Peace Museum

Slightly pungent, irresistibly evocative, and full of profound history, Peace Memorial Museum is Hiroshima’s calling card for war and peace. A deeply felt experience awaits among the museum’s collection of items from the atomic-bomb aftermath. More than a tourist attraction, it hosts school trips and local people who would like to pay homage to the ones lost in Japan’s most poignant catastrophe. In the displays, you will see a sophisticated record of Hiroshima’s history as well as the history of nuclear weapons. But, personal items constitute the reason why 53 million people have visited the museum ever since it opened.

The museum consists of two wings, each serving its purpose as a testimony to the city’s past. The East Wing is a relatively new addition. It commemorates the city of Hiroshima—before and after the bombing—and its citizens. In terms of the feelings they evoke, the East Wing is identified by a solemn sense of realization. The West Wing is, by all means, painful and tragic. The sections of the West Wing have displays of personal items like clothing and watches salvaged from the deceased after the bombing. Explanations showing the level of destruction caused by the heat on different materials and the health effects of the radiation that haunts generations to this day.

With its sophisticated displays, Peace Memorial Museum explores the atomic bomb and its consequences inside out.