Mourning the lives lost in the atomic bombing, we pledge to convey the truth of this tragedy throughout Japan and the world, pass it on to the future, learn the lessons of history, and build a peaceful world free from nuclear weapons.

Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims

The philosophy of the Memorial Hall is written in English, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese.

This monument, which expresses the time of the bombing, was built with a fountain to console those who died without having been given the water they so desperately wanted. Around the monument is debris which was burned and broken by the bombing (discovered during the construction of the Memorial Hall). Looking at the monument from the front, visitors face the direction of the epicenter.

From the Upper Level, you descend the slope to the Hall of Remembrance counter-clockwise, back in time to Hiroshima just after the bombing.

On the right-side wall of the slope are six panels which explain the background leading to the atomic bombing and the outline of damage.

There are countless black dots visible on the walls of the slope and the walls of the Hall of Remembrance: there are bits of soil which were excavated from the soil layer at the time of the bombing during the construction of the Memorial Hall. They have been mixed in with the materials of the walls.

Each year, we hold Special Exhibitions which introduce atomic bomb memoirs based on a central topic. We also create a video presentation which explains the realities of the atomic bombing in easy to understand terms and screen them on our large projection screen, along with displaying related pictures and artifacts.

Visitors are free to read/watch the following materials in our Library:

• Over 140,000 memoirs written by the survivors of the bombing and their bereaved families and obituaries
• Atomic bomb survivor testimonies
• Photos of Hiroshima City before and after the bombing
• Video footage recorded directly after the bombing
• Other materials related to the atomic bombing

Our touch screen databases are available in English, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese. A selection atomic bomb memoirs and testimony videos are available in over 20 different languages.

This stratum cross-section was taken during an excavation survey of the land before the construction of the Memorial Hall, showing visitors what the ground beneath the current Peace Memorial Park looks like.

This is a place for quiet reflection; to think about those who lost their lives in the bombing, and to think about peace.

The wall is comprised of a 360°panoramic photo of Hiroshima after the bombing as seen from the hypocenter (Shima Hospital), made of roughly 140,000 tiles (the number of those estimated to have passed away by the end of 1945). The panorama itself was created based on a photograph taken by the US military in October 1945. Underneath are the names of 226 towns which existed at the time of the bombing in their respective directions. The Hall of Remembrance is 55 meters in perimeter, 17.25 meters in diameter, and 8 meters from floor to ceiling.

The central monument displays the time of the bombing (8:15 am), and provides water to console the victims who passed away that day without the water they craved.

Through the portraits and names of countless victims of the bombing, we convey to visitors the reality of the lives lost indiscriminately, regardless of age, gender, or profession, to the bombing.

The names and photos contributed to the Memorial Hall from the bereaved families of the victims are played in a loop on our large-screen monitor; visitors can also search for the names and portraits of the victims individually using our search terminals.