Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park

This article is based on a visit made on Monday, 21 November 2016.

Edit 8 October 2019: Updated prices to reflect the increase in Japan's national sales tax.

Previously on Sekai Ichi, I visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, devoted to the history and memory of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945.  When the bomb detonated, a good chunk of land in the city's centre was left completely razed.  In the years that followed, it was decided to leave that space as a public park, the Peace Memorial Park (平和記念公園, Heiwa Kinen Kōen), adorned with monuments and the aforementioned museum erected to evoke wishes of peace and a world free of nuclear weapons and nuclear warfare.

Many statues and monuments dot the park, depicting and offering tribute to various groups of people who had been victimised by the bomb and by World War II in general.  I saw some of these right after I got off the bus from Hiroshima Castle, on the south side of the park.  This one, known as the Statue of Peace or "New Leaves", was sculpted by Katsuzo Entsuba.  The base contains an inscription by Dr. Hideki Yukawa (湯川 秀樹, Yukawa Hideki, 1907-1981), a Nobel Prize laureate who campaigned for nuclear disarmament.

This one seems a bit more dramatic in its depiction of someone who had been critically wounded, or possibly killed, from the explosion, and someone else carrying them in agony.  It is called the Monument to the A-Bombed Teachers and Students of National Elementary Schools.

A close-up of the garlands of origami cranes hung behind the statue.  The paper crane is a major motif of peace relating to the bombing, as I would soon learn in the museum afterwards.


After passing under, or visiting, the museum, we will reach this cenotaph, an archlike structure engraved with the names of all victims of the Hiroshima bombing.  Underneath this cenotaph, a plaque is inscribed with a message.  Translated to English, it reads:

"Let all the souls here rest in peace, for we shall not repeat the evil."

Translations to several other languages are inscribed on floor plaques nearby.

Behind the cenotaph stands a reflecting pool and this monument, atop which an eternal flame burns.  It was first lit in 1964, and is meant to remain lit until the last nuclear weapon in the world has been destroyed.  Good luck with that, world.

Nearby the cenotaph and eternal flame is another statue, the Peace Prayer Monument, which appears to depict a goddess figure standing atop a crescent moon.

Continuing the arch motif of the cenotaph, farther back we see the Children's Peace Monument.  It is topped by a statue of Sadako Sasaki, whom you may have read from my last article was a child who suffered from leukemia after surviving the bomb, and folded a series of origami cranes in her final months.  Fittingly, her statue here depicts her holding a wireframe crane, and there is also a crane-shaped bell ringer beneath the arch.

Behind the Children's Monument are several displays with messages to peace and many more paper cranes.  This one depicts a face whom I thought to be Barack Obama, but could just as likely be a Japanese politician whom they were either praising or trying to send a message to.


Nearing the north end of the park, we finally get to one of its most enduring symbols, both literally and figuratively.  The "A-Bomb Dome", as it has become known, was the closest building to the bomb's epicentre that survived partially standing.  It was originally built as the Hiroshima Prefectural Product Exhibition Hall, designed by the Czech architect Jan Letzel in 1915.  Again, as discussed in my previous article, concrete structures like this were able to withstand the blast more than the wooden buildings that were more common in the area.  The A-Bomb Dome has remained much as it has since then, with only minor structural renovations to keep it that way.  It was also inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996.

Finally, the Peace Clock Tower.  It was built after the bombing, as far as I can tell, but it does look like the kind of twisted wreckage the bomb would have left in its wake.

Taisyo [GFDL or CC BY 3.0], from Wikimedia Commons

I missed it, but a new attraction had opened nearby right before my visit, earlier in 2016.  The Orizuru Tower (おりづるタワー, Orizuru Tawā) is a multi-purpose building with a visitor's centre, interactive exhibition space, and an observation deck.  The word "orizuru" means "paper crane", and it is indeed a major motif of the place.  This is of course related to the story of A-bomb survivor Sadako Sasaki, whom I mentioned in my last article.  The entry fee is a little steep, but if you thought the view from Hiroshima Castle wasn't close enough for your liking, the view from Orizuru Tower's rooftop deck is supposed to be even better.  It looks down over the Peace Park, and on a clear day, you can even see Miyajima Island!  For an added fee, you can fold a crane of your own and drop it into the Orizuru Wall, which can then be seen from street level.

