Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum Audio Guide

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum: what does the audio guide cover?

1. 01

   Welcome to Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum

   Welcome to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, which stands inside Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in the heart of the city. Its purpose is to document the atomic bombing of Hiroshima during World War II, and it does so in an unusually personal way. The museum collects and displays belongings left by the victims, along with photographs and other materials that convey the horror of that day. Around those objects it builds a wider story. There are exhibits on Hiroshima before and after the bombing, and others on the current state of the nuclear age. It is the most popular Hiroshima destination for school field trips from all over Japan, and it also draws international visitors. So you may find yourself sharing the halls with students from across the country. Over the next few minutes we will look at how the museum began, what you will find inside its main building, how the voices of survivors are woven into the visit, and the landmark that stands close by. Take your time. This is a place that rewards a slow pace and a quiet mind.

2. 02

   How the Museum Came to Be

   The museum was established in August 1955, 10 years after the bombing. It opened together with the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Hall, a building that today is known as the International Conference Center Hiroshima. From the beginning, the idea was to gather what remained: belongings left by victims, photographs, and other materials that could tell what happened. The park around you has its own design story. It was laid out by the architect Tange Kenzō, and the museum is one of several memorials within it. The result is a setting where buildings, open space and memorials are meant to be experienced together. The museum kept growing. In June 1994, to improve its display and collection functions and to provide more space for peace education, the Peace Memorial Hall was renovated and integrated into the museum. The two facilities now open as one renewed Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. Then, on July 5, 2006, the Main Building was designated one of the important cultural assets of Japan. So the building itself is now treated as part of the history it holds.

3. 03

   What the Exhibits Tell You

   Inside the Main Building, the story is told through models, images and photo panels. You will see Hiroshima before and after the bombing, the background to the atomic bombing, the reality of the nuclear age, and the city's own peace efforts. Together these panels give you the full arc, from the city as it was, to the day that changed it, to the question of what comes next. Then there are the artifacts. These objects and materials convey what specifically happened to Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. At 8:15 in the morning that day, a United States B-29 bomber, the Enola Gay, dropped the first atomic bomb ever used in war. The bomb, called Little Boy, killed about 140,000 people. Seen in that light, a single everyday belonging on display becomes a very direct way into a very large number. The building also has a video theater where documentary films can be viewed. Down on the basement floors are exhibition rooms for paintings of the bombing made by surviving citizens, drawn from memory by the people who lived it.

4. 04

   Voices of the Survivors

   Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum: In 1966 the city of Hiroshima decided to preserve it indefinitely.

   One of the most important things about this museum is that it does not only show objects. It also lets you listen. The facility has sections where visitors can view and listen to the testimonies of survivors of the atomic bombing, and halls and meeting rooms where students on school excursions can hear survivors speak in person. There is also an information reference room, where you can look through books on the bombing and on peace. Those who survived the atomic bombs are known as hibakusha. One of the best-known storytellers among them is Keiko Ogura, who was just eight years old on August 6, 1945, when her home city was destroyed. She tells her story as a storyteller for the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation. Her presence is a reminder that behind every photograph and every display case there are real lives and real memories. The museum also invites you to respond. There are places where visitors can write their impressions and their messages for peace. Even if you only gather a few words in your head, it is worth thinking about what you would say.

5. 05

   Before You Head Off

   When you step back outside into the park, look for the Genbaku Dome, which stands close by. It was the only structure left standing in the area where the first atomic bomb exploded on August 6, 1945, and it has been preserved in the same state as immediately after the bombing. It is the skeletal remains of the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotional Hall, built in 1914. For years there was debate over whether to tear the ruined building down. In 1966 the city of Hiroshima decided to preserve it indefinitely. Its listing as a World Heritage site recognizes that its deepest meaning lies in what it symbolizes, more than in its architecture. As you walk, you might compare what you saw inside the museum with this silent structure outside. One holds belongings, voices and pictures. The other holds only its own shape. Together they ask the same question, and you may find it follows you well beyond the park.