Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park: The Cenotaph, Flame And Memorials

The city's park page states plainly that admission is free and there are no closing days. This guide walks through what each memorial is, what the museum inside the park costs and when it opens, and how the park fits into a wider Hiroshima itinerary.

What Is Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park?

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park is a public memorial park of 122,100 square metres on the Nakajima-cho delta in central Hiroshima, established on land near the hypocentre of the atomic bombing to commemorate the victims and pray for lasting peace, with construction starting in 1950 and the park completed around August 1955.

The city of Hiroshima built the park under the Hiroshima Peace Memorial City Construction Law, and its own page describes its purpose as commemoration and prayer for peace. The Atomic Bomb Dome, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996, is viewable from outside its fence at no fee, as the city's pages report.

The park is also the venue for the annual Peace Memorial Ceremony on 6 August. The city's English page for the 2026 ceremony lists it from 8:00 to 8:50 in Peace Memorial Park, with about 7,000 seats plus about 2,200 indoor seats at the adjacent International Conference Center. The ceremony is covered in more detail in the site's guide to the August 6 Peace Ceremony in Hiroshima.

Visitors planning a first trip often pair the park with the rest of the city, and the site's things to do in Hiroshima page places it in the wider context of castle, garden, food and Miyajima options.

How Much Time Do You Need At Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park?

A typical visit to Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park runs about 1 to 2 hours for the outdoor monuments and memorials themselves, with the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum inside the park adding considerably more, since its permanent exhibition spreads over several floors of the East Building and the museum opens from 7:30 in the morning.

The museum is a different scale of visit. Its East Building alone holds the Hiroshima History section on the 2nd floor and four further permanent sections on the 3rd floor, including Hiroshima before the Bombing, The Dangers of Nuclear Weapons and A-bomb Survivor Video Testimony, while the 1st floor carries the ticket counter, audio guide rental, a special exhibition room, a video theater and the visitor's lounge. Readers deciding between a short stop and a full half-day can compare approaches in the site's answer on how many days in Hiroshima is enough.

Planning around the museum's calendar pays off. Closing time varies by season: 19:00 from March through July and again from September through November, 20:00 in August, and 18:00 from December through February, while on 5 and 6 August the doors stay open until 21:00. Full closures also exist, on 30 and 31 December and during a mid-February period set aside for changing exhibits, so winter travelers should verify dates before locking in an itinerary. Entry in the first hour after opening, from 7:30 to 8:30, requires an online reservation, as do certain evening slots. Tickets themselves are inexpensive: college students and other adults pay 200 yen, high school students pay 100 yen, junior high school students and younger children enter free, and visitors aged 65 or over pay 100 yen when they present a passport.

The A-Bomb Dome can be viewed from outside its fence at any time, with no fee, which makes it an easy add-on before opening or after closing. Attendance is another consideration when timing a visit. A national news report counted 945,618 visitors from abroad in fiscal 2025. Travelers in the city on 6 August can also mark the anniversary itself: in 2026 the Peace Memorial Ceremony ran from 8:00 to 8:50 in the park, with about 7,000 seats set out plus about 2,200 indoor seats at the International Conference Center.

How Do You Get To Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park?

From JR Hiroshima Station, Hiroden streetcar Lines 2 or 6 reach Genbaku Dome-mae stop in about 15 to 20 minutes for a flat 240 yen adult fare, and the museum's own access page also lists Line 1 to Hiroshima Port or Line 2 and 6 services taking about 25 minutes to Genbaku Dome-mae followed by a 10 minute walk.

The Hiroden fare is a flat 240 yen for adults and 120 yen for children on every line, including the Miyajima line, since 1 February 2025. The streetcar now enters the Hiroshima Station building itself, reported since 3 August 2025, which makes the transfer from the Shinkansen platforms straightforward. No general public parking is available in the park, as the museum's information page states, so arriving by streetcar or on foot is the practical choice. The site's answer page on getting from Hiroshima Station to the Peace Park covers the same route in step-by-step form.

What Are The Main Monuments In Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park?

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park contains the Children's Peace Monument, the Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims and the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, arranged along a north to south axis with the A-Bomb Dome across the river at the north end.

The Cenotaph, formally the Hiroshima Peace City Memorial Monument, was established on 6 August 1952 and designed by Kenzo Tange. The Peace Flame sits north of the Cenotaph, was lit on 1 August 1964, and is described as designed to burn until all nuclear weapons are abolished. The National Peace Memorial Hall, at 1-6 Nakajima-cho, is free to enter and open from 8:30am to 6:00pm in the March to July season, with seasonal variations later in the year.