Finally, this is the tram stop I took to get back to my hotel.  It stands right nearby the Peace Park and the A-Bomb Dome, and is fittingly named after the latter.  Even though you can see the Orizuru Tower in the background of this and other pictures above, I sadly was unaware of it at the time.  Either that, or I just felt shagged out and wanted to head back home, as it were.  Fortunately, I would go to see Miyajima in person.  But before that, a tour through the Mazda car factory, next time on Sekai Ichi!

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Hiroshima Peace Park

Hours: Open 24 hours.  No closing days.

Costs: Free.

Address: 1-1 Nakajima-chō, Naka-ku, Hiroshima-shi, Hiroshima-ken 〒730-0811

Access: From Hiroshima Station, take tram line 2 or 6 to Genbaku Dome-mae / Atomic Bomb Dome (M10, 15 minutes, ¥190).  The north end of the park is right across the river to the south.  Alternatively, take tram line 1 to Fukuro-machi (U2, 15 minutes, ¥190), and walk west for 5 minutes, on Heiwa-dori, to reach the park from the south.

The Peace Memorial Museum is also a stop on the Maple-oop bus.  From Hiroshima Station, take any of the three lines to Peace Memorial Park (16 minutes, ¥200, JR Pass OK).

Website: (Japanese)

Orizuru Tower

Hours: Open from 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM.

Costs: ¥1,700.  Adding a crane to the Orizuru Wall costs an additional ¥100.

Address: 1-1 Nakajima-cho, Naka-ku, Hiroshima-shi, Hiroshima-ken 〒730-0811

Access: Orizuru Tower is next to the Genbaku Dome-mae tram station.

Website: (English) (Japanese)

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum

This article is based on a visit made on Monday, 21 November 2016.

Edit 8 October 2019: Updated prices to reflect the increase in Japan's national sales tax.


The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum (広島平和記念資料館, Hiroshima Heiwa Kin'en Shiryōkan) is a part of the Peace Park, a plot of land near the epicentre of the atomic bombing in 1945 that was set aside as a monument for peace and nuclear disarmament.  Lots of sculptures inspired by those events and concepts dot the grounds of this park, but the museum serves as its centrepiece.  It was opened in 1955 and designed by architect Kenzo Tange, who also designed the Yoyogi National Gymnasium (1964) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building (1991).

The museum is divided into two halves, the Main Wing and the East Wing.  The Main Wing explains the effects of the atomic bomb, and shows various artifacts that survived.  The East Wing focuses on the history of Hiroshima and nuclear weapons.  At the time of my visit, the East Wing was closed for renovations.  It reopened in April 2017, followed by the closure of the Main Wing until April 2019.

A clock in the lobby includes counters of the number of days since the first A-bomb attack on Hiroshima, and the number of days since the last nuclear weapon test.  Thanks a lot, North Korea...

Right next to it is a sculpture with a quote from Pope John Paul II.  Delivered at Peace Memorial Park in 1981, it says:

"War is the work of man.  War is the destruction of human life.  War is death.  To remember the past is to commit oneself to the future.  To remember Hiroshima is to abhor nuclear war.  To remember Hiroshima is to commit oneself to peace."

Once we go in to the museum, a life-size diorama depicts the ruins of Hiroshima just after the explosion, and a couple of mannequin people who had been mortally burned.  As gruesome as this scene is, it would have been more so if the lighting were brighter.  But I guess the mushroom cloud, along with the smoke from all the fires around the place, would have effectively blocked out the sun.

