Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum Marks 70 Years With 80 Millionth Visitor

HIROSHIMA (Japan), March 17 (Bernama-Kyodo) -- The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, which chronicles the devastation caused by the United States (US) atomic bombing of the city in 1945, has surpassed 80 million visitors, reaching the milestone on Sunday -- 70 years after its opening in 1955.

During a ceremony to mark the occasion, museum director Yoshifumi Ishida expressed hope that people from Japan and beyond, as well as future generations, will continue to visit and recognise nuclear weapons as an "absolute evil," Kyodo news agency reported.

The museum’s 80 millionth visitor was Rinon Shimura, a 23-year-old café employee from Tokyo.

She recalled hearing firsthand accounts from atomic bomb survivors as a junior high school student, which inspired her to visit the museum.

Visiting Hiroshima for the first time with her family, Shimura said, "I want to learn about the extent of the damage in Hiroshima and what those exposed to the atomic bomb felt back then. I will share that with everyone."

The museum received renewed global attention when the Group of Seven (G7) leaders visited it during their summit in Hiroshima in 2023.

In February, it welcomed two million visitors in the current fiscal year ending March 31—the highest annual figure since its establishment.

Located near ground zero of the atomic blast in downtown Hiroshima, the museum houses artifacts from victims and other materials that illustrate the horrors of nuclear weapons.

The US dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 during the final days of World War II, killing an estimated 214,000 people by the end of that year and leaving countless survivors with long-term physical and mental health challenges.

-- BERNAMA-KYODO