World Heritage and History of Hiroshima

Itsukushima Shrine is a famous shrine located on the island of Miyajima within the city limits of Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima Prefecture. Itsukushima Shrine was initially built in the year 593, but it was not until the year 1168 that the military leader Taira no Kiyomori rebuilt the shrine into its present magnificent state. The gods enshrined at the shrine are known as the Munakata Sanjojin. (Three Goddesses of Munakata) They are believed to have power over maritime safety, fishing, traffic safety, and business prosperity. In 1996, Itsukushima Shrine was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with the Atomic Bomb Dome.

(Admission Fee)
Adult – ¥300
High School student – ¥200
Elementary/Junior High School
student – ¥100
(Admission & Treasure House
set)
Adult – ¥500
High School student – ¥300
Elementary/Junior High School
student – ¥150
※ If you are a student, please
present your passport or
school ID at reception when
purchasing your ticket.

Located just off Miyajimaguchi Pier, etto is a new tourist facility that opened in 2020. Etto derives its name from a Hiroshima dialect word meaning “many,” and as the name suggests, it offers a wide variety of souvenirs and food related to Hiroshima. The facility is divided into two areas: the “Itsukushi Marché” on the first floor, consisting mainly of souvenir stores and eateries, and the “Ogottsuo Dining” restaurant area on the second floor, where you can enjoy Hiroshima’s culinary specialties.

Hiroshima Castle was built in the year 1599 by Hiroshima’s most powerful warrior and leader at the time, Mori Terumoto. The castle featured a five-story Castle Tower, a Honmaru Palace, and a moat that flows like a river. Unfortunately, both the Castle Tower and the Honmaru Palace were destroyed by the atomic bombing in 1945, and only the Castle Tower has been reconstructed. The castle tower now houses the Hiroshima Castle Museum, which exhibits materials related to Hiroshima’s history, the Mori family, local folklore, and natural history.

(Entry fee)
18+ – ¥370
Senior citizen – ¥180
High School student – ¥180
Junior High School student
or under – Free
※ For students and senior
citizens, please present
identification to verify your age
such as your passport, or
school ID, at reception when
purchasing your ticket.

More than a ruin, Hiroshima’s Atomic Bomb Dome is a surviving fragment of the city that existed before Aug. 6, 1945. On that day at 8:15 a.m., Little Boy, a uranium bomb, exploded 160 meters (525 feet) southeast of the building and 600 meters (1,970 feet) above the ground. The blast from the bomb came down through the building’s roof and all three floors. Everyone inside was killed. However, its downward trajectory allowed some of the stone walls and steel frames to remain intact.

The Dome survived the bombing, but its survival afterward was far from certain.

(Joy Photo / Michael Farrell)

Before the Atomic Bomb

Built in 1915 by Czech architect Jan Letzel, the Atomic Bomb Dome was known by many names over the decades. It was originally called the Hiroshima Prefectural Commercial Exhibition Hall.

At the time, Japan was in love with European architecture. The industrial West was seen as prosperous, scientific and technologically advanced. European architecture was a statement of Japan’s modern development. Made of stone-clad brick and mortar with some steel framing and copper roofing, the Hiroshima Prefectural Commercial Exhibition Hall was one of the fancier, more distinguished buildings in the city — an icon of Hiroshima’s growing prosperity and modernity.

It was used to sell local goods, exhibit art and promote new products. Most famously, it is where baumkuchen was first introduced to Japan. Karl Juchheim, a former World War I prisoner of war in Japan, exhibited the German “king of cakes” at Hiroshima’s landmark exhibition hall in 1919. Today, baumkuchen is a popular gift found in supermarkets and department stores across Japan.

Stone cladding on the Atomic Bomb Dome with the brick and mortal underside revealed by the bomb. (Joy Photo / Michael Farrell)

The Dome’s Architecture and Design

The Hiroshima Prefectural Commercial Exhibition Hall’s design was part of a wave of European-style buildings that became popular at the end of the Meiji and early Taisho eras. Travelers can still see intact contemporary structures today, such as Tokyo Station Marunouchi Building (1914) and Osaka Central Public Hall (1918).