The table below gathers the core facts for each element of the park.

Behaviour in the park matters as much as the route. The site's page on etiquette at the Peace Park in Hiroshima sets out the official guidance: quiet conduct at the memorials and restraint with photography.

What Does Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum Admission Cost?

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum charges 200 yen for adults, meaning college students and up, 100 yen for high school students and nothing for junior high school students and younger, with adults 65 and older paying 100 yen on showing a passport or proof of age, and groups of 30 or more adults paying 160 yen each while groups of 20 or more high school students enter free.

Those figures come from the museum's own information page. The 200 yen adult fee is the current printed price. The permanent exhibition the ticket buys fills the East Building: Hiroshima History on the 2nd floor, then Hiroshima before the Bombing, A Lost Way of Life, The Dangers of Nuclear Weapons and A-bomb Survivor Video Testimony on the 3rd floor. The 1st floor holds the ticket counter, audio guide rental, the special exhibition room, the video theater and the lounge. Other pages covering the same trip are gathered on Hiroshima Travel Guide.

The National Peace Memorial Hall next door charges nothing at all, so a full park visit can cost as little as one 200 yen ticket or, for a junior high visitor, nothing. The room-by-room detail of the exhibition is on the site's Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum page, and the ticketing question has its own answer page at do you need tickets for Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.

When Is Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park Open?

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park itself is open 24 hours a day, every day of the year, with free admission, while the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum inside it opens 7:30am to 7:00pm from March to July and from September to November, 7:30am to 8:00pm in August, extending to 9:00pm on 5 and 6 August, and 7:30am to 6:00pm from December to February.

The museum closes only on 30 and 31 December and for several days in mid-February for exhibition changes. One reservation rule matters for early risers: entering the permanent exhibition between 7:30 and 8:30 in the morning, or in the designated evening extended slots, requires an online reservation through the museum's WEB ticket system. Arriving in the middle of the day needs no reservation.

The August hours connect directly to the ceremony calendar. The museum stays open to 8:00pm through August and to 9:00pm on 5 and 6 August, the two days around the Peace Memorial Ceremony, which the city lists from 8:00 to 8:50 on the morning of 6 August in the park itself.

What Else Is Near Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park?

Orizuru Tower stands beside Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, with the downtown districts of Hacchobori, Kamiyacho and Nagarekawa a short Hiroden streetcar ride east. The same flat 240 yen Hiroden fare also reaches Hiroshima Castle, whose grounds and exterior remain open, and the Shukkeien stroll garden, which charges 350 yen for adults.

The park anchors the Peace Park and Nakajima area page on this site. Within easy reach are the A-Bomb Dome at the north end, Orizuru Tower beside it, and the shopping and eating districts covered in the site's guide to Hiroshima neighborhoods. Farther out, the same flat 240 yen Hiroden fare carries visitors toward Hiroshima Castle, whose keep has been closed to visitors since 22 March 2026 with the grounds and exterior open, and Shukkeien, the stroll garden charging 350 yen for adults.

Should You Take A Guided Tour Of Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park?

Yes. A guided tour of Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park adds structure and context that a self guided visit can lack. The featured option is a flexible 2 to 4 hour guided walk, while a fixed shorter choice pairs the outdoor memorials with the Peace Memorial Museum and the Atomic Bomb Dome. Cyclists can also choose a morning bike adventure that folds the park into a wider city loop.

The featured option is a flexible 2 to 4 hour guided walk. For a fixed shorter option, the Peace Park, Museum and Dome group tour pairs the outdoor memorials with the museum and the dome. Cyclists can look at the Morning Bike Adventure, which folds the park into a wider city loop.

How Does Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park Fit Into A Hiroshima Itinerary?

Most itineraries pair a morning in the park and museum with an afternoon across Hiroshima Bay on Miyajima, reached by streetcar to Miyajimaguchi and a 10 minute JR ferry. One-day plans either keep everything inside the city or split the day between the park and the island, while slower trips give the park its own unhurried half-day.

A Miyajima visit adds a 100 yen island visitor tax, charged separately on entering the island.

Common Questions About Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park

Each memorial at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park carries a documented story, the museum's 200 yen ticket buys several floors of it, and the whole 122,100 square metre space stays open and free.