A model re-creation of Little Boy, the bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima.  At a basic level, how it works is thus: a uranium "bullet" is shot into a uranium core at the front of the bomb.  When the two pieces are forced together, this intense pressure causes a chain reaction of atomic fission, releasing energy in the forms of kinetic force, heat, and radiation.

This model in the centre of the room illustrates the damage caused by the blast.  There was hardly anything left afterwards, as most of the buildings in Hiroshima were still made out of wood.  What few structures stood were newer concrete creations.  The red ball above the model represents the size of the fireball one second after detonation, at a scaled size of 260 meters in diameter.

The detonation of Little Boy began with a blinding flash of light.  It was so powerful that it bleached stone surfaces nearby, except for this spot where a man was sitting in front to block it, only to be evaporated himself.

Charts and photographs along the walls of the museum illustrate the many forms of damage that the bomb inflicted: the flash, the shockwave, the fireball, and the radiation.  Some of the pictures depict graphic injuries; I have left them out of my uploaded photos in the interest of sensitivity.  There aren't a lot of them, but if you do visit this museum yourself, just be mindful of this prospect.

For what it's worth, the museum does not bother with the political motives behind the use of the bomb, at least not in the parts I visited.  Historians have proposed reasons why its deployment may or may not have been as simple as shocking Japan into surrender.  Personally, I think this omission is a good thing.  For one, it assuages the guilt associated with its use, especially for American visitors.  And more importantly, the presence of those facts or opinions would overshadow the most important messages this museum conveys.  For all the talk about the bomb's use preventing further war, nobody can deny that being the victim of a nuclear weapon would be a horrible way to go.

Among the more tasteful, but no less impactful, images are these drawings of the fires that engulfed the city overnight.  And mind you, the bomb was dropped in the morning, so that conflagration must have lasted a long time!

A wide variety of artifacts had suffered forms of damage, but were recovered and collected for this museum.  Clay broke, stone crumbled, glass warped, and even ink burned up while leaving the surrounding paper mostly intact.  There are even a few things you are allowed to touch yourself; they are safely devoid of radiation, if you're concerned.

As the dust settled from the bombing, a new form of destruction slowly began to come to notice.  Gamma radiation from the bomb had infected the city, damaging cells within living beings and inducing various fatal diseases.  A hands-on exhibit demonstrates how radiation, despite being invisible, can be measured.  Visitors can crank the handle below to move the reader on the left to or away a block of radioactive metal, and see its findings reflected on the Geiger counter.

Another phenomenon caused by the radioactive fallout was the so-called "black rain".  Dirt and soot were kicked up from the ground by the blast's mushroom cloud, absorbed radiation, got absorbed in turn by airborne water vapour, and fell back to earth in rain form.

One of the most well-known victims of radiation was Sadako Sasaki (佐々木 禎子, Sasaki Sadako, 1943-1955).  Only two years old when the bomb dropped, she was eventually diagnosed with leukemia and given a year to live.  With her bleak prognosis, she embarked on a personal mission to fold and craft one thousand origami cranes, as a legend states that doing so will grant a wish.  There are conflicting stories as to whether or not she accomplished this task before finally dying in November of 1955; materials on display at the museum say that she had indeed done so.  Whether or not it's true, the paper crane has become a symbol of peace and recovery from atomic weapons.  There are many more cranes installed on artworks throughout the Peace Park, which I will get to eventually.

Another set of cranes was made by the United States president Barack Obama, who paid a visit to the city during the 2016 G7 summit in Ise-Shima.  This made him the first sitting US president to visit Hiroshima since the bombing.  And Obama would know about nuclear disarmament; in 2010, he signed the New START treaty to mutually reduce the nuclear weapon stockpiles of the US and Russia.  His cranes are accompanied by the following quote:

"We have known the agony of war.  Let us now find the courage, together, to spread peace, and pursue a world without nuclear weapons."