Letzel’s design incorporated a mix of European architectural influences present in Central Europe at the time. Design philosophies such as Neo-Renaissance and Secessionism contributed visual elements including the iconic dome, symmetry, the heaviness of the walls, unusually large windows and repeated geometric motifs. Though today’s structure is gutted, these patterns can still be observed on the ruin.

Surviving Hiroshima’s Reconstruction

After the war ended, Hiroshima began dealing with the question of what to do with the remains of the old city. It was a complicated time full of hardship and strong emotions. The dome had been renamed Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall in 1933, but now locals called it “Genbaku Dome” — Atomic Bomb Dome — pronounced “Gen-ba-ku Do-meh.”

There were two schools of thought about what to do with the ruins of the Dome. One side wanted to preserve it as a memorial, while the other side wanted to demolish it. For the latter group, the Dome evoked painful memories. They were also concerned about safety because the crumbling ruin had become a hazard.

Curiously, this debate continued long after Peace Memorial Park was established in 1954. At the time, the park’s lead designer, Kenzo Tange, intentionally used the ruined Dome as a key symbolic feature in the central south-to-north line that visually connected the Dome with the Peace Memorial Museum and the Cenotaph for Atomic Bomb Victims. Despite this, however, the future of the Dome was uncertain.

The debate intensified over the years as the city recovered and people discussed how to best communicate the tragic experiences of the survivors and their families. This topic gained further poignancy in the 1960s as heightened Cold War tensions threatened global nuclear armageddon.

It was during this time that public opinion in favor of keeping the Dome increased dramatically. This culminated on July 11, 1966, when the Hiroshima City Council passed a resolution to preserve the building.

“Preserving the Atomic Bomb Dome is not only a responsibility to our future generations,” wrote Hiroshima Mayor Shinso Hamai in his call for donations to save the Dome on Nov. 1, 1966. “But it is a natural mission in our good conscience as fellow members of the human race. In other words, we are not preserving this as a remnant of resentment and hostility, but as a symbol of our remorse as part of the human family, and of our prayers for peace.”

Crews maintaining the grounds around the Atomic Bomb Dome. A steel support is visible inside the Dome’s windows and white streaks reveal where cracks were filled in. (Joy Photo / Michael Farrell)

Preserving the Atomic Bomb Dome

The fundraising campaign was started with the goal of collecting ¥40 million. Support for the project was so strong that the city collected ¥66,197,816 (roughly equal to $1.9 million today) from more than 1.3 million donations raised across the world.

Preservation work began in 1967 and continued off and on over the decades until the most recent update in 2020. To keep the Dome in the same condition it was after the nuclear bombing, minimal steel reinforcement was added. You can see the steel bars today holding up the walls from the inside. Epoxy resins and mortars were used to fill cracks. Less visibly, synthetic waterproofing compounds were applied to prevent rain from further eroding the structure.

The Dome’s Symbolism Today

In 1996, the Dome was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site despite the official reservations of China and the United States. China was concerned the monument would distract from Japan’s atrocities against other Asian nations. The United States was concerned the monument would be interpreted in isolation from the context of the war Japan started in the Pacific.

UNESCO, however, accepted the site under Cultural Criterion VI, which at the time described places that are “directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs … of outstanding universal significance.” In this case, that event of outstanding universal significance was the first atomic bombing, and the corresponding idea was peace.

In the words of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention site, “[The Atomic Bomb Dome] symbolizes the tremendous destructive power, which humankind can invent on the one hand; on the other hand, it also reminds us of the hope for world permanent peace.”

(Joy Photo / Michael Farrell)

Getting There

The Atomic Bomb Dome is one of the easiest sites in Hiroshima to visit. Take Hiroden tram line 2 or 6 from Hiroshima Station to Genbaku Dome-mae Station. The flat fare is ¥240 for adults and ¥120 for children 6 and older. Children below elementary school age ride for free.

The Atomic Bomb Dome is immediately visible on the left once you arrive at Genbaku Dome-mae Station.

However, if you plan to explore Peace Park as well, we recommend you delay seeing the Atomic Bomb Dome and take the Maple Loop bus from Hiroshima Station to the park’s main entrance on the opposite side of the park. The south-to-north path is the way the park’s designer, Kenzo Tange, expected visitors to experience the park.

