Most of the memorials related to the atomic bomb are in and around the Peace Memorial Park (平和公園 Heiwa-kōen), reachable by tram line 2 or 6 to Genbaku Dome-mae. Coming from JR Hiroshima Station, you'll see the Peace Park on your left just before crossing the T-shaped Aioi Bridge, which is thought to have been the target of the bomb.
Once part of the busy Nakajima merchant district, this area was destroyed almost in its entirety by the bomb. Today, there are more than fifty memorials, statues, and other structures in the Park. Some will be obscure in their meaning; others are immediate and devastating. There is no entry fee, save for the Peace Memorial Museum, and access to the grounds is not restricted at night.
- Tens of thousands of forced laborers from Korea were working in Hiroshima at the time of the attack. But the 5 Monument in Memory of the Korean Victims of the A-Bomb was erected outside the Peace Park in 1970, and only moved within its boundaries in 1999. Today, the turtle at the base of the monument — symbolically carrying the dead to the afterlife — tends to be draped in his fair share of colorful origami cranes and flowers.
- The 6 Peace Bell is engraved with a world map, drawn without borders to symbolize unity. The public are welcomed to ring the bell — not coincidentally, the log is aimed to strike an atomic symbol. (Ring the bell gently, so as not to damage it.)
- The 7 Atomic Bomb Memorial Mound holds the ashes of 70,000 bomb victims who were unidentified or had no living relatives to claim them. Services are held in their memory on the 6th of every month.
- The 8 Rest House was known as the Taishoya Kimono Shop at the time of the explosion. Only one employee, who was in the basement at the time, survived. However, the reinforced concrete building stayed mostly intact. (The interior has been entirely refurbished, but it is possible to visit the preserved basement with advance request.) Today, it holds a gift shop, some vending machines, a helpful tourist information office, and — as the name would suggest — a place to rest.
- Inside the 9 Cenotaph for the A-Bomb Victims is a stone chest with a registry that is intended to contain the names of every known person who died from the bombing, regardless of nationality. (Names are added as hibakusha pass away from diseases thought related to the radiation of the bomb.) The Japanese inscription reads, "Let all the souls here rest in peace, for the evil shall not be repeated." Note how the arch frames the A-Bomb Dome in the distance.
- At the other end of the pond from the Cenotaph is the 10 Flame of Peace (平和の灯 heiwa no tomoshibi). It is said that the fire will burn until the last nuclear weapon is gone from the earth.
- 11 Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims, 1-6 Nakajima-chō, Naka-ku, ☏ +81 82-543-6271. Mar-Jul: 08:30-18:00, Aug: 08:30-19:00, Sep-Nov: 08:30-18:00, Dec-Feb: 08:30-17:00, closed Dec 29-Jan 1. The Peace Memorial Hall is dedicated to collecting names and photographs of people who died in the blast. The entrance of the memorial hall leads downward to a quiet hall for contemplation, and then back up again to a set of kiosks with compelling stories and recollections from survivors (in English and Japanese). Like the Cenotaph and the Peace Memorial Museum, it was designed by architect Kenzo Tange. Free. (updated Mar 2023)
- The 14 Statue of Mother and Child in the Storm, completed in 1960 by artist Shin Hongo, is among the most powerful works of art created in response to the atomic bomb. It depicts a woman shielding her child from the black rain. It's in front of the 15 Fountain of Prayer just south of the Peace Memorial Museum.
- The 16 Gates of Peace were installed in 2005 on Heiwa-o-dori, just south of the Peace Park, by a pair of French artists. On the sidewalk and the surface of the gates, the word "peace" is written in 49 languages. The ten gates are meant to represent the nine circles of hell from Dante's Inferno, plus a new one: the hell created by the atomic bombing.
