Hiroshima Peace Museum attracts record number of visitors in 2023 fiscal year

The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum located in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, in central Hiroshima, Japan, has already reached a record 1,760,252 visitors with still just over a month to go before Japan's fiscal year 2023 draws to a close, according to Hiroshima city.

The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum is dedicated to documenting and displaying the tragic events of the atomic bombing the city endured in 1945, as well as promoting a message of peace.

 Opened in 1955, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum aims to explain the atomic bomb’s political, historical and social impact, offering insight into the horror of the event through personal stories, victim’s artifacts and scientific recordings. The museum’s overwhelming message, however, is a plea for international peace and the elimination of nuclear weapons all over the world.

Officials attributed the surge in visitor numbers to an increase in the number of visitors from Japan and overseas and  “growing interest” in the museum following the Group of Seven summit held in Hiroshima in May of last year.

The previous record of 1,758,746 visitors was set in fiscal 2019 after the museum completed a major renovation of its exhibits.

Authorities said they expect the final figure this fiscal year to hit 1.9 million.

Officials noted that foreign visitor numbers exceeded the previous record as of the end of last year, reaching approximately 569,000 in January, due to the relaxation of border control measures following the pandemic and the sharp depreciation of the yen.

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