After Visiting

The Atomic Bomb Dome is a sobering tourist site. However, lighter parts of the city are just a few minutes’ walk away in Gate Park, opposite the Hiroden tram tracks from the Dome. Grab a Japanese-Italian lunch at Goodspoon. This restaurant serves pasta and stone-oven pizza topped with its own house-made Italian cheeses. After filling up on pasta and cheese, grab a drink and chill out with 33 domestic cats at nearby Cat Café MOFF SHIMINT HIROSHIMA. If you are traveling as a family, 5-Days Children’s Cultural Science Museum is on the northern side of the park. Admission is free to experience dozens of hands-on science experiments and a two-story indoor play structure that would make the cats at MOFF jealous of your kids.

Interested in Learning More?

Visitors seeking deeper historical information may wish to consult the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, UNESCO World Heritage Centre records and Hiroshima City archival material.

HIROSHIMA ORIZURU TOWER is a tourist attraction located next to the Atomic Bomb Dome. The north walls of the building are decorated with illustrations of ‘Orizuru’ paper cranes, which symbolize peace. The building also occasionally plays host to seasonal events. The first floor has a café and souvenir shop, and the 12th floor is “ORIZURU SQUARE,” where visitors can try their hand at making paper cranes. On the rooftop, there is an observation deck called “HIROSHIMA HILLS,” where you can enjoy a panoramic view of Hiroshima City and spend time relaxing.
The most attractive part of HIROSHIMA ORIZURU TOWER is the spectacular view of Hiroshima from the rooftop observation deck, from which you can enjoy a breathtaking view of the the Wolrd Heritage A-bomb Dome Site, Peace Memorial Park, Hiroshima Castle, and other parts of the city. The observation deck is covered, so you can enjoy the view even in the rain. Also, at the “ORIZURU SQUARE” on the 12th floor, you can enjoy making ‘Orizuru’ paper cranes. You can then throw your ‘Orizuru’ into the “ORIZURU WALL.”- a distinct glass display filled with paper cranes and the hopes and wishes that accompany them from all around the world!

Hiroshima’s Okonomimura, “Okonomi Village” in English, is a seven-story building near Parco filled to the brim with vendors selling the exact same product: okonomiyaki and teppanyaki with alcoholic beverages and soft drinks. Pretty much every store inside has a history behind it, and while some establishments’ okonomiyaki may taste better than others’, you won’t find a terrible okonomiyaki here. Lots of locals swing by during lunch breaks or on the way home from work, and some undoubtedly have found a store that they swear by. 

The modern seven-story building is the cultural headquarters of Hiroshima style okonomiyaki, a dish the locals like to

The “Tabete Minsai-yaki” okonomiyaki from Kaeruttei. Owner, Reiko Hirata, says they use Marubayashi noodles. Marubayashi is a Hiroshima-based noodle company that has been making noodles since 1948. (Joy Photo / Michael Farrell)

call “Hiroshima’s soul food.” It is the direct descendant of the 1950s era street-food bazaars that once filled Nishi Shintechi Square—the modern Alice Garden plaza, right next to Okonomimura. Back then, up to 50 food stands filled the square selling mostly okonomiyaki on griddles pulled out of the rubble. 

Okonomiyaki is the city’s reconstruction food. It grew out of the ashes of the atomic bomb as people scrounged to reassemble their lives and put food on the table. After the bomb, as lives started coming back together, people started innovating on a popular pre-war snack known as issen yoshoku—literally “one hundredth of a yen Western food.” Issen yoshoku was a flour-based batter cooked with dried shrimp, onions and various condiments. On top of this, locals began layering whatever they had on hand. In fact, the name “okonomiyaki” translates to “fried whatever-you-like.” With wheat flour plentiful from U.S. aid, wheat soba noodles became a popular addition. Cabbage, a source of vitamin C and an easy vegetable to grow, also became an essential ingredient. Eventually strips of pork were added along with eggs and a thick, brown sauce.