But one of the most meaningful things imprinted in my mind came near the end of the Main Wing.  This photograph was accompanied by the following quote:

"That autumn, in Hiroshima where it was said, 'For seventy-five years nothing will grow', new buds sprouted in the green that came back to life.  Among the charred ruins, people recovered their living hopes and courage."

It actually is almost 75 years after the bombing, and I can say first-hand that quite a bit of natural growth has occurred among the "charred ruins".  There will be more on display at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, next time on Sekai Ichi!

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Hours: Open 8:30 AM to 6:00 PM.  Open until 7:00 PM in August, 8:00 PM on 5 and 6 August, and 5:00 PM from December through February.  Admission ends 30 minutes before closing time.  Closed on 30 and 31 December.

Costs: ¥200.  Audio guides, available in Japanese and English, cost ¥200 to rent.

Address: 1-2 Nakajima-chō, Naka-ku, Hiroshima-shi, Hiroshima-ken 〒730-0811

Access: From Hiroshima Station, take tram line 2 or 6 to Genbaku Dome-mae / Atomic Bomb Dome (M10, 15 minutes, ¥190).  Walk south for 7 minutes, through the Peace Park, to reach the museum.  Alternatively, take tram line 1 to Fukuro-machi (U2, 15 minutes, ¥190), and walk west for 5 minutes, on Heiwa-dori, to reach the museum from the south.

The Peace Memorial Museum is also a stop on the Maple-oop bus.  From Hiroshima Station, take any of the three lines to Peace Memorial Park (16 minutes, ¥200, JR Pass OK).

Website: (English) (Japanese)

Hiroshima Castle

This article is based on a visit made on Monday, 21 November 2016.

Edit 8 October 2019: Updated prices to reflect the increase in Japan's national sales tax.

Hiroshima Castle (広島城, Hiroshima-jō) is a reconstructed castle with a main keep and several outer walls.  The original castle, which was destroyed in the atomic bombing, was constructed in the late 16th century under Mori Terumoto.  He was subsequently booted out, however, and eventually the castle was occupied by Asano Nagaakira (the same man who created the nearby Shukkei-en).  His clan occupied the castle, and ruled the local provinces, for 250 years, after which it was transferred to the new Japanese state.  The castle keep you see today was reconstructed in 1958.  Hiroshima Castle is also known as the Carp Castle (鯉城, Ri-jō).  The carp seems to have a strong association with Hiroshima, as it also graces the name of their pro baseball team (Hiroshima Toyo Carp), but I'm not sure why.

If you're walking up to the castle from the south, then you will find this fountain by the entrance.  The statue atop is called "Flower Spirit" (花の精, Hana no Sei).

Beyond that fountain, turn right and pass under the Ninomaru gate.  When the main tower was reconstructed in the '50s, it was largely made up of concrete, although wood panelling was added to the exterior to replicate the appearance of the original.  This gate, along with a yagura turret nearby, were more faithfully rebuilt decades later, using the original construction techniques and materials.

A moat surrounds the main (Honmaru) and smaller (Ninomaru) islands that make up the castle grounds.  There used to be two additional moats surrounding the castle, outside the existing one, but they were filled in at some point after the Meiji Restoration.  Just think -- a good chunk of the urban development in Hiroshima lies in what used to be the castle's land!  In addition to the moats, the many rivers streaming down the delta would have provided another layer of natural defence, which is part of what made this location such an attractive one for Mori-san to build his castle all those years ago.

On the other hand, if you take the Maple-oop bus to the castle, it will drop you off at the east entrance.  You will be greeted by this statue of Hayato Ikeda (池田 勇人, Ikeda Hayato, 1899-1965), a former Prime Minister of Japan from 1960 to 1964.  He was born in a town in Hiroshima Prefecture, and represented this prefecture in the Diet congress during his political career.

There were additional buildings constructed within the castle walls, but they have been lost to the bomb.  These include a headquarters of the Imperial Japanese Army, as Hiroshima's location was a strategic advantage for many of Japan's military actions back in the day, starting with the first Sino-Japanese War (1894-95).  In fact, near the end of World War II, a couple of Japan's army units were stationed there as defence in case the Allies invaded the Japanese mainland.  That, of course, never happened.

