Atomic Bomb Dome Museum

The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum in Naka Ward, Hiroshima documents the atomic bombing of August 6, 1945 through one of the world's most significant collections of survivor testimony, personal artifacts, and scientific documentation of nuclear warfare. Opened in 1955, ten years after the bombing, the museum underwent major renovation and reorganization completed in 2019, now presenting its permanent exhibition across two buildings. The East Building traces Hiroshima's history as an imperial military garrison city, the geopolitical context of the Pacific War, and the scientific and logistical history of the Manhattan Project and the decision to bomb. The West Building contains the museum's most profoundly moving material: personal belongings of individual victims including burned school uniforms, melted lunch boxes, warped glass bottles, and a child's tricycle; shadow photographs where human silhouettes were burned into stone steps by the nuclear flash; and scaled dioramas reconstructing the city's near-total obliteration. Recorded video testimonies from hibakusha — atomic bomb survivors — form a central part of the exhibition following the passing of many in-person speakers. The museum's advocacy mission is explicit: it documents every nuclear weapon test conducted since 1945 and maintains a guestbook signed by world leaders including former US President Barack Obama during his 2016 visit. A permanent outdoor memorial corridor connects the museum to the Genbaku Dome 800 meters north, and the Flame of Peace within Peace Memorial Park has burned continuously since 1964 with the intention of being extinguished only when the last nuclear weapon is destroyed.