A solace and a rock in hard times, okonomiyaki was massively popular, becoming synonymous with reconstruction and Hiroshima’s enduring spirit. “[Nishi-Shintenchi Square] was lively until late at night, with people coming after work, taxi drivers, and newspaper workers,” Kyoko Okita told the Chugoku Shimbun in 2023. Okita, 82 when she spoke to the paper, helped out at the original Rei-chan okonomiyaki stall, now located in Hiroshima Station.

It was during this time that the writer, Minoru Kida, saw the vibrant scene of glowing food stall tents clustered together in Nishi-Shintenchi Square and exclaimed, “It’s just like an okonomi village,” and the name was born.

However, in 1965 Nishi-Shintenchi Square was closed to street vendors to crack down on unauthorized shops and late-night noise. The shops needed a place to go. Many of them moved into the first Okonomimura building, built the same year. It quickly became a hit and even attracted school groups and visitors from other cities when they came to tour Hiroshima.

Due to safety concerns, the original building was closed in 1990. The current building, Shintenchi Plaza, opened in 1992

Close up of “The Hiroshima Special” from Sarashina. Sarashina’s okonomiyaki is unique for using fish powder and dried seaweed to season their okonomiyaki. (Joy Photos / Michael Farrell)

in the same spot. And just as the original street food bazaar included a variety of restaurants, not all the shops in Okonomimura are okonomiyaki shops. The 1st floor includes an oyster bar, an izakaya and a beef bowl shop. The upper floors typically house izakayas. However, as the core has always been okonomiyaki, the 2nd through 4th floors are filled with 25 different okonomiyaki shops, some of which, like Sarashina (founded in 1951), can trace their origins to the original street food stands in Nishi-Shintenchi Square. 

Currently, the 6th and 7th floors of Shintenchi Plaza do not have active businesses. 

In 2025, Okonomimura celebrates its 60th anniversary — carrying forward a legacy of survival, ingenuity, community, love and joy from the survivors of the unimaginable. 

If your travel plans don’t take you into downtown Hiroshima, and you still want to try Hiroshima style okonomiyaki, there are many options around Hiroshima Station, like Rei-chan, a Shintenchi original shop, located on the 1st floor of the station’s Ekie Dining area. And then there is Okonomi Story Ekimae Hiroba, a modern recreation of the old okonomiyaki street food stands. It can be found on the 6th floor of the Hiroshima Full Focus Building across from Hiroshima Station.

Additional reporting by Kevin Peng

The Mihara Castle Ruins are the ruins of the great Mihara Castle that once existed in Mihara City, Hiroshima Prefecture. Although only a part of the castle still exists, such as the castle tower (the stone foundation of the castle tower), the moat surrounding the castle, and the Funairi Tower, it is known as a popular tourist spot visited by most of the tourists who come to Mihara City for sightseeing due to its convenience of being just a short walk from JR Mihara Station. This is one of the few places in Japan where you can see part of the castle ruins from the platform of JR Mihara Station, or even from the JR train.

Okonomiyaki Tetchan is a popular okonomiyaki restaurant in Mihara City. There are 7 other restaurants all thoughout Japan including Hiroshima, Osaka, Tokyo, boasting nationwide popularity. Okonomiyaki Tetchan offers a wide variety of okonomiyaki, including modern-yaki (Osaka-style but with noodles) and Mihara-yaki topped with chicken offal. Mihara-yaki is a very rare dish that can only be found in the Mihara okonomiyaki restaurants in Hiroshima Prefecture.

Kure City was once the location of the largest naval arsenal in Japan. During World War II, the city built the great Battleship Yamato, which was one of the world’s largest battleships at the time. After the war, the city built many of the world’s largest trading tankers, and today Kure continues to flourish as a shipbuilding town. The Yamato Museum, located a five-minute walk from Kure Station, is a museum that introduces the modern history of Kure’s use as a military port and Kure’s world-class shipbuilding and their application of science and technology over the ages. The museum has valuable artifacts such as a full-size Type 62 Zero fighter plane and an exhibition room that explains shipbuilding and other scientific advancements in a step-by-step manner that is easy to understand for everyone.

(Exhibition Admission Fee)
General (University students
and above) – ¥500
High School students – ¥300
Elementary/Junior High School
students – ¥200
Preschoolers – Free
※ If you are a student, please
present your passport or
school ID at reception when
purchasing your ticket.