Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park is located in Naka Ward, Hiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture, spanning Nakajima-cho and Ōte-machi. It is a civic park symbolizing peace and anti-war ideals, also known simply as “Peace Park.”
On August 6, 1945, Hiroshima was devastated by an atomic bombing, causing immense casualties and destruction. To convey Japan’s wish for peace to the world and to warn future generations against repeating such a tragedy, the Japanese government enacted the Hiroshima Peace Memorial City Construction Law in 1949 and held an international design competition. The proposal by Kenzo Tange and his team was selected, featuring a north–south axis connecting the museum, plaza, cenotaph, and the Atomic Bomb Dome, combined with three buildings along the east–west axis, emphasizing spatial order through the arrangement of structures.
The park was completed on April 1, 1954. Its key facilities include the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims, and a visual axis offering views of the Atomic Bomb Dome. The park’s bridges, Peace Bridge and West Peace Bridge, were designed by Japanese-American sculptor Isamu Noguchi, adding artistic and symbolic significance. Every year on August 6, a Peace Memorial Ceremony is held, with a moment of silence at 8:15 a.m.—the exact time the bomb was dropped—accompanied by performances of “The Song of Hiroshima Peace” by local junior high and high school bands and choirs.
It is worth noting that before the war, the park site was not a green space but a bustling commercial district known as the Nakajima area, which, from the late Edo period to the early Showa era, served as an important economic and cultural hub of Hiroshima. After the war, as part of reconstruction efforts and in recognition of its peace memorial significance, it was transformed into today’s park.
Today, Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park is not only a place for remembrance and reflection but also a symbolic landmark demonstrating Japan’s postwar commitment to peace to the entire world.