Gokoku Shrine (広島護国神社, Hiroshima Gokoku-jinja) is a Shinto Shrine that occupies a corner of castle grounds.  It has been moved twice: once in the 1930s, and again to its current location after it was destroyed by the atomic bomb.  For Hiroshimans, it is a popular choice for hatsumode visits on New Year's Day, and for Shichi-Go-San in November.  But not so much this time around, maybe because it was the afternoon of a school day.

The interior of the castle is now taken up by a history museum, mainly focused on the construction of the original castle.  Photography is not allowed throughout most of the museum, except for a few exhibits on the second floor (shown above), and the observatory at the top.

From the open-air deck on the fifth floor, you can see out in all directions.  To the west are mostly government offices.  The tower right across the moat is a broadcast tower used by RCC, a local television station and an affiliate of TBS (Tokyo Broadcast System).

Meanwhile, to the south, the sleek sloped roof belongs to the Hiroshima Prefectural Sports Center, a.k.a. the Hiroshima Green Arena, a sport and event stadium.  Also in this direction are the Hiroshima Museum of Art and the Peace Park, the latter of which I headed to next.

But before that, my sign-off selfie.  Back down on the first floor, there are a few kimonos and pieces of samurai armour you can try on.  So of course I did.  Unfortunately, I noticed I lost my hat after leaving Hiroshima Castle, and while I didn't notice at the time, I think I may have left it behind while I had this picture taken.  I would have gone back to look for it, but I was in a rush to catch the next bus.  Still, first world problems, amirite?  I was about to learn some much-needed perspective from my next stop, the Hiroshima Peace Park and Museum, next time on Sekai Ichi!

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Hours: Open from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM; closes at 5:00 PM from November to March, and at 7:00 PM during Golden Week and O-Bon holidays.  Admission ends 30 minutes before closing time.  Closed from 29 to 31 December.

Costs: Admission to the main keep is ¥370.  The surrounding grounds are free to enter.

Address: 21-1 Motomachi, Naka-ku, Hiroshima-shi, Hiroshima-ken 〒730-0011

Access: From Hiroshima Station, take tram line 1, 2, or 3 to Kamiyacho-nishi (M9, 15 minutes, ¥190).  Walk north for 10 minutes to reach the Ninomaru gate.  Alternatively, take tram line 1, 2, or 6 to Hatchobori (M7), transfer to tram line 9, get off at Shukkeien-mae  (W3, 15 minutes, ¥190), and walk 5 minutes to the east entrance.

Hiroshima Castle is also a stop on the Maple-oop bus.  From Hiroshima Station, take the Orange or Lemon line bus to Hiroshima Castle / Hiroshima Gokoku Shrine (8 minutes, ¥200, JR Pass OK).  The Green line bus does not stop at the castle.  The closest stop on the Green line, Kencho-mae (13 minutes, ¥200, JR Pass OK), is 10 minutes away on foot.

Website: (Japanese)

Shukkei-en

This article is based on a visit made on Monday, 21 November 2016.

Edit 8 October 2019: Updated prices to reflect the increase in Japan's national sales tax.

Shukkei-en (縮景園) is a landscape garden in Hiroshima.  The name "Shukkei-en" means "shrunken-scenery garden", which is a reflection of the many miniature mountains, valleys, and rivers that have been sculpted into this park.  It was constructed in 1620 under the direction of the regional feudal lord, Asano Nagaakira (浅野 長晟, 1586-1632).  In fact, the Asano family kept a villa here, until the park was sold off to Hiroshima Prefecture in 1940 and opened to the public.

