Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum - Hiroshima, Japan
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N 34° 23.502 E 132° 27.124
53S E 265761 N 3808531
The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum is a museum located in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, in Hiroshima, Japan, dedicated to documenting the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in World War II.
Waymark Code: WMZBPK
Location: Hiroshima, Japan
Date Posted: 10/15/2018
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The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum was established in August 1955 with the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Hall (now the International Conference Center Hiroshima). It is the most popular of Hiroshima's destinations for school field-trips from all over Japan and for international visitors. 53 million people had visited the museum from its opening in 1955 through 2005, averaging over one million visitors per year. The architect of the main building was Kenzo Tange.
Consisting of two buildings, the museum surveys the history of Hiroshima and the advent of the nuclear bomb. Its main focus though is on the events of August 6: the dropping of the bomb and its outcome in human suffering.
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. It has some important letters exchanged between scientists and top leaders of that era talking about atomic development and predicted result of its use.
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.
Note that the Peace Memorial Museum is currently undergoing renovations, during which only one of the museum's two buildings will be open to visitors and the number of exhibits will be reduced. The renovations are scheduled to be completed by spring 2019.
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