Walk from Hiroshima Station to Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park

Japan Winter 2024

Hiroshima | Japan

01 Mar 2024 | Fri

Day 11 of 17

Shinkansen Bullet Train – Osaka to Hiroshima
Walk from Hiroshima Station to Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park
Hiroshima Hiroshima Memorial Tower to the Mobilized Students
Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Dome
Hiroshima Flame of Peace
Hiroshima Victim’s Memorial Cenotaph
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum
Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall
Hiroshima Children’s Peace Monument

Walk from Hiroshima Station to Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park

After getting off the bullet train at Hiroshima Station, we started our journey on foot to Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. It was a pleasant 35-minute walk, made even better by the good weather. The sun was shining, and there was a gentle breeze as we made our way through the city streets, soaking in the sights and sounds of Hiroshima. Our destination, the Peace Memorial Park, stood as a poignant reminder of history, nestled in the heart of this vibrant city.

Walk-to-Peace-Memorial-Park-03 — Overlooking the Enko River in Hiroshima

Hiroshima (広島市, Hiroshima-shi) is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. As of June 1, 2019, the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui has been the city’s mayor since April 2011. The Hiroshima metropolitan area is the second largest urban area in the Chugoku Region of Japan, following the Okayama metropolitan area.

Hiroshima was founded in 1589 as a castle town on the Ōta River delta. Following the Meiji Restoration in 1868, Hiroshima rapidly transformed into a major urban center and industrial hub. In 1889, Hiroshima officially gained city status. The city was a center of military activities during the imperial era, playing significant roles such as in the First Sino-Japanese War, the Russo-Japanese War, and the two world wars.

Hiroshima was the first military target of a nuclear weapon in history. This occurred on August 6, 1945, in the Pacific theatre of World War II, at 8:15 a.m., when the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) dropped the atomic bomb “Little Boy” on the city. Most of Hiroshima was destroyed, and by the end of the year between 90,000 and 166,000 had died as a result of the blast and its effects. The Hiroshima Peace Memorial (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) serves as a memorial of the bombing.

– City of Hiroshima > Wikipedia

Hiroshima-Memorial-Tower-03 — Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park (広島平和記念公園, Hiroshima Heiwa Kinen Kōen) is a memorial park in the center of Hiroshima, Japan. It is dedicated to the legacy of Hiroshima as the first city in the world to suffer a nuclear attack at the end of World War II, and to the memories of the bomb’s direct and indirect victims (of whom there may have been as many as 140,000). The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park is visited by more than one million people each year. The park is there in memory of the victims of the nuclear attack on August 6, 1945, in which the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park was planned and designed by the Japanese Architect Kenzō Tange at Tange Lab.

The location of Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park was once the city’s busiest downtown commercial and residential district. The park was built on an open field that was created by the explosion. Today there are a number of memorials and monuments, museums, and lecture halls, which draw over a million visitors annually. The annual 6 August Peace Memorial Ceremony, which is sponsored by the city of Hiroshima, is also held in the park. The purpose of the Peace Memorial Park is not only to memorialize the victims of the bombing, but also to perpetuate the memory of nuclear horrors and advocate world peace.

– Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park > Wikipedia