Peace Memorial Museum

Why it deserves a whole morning

For most people, the Peace Memorial Museum is the reason they come to Hiroshima at all, and it rewards being treated as the centre of the day rather than a quick stop. It sits within the Peace Memorial Park, looking out towards the Cenotaph and the skeletal A-Bomb Dome across the river, and it documents the morning of 6 August 1945 and everything that followed. The displays are built around personal belongings, photographs and survivor testimony — a child’s tricycle, scorched clothing, written accounts — and they are deliberately direct rather than abstract.

Entry is almost free: a token fee of about ¥200 (roughly £1) for an adult, with student discounts and free entry for the youngest children. That low price is intentional, because the museum exists to be seen by everyone. Confirm the current hours and fee on the official site, as opening times run longer in summer and shorter in winter, and the museum closes only briefly around the New Year.

Timing, and how to approach the visit

The practical advice is simple: go early, ideally at opening. Hiroshima is a fixture on Japanese school trips, and through the middle of the day the galleries fill with student groups and coach tours. The subject matter is harrowing and the exhibits are quiet, so the difference between an 8.30am arrival and a midday one is enormous — early, you can stand in front of each case and actually take it in.

Allow a slow two hours or more, and leave time afterwards to walk the park: the Cenotaph with its eternal flame, the Children’s Peace Monument hung with paper cranes, and the A-Bomb Dome itself. A word for families — the museum does not soften the human cost, and the photographs in particular are too distressing for young children, though older children and teenagers often find it deeply affecting. It is not an enjoyable visit, and it isn’t meant to be; it is a serious, moving and important one, and it stays with you long after you leave.