Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum

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Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum
Established	1955, remodeled 1991, renovated Peace Memorial Hall 1994
Location	1-2 Nakajima-cho, Naka-ku, Hiroshima
Director	Koichiro Maeda
Website	www.pcf.city.hiroshima.jp

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum is located in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, in central Hiroshima, Japan. It was established in August 1955 with the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Hall (now the International Conference Center Hiroshima). The museum exhibit presents the facts of the atomic bombing, with the aims of contributing to the abolition of nuclear weapons throughout the world, and of promoting world peace. It is the most popular of Hiroshima's destinations for school field-trips from all over Japan and for international visitors, too. The architect of the main building was Kenzo Tange.

[edit] Museum content

According to the introduction in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum English guide: "The Peace Memorial Museum collects and displays belongings left by the victims, photos, and other materials that convey the horror of that event, supplemented by exhibits that describe Hiroshima before and after the bombings and others that present the current status of the nuclear age. Each of the items displayed embodies the grief, anger, or pain of real people. Having now recovered from the A-bomb calamity, Hiroshima's deepest wish is the elimination of all nuclear weapons and the realization of a genuinely peaceful international community."^[1]

The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum presents a very fair view of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. The museum includes almost all relevant parts of what the Imperial Japanese Army did during and prior to World War II, and presents the military's actions in a negative light. They also acknowledge the thousands of Korean slaves who were also in Hiroshima at the time of the bombing. The museum's lack of bias and abundance of information provides a clear and thorough education of the horrors of nuclear weapons.

To facilitate education, the museum was renovated in 1994 and is now divided into two sections.

The East Wing — the newest addition — explains the history of Hiroshima City before the bomb, development and decision to drop the bomb, the lives of Hiroshima citizens during World War II and after the bombing, and ends with information about the nuclear age and efforts for international peace. Included in this section is a model showing the damage done to the city.

The West Wing, which was part of the old museum, concentrates on the damage of the bomb. Sections include Material Witness, which shows clothing, watches, hair, and other personal effects worn by victims of the bomb; Damage by the Heat Rays, a section that looks at what happened to wood, stone, metal, glass, and flesh from the heat; Damage by the Blast, focusing on the destruction caused by the after shocks of the blast, and Damage by the Radiation which goes into details about the health effects suffered by humans.

Scaled down model of Hiroshima City flattened after the explosion. The red ball depicts the explosion point.

A watch stopped at the time of the atomic bombing

The Main Building of Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum

The East Building of Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum

[edit] Peace education programs

• A-bomb survivor testimony
• Video showings
• Loan of Photo Posters and Videos
• Peace Volunteer guide tour

[edit] Access

• Hiroshima bus Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park bus stop
• Hiroden Genbaku Dome-mae Station
• Hiroden Chuden-mae Station
• Astram Hondōri Station

[edit] See also

• Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park
• Hiroshima Peace Memorial
• Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
• Sadako Sasaki
• Hiroshima Witness

[edit] External links

• Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum official website
• Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims
• Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum @ architecture in Hiroshima

[edit] List of notable visitors

[edit] References

1. ^ From “Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum” brochure, (Nakajima-cho: Hiroshima prf.) visited October 29, 2005

Coordinates: 34°23′30″N 132°27′07″E / 34.39167°N 132.45194°E / 34.39167; 132.45194