaku Dome, the skeleton of the former Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall built in 1914, is the only structure left standing near the hypocentre, preserved as a ruin in the state it was in right after the explosion.^[2] You see it from outside the protective fence.

The Cenotaph was designed by Kenzo Tange and completed on 6 August 1952. A stone chest at its centre holds the register of the names of everyone who died from the bombing, regardless of nationality.^[3] The Flame of Peace has burned continuously since 1 August 1964 and will burn until all nuclear weapons have disappeared from the earth.^[4] The Children's Peace Monument was completed on 5 May 1958 and remembers the children who died, among them Sadako Sasaki, who was exposed to the bombing at the age of two and died of leukaemia ten years later.^[5]

The monument for the Korean victims was moved into the park in July 1999.^[6] The Atomic Bomb Memorial Mound holds ashes of victims: of 2,432 urns in the vault in 1955, 824 remain unclaimed and rest there.^[7] The park itself was completed on 1 April 1954 and covers about 12 hectares.^[8] The foundation's map helps you choose a route through it.

Museum Hours and Booking

The museum is open 07:30-19:00 from March to July and from September to November, 07:30-20:00 in August and 07:30-18:00 from December to February. On 5 and 6 August it stays open until 21:00. Last admission is 30 minutes before closing. It closes on 30 and 31 December.^[9] For an exhibition change it is closed from 15 to 20 February 2027.^[10]

Buy a web ticket in advance. Same-day tickets can mean a wait, and when the museum is crowded, admission is restricted, so even a web ticket may not get you in at the exact time printed on it. In the early slot from 07:30 to 08:30 and in the evening slots only visitors with a web ticket are admitted: 17:30-19:00 from March to July and from September to November, 18:30-20:00 in August and 16:30-18:00 from December to February. Web tickets can sell out before last admission. At the counter and at the ticket machines you buy tickets between 08:30 and 17:30 (08:30-18:30 in August, 08:30-16:30 from December to February).^[10] The early morning and the evening are the calmest times to come.

Admission and Visiting Rules

Admission is JPY200 for adults (college students and up), JPY100 for high school students, and free for junior high school students and younger. Visitors aged 65 or over pay JPY100 on showing their passport. Coin lockers for large bags are on the first floor of the East Building. Photography and video without flash are allowed for personal use, but tripods and selfie sticks are not.^[9] The exhibits are moving and heavy, so allow yourself a break afterwards.

Getting to the Park

The easiest way from Hiroshima Station is the streetcar: line 2 (towards Miyajima) or line 6 (towards Eba) to Genbaku Dome-mae takes about 25 minutes.^[11] The flat fare is JPY240 for adults, paid when you get off by cash or IC card.^[12] Bus 24 for Yoshijima from the south exit reaches Heiwa Kinen Koen in about 20 minutes, and the orange or green Meipuru-pu sightseeing loop bus from the Shinkansen exit takes about 17 minutes.^[11] A taxi takes about 15 minutes.^[11]

The Japan Rail Pass is not valid on Nozomi and Mizuho trains on the Tokaido, Sanyo and Kyushu Shinkansen. Use Hikari, Sakura, Kodama or Tsubame instead.^[13] Regional passes have their own rules, so check the train you plan to take with the pass issuer.

Combining Hiroshima and Miyajima

The direct Aqua Net ferry runs from Peace Memorial Park to Miyajima. The adult fare is JPY2,500 one way, JPY2,400 in the other direction, and JPY4,500 return. The fare from the park includes Miyajima's JPY100 visitor tax. Bookings are accepted until the day before boarding, and with a reservation you arrive at the ticket office at least 15 minutes before departure.^[14] The Japan Rail Pass covers only the JR West Miyajima ferry, not this direct boat.^[13]

Planning Your Time

Give the park and museum two to three hours, and more if you want to read the exhibits closely. Walk the park first, then enter the museum, or the other way round if you come early. Keep the memorial spaces quiet and spend your time looking and listening rather than photographing. If you travel with children, look at the museum's material beforehand and decide together what suits them.