I had not intended to spend time in Shukkei-en, instead planning to head straight for Hiroshima Castle.  But since it was early and the bus stop for Shukkei-en was on the way, I figured I might as well spend some time there.  I also noticed that it seemed to be a popular season for newlywed couples to have their picture taken.  I generally stayed away from them, in the interest of privacy, but some couples managed to fit into a wide shot here and there.  I know if I lived in Hiroshima and got married, I might like to do the same, too...!

The landscape of Shukkei-en is dominated by a large pond, which all the paths loop around.  It is cut across the middle by an arched stone bridge, called the Rainbow Bridge (跨虹橋, Kokō-bashi).  It's a great place for feeding the many carp who showed up to meet us.

A small shrine of some sort sits atop this small hill, presiding over a simple red torii gate.  Do you think this could have been inspired by Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto?

Looking out over these verdant rolling hills, and meditating over the name and purpose of this garden, I realise that is a distinct possibility.

I've seen trees wrapped with bamboo or straw sleeves before, but this might be overdoing it!  Or maybe not...  If you're doing this to keep your trees warm in the winter, you may as well go all in.

Head back towards the riverbank, and you will find some smaller, specialised gardens, including yet another thicket of bamboo.  This one had a ginkgo leaf which was suspended by a spiderweb thread, but if you look at it from far enough away, it looks like it's just hanging in mid-air!

That "floating" leaf may have come from this ginkgo tree, which is 200 years old.  As Shukkei-en was close to the atomic bomb's epicentre, many plants and buildings in the park were destroyed (it got renovated and re-opened in 1951), but this is one of the few trees that survived.  Its twisted trunk tells a tale of tragedy, but every year it still manages to turn its many leaves a golden yellow.  Its seeds have been sent all over the world as an offering of peace.

Speaking of colours, let's lighten the mood with some of my favourite pictures of autumnally-tinged trees.  This was another candidate for the best tree I saw on my holiday, with a fiery orange core shifting to a cherry-red tone towards the outside, where the leaves are more exposed to the elements.

Sometimes, they can seem all the more bright simply by being placed in front of contrasting colours, such as the olive greens of pine-tree needles.

The same can be true even when layering different autumnal hues against each other.  I think I captured the whole spectrum in this shot!

A close-up of some maple leaves.  Maples have been heavily associated with Hiroshima and nearby Miyajima island.  Momiji-manju (もみじ饅頭, momiji manjū), a traditional treat made in both places, is a pastry moulded into the shape of a maple leaf.  And of course, the loop bus which I used to get here is called the Maple-oop.

No sign-off selfie today, but I do have this lovely wide shot across the pond, with a suitably symmetrical reflection shown in the water below.  Just like that one picture I took at Koishikawa Koraku-en in Tokyo.  Come to think of it, there are quite a few similarities between the two parks, as they are also arranged around a large pond, and have taken inspiration from other landscape features of Japan.  Shukkei-en was more memorable for the brightness and variety of autumn colours on display, although that may have more to do with when I visited.

After visiting Shukkei-en, you may be interested in paying a visit to the Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum, which showcases artists from the local region.  But as for me, I went back on track and continued to Hiroshima Castle.  Find out more, next time on Sekai Ichi!

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Hours: Open from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM; loses at 5:00 PM from November to March.  Admission ends 30 minutes before closing time.  Closed from 29 to 31 December.

Costs: ¥260.

Address: 2-11 Kaminobori-chō, Naka-ku, Hiroshima-shi, Hiroshima-ken 〒730-0014

Access: From Hiroshima Station, take tram line 1, 2, or 6 to Hatchobori (M7), transfer to tram line 9, and get off at Shukkeien-mae (W3, 15-20 minutes, ¥190).

Shukkei-en is also a stop on the Maple-oop bus.  From Hiroshima Station, take the Orange or Lemon line bus to Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum / Shukkei-en (6 minutes, ¥200, JR Pass OK).  The Green line bus also stops at Shukkei-en, but it leaves from Hiroshima Station in the opposite direction, and thus takes much longer (30 minutes) to get there.

Website: (English) (Japanese)