Human Shadow Etched in Stone

The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum is a museum located in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, in central Hiroshima, Japan, dedicated to documenting the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in World War II. The museum was established in August 1955 with the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Hall (now the International Conference Center Hiroshima). It is the most popular of Hiroshima's destinations for school field-trips from all over Japan and for international visitors. 53 million people had visited the museum from its opening in 1955 through 2005, averaging over one million visitors per year. The architect of the main building was Kenzō Tange.

Hiroshima (広島市, Hiroshima-shi, , also UK: , US: , [çiɾoɕima] ) 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. Since being rebuilt after the war, Hiroshima has become the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu.

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 National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims is one of the National Memorial Halls in Hiroshima, Japan.

The Children's Peace Monument (原爆の子の像, Genbaku no Ko no Zō, lit. "Atomic Bomb Children Statue") is a monument for peace to commemorate Sadako Sasaki and the thousands of child victims of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. This monument is located in Hiroshima, Japan. Sadako Sasaki, a young girl, died of leukemia from radiation of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945.

Shima Hospital (島病院, Shima byōin) is a Japanese hospital, now clinic, in Hiroshima, Japan. It was the exact location where the atomic bombing of Hiroshima took place on August 6, 1945. Shima Hospital is considered to be ground zero.In 1948, the hospital was rebuilt from the ground up by Dr. Kaoru Shima. The reconstructed Shima Surgery is still in operation to the present day under the name Shima Internist Hospital (島内科医院 Shima naika iin). Specialities of the present Shima Hospital are surgery, orthopaedics, internal medicine, and endoscopic treatment of the digestive organs. Adjacent to the Shima Hospital is a monument marking the hypocenter of the atomic blast, which is located about a five-minute walk away from the city's Atomic Bomb Dome or "A-Dome."

Fukuro-machi is a Hiroden station (tram stop) on the Hiroden Ujina Line located in Ote-machi 2-chome, Naka-ku, Hiroshima.

The Hiroshima Peace Memorial (広島平和記念碑, Hiroshima Heiwa Kinenhi), originally the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall, and now commonly called the Genbaku Dome, Atomic Bomb Dome or A-Bomb Dome (原爆ドーム, Genbaku Dōmu), is part of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, Japan and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996.The building was the only structure that remained standing in the area around the atomic bombing of Hiroshima at the end of World War II. The ruin of the hall serves as a memorial to the over 140,000 people who were killed in the bombing. It is permanently kept in a state of preserved ruin as a reminder of the destructive effects of nuclear warfare.

The Honkawa Elementary School Peace Museum (本川小学校平和資料館 Honkawa Shogakkou Heiwa Shiryokan) is a museum of the Peace in Honkawacho, Naka-ku, Hiroshima, Japan. The school was the closest school to ground zero of the Hiroshima bombing. They lost about 400 students and more than 10 teachers, and the building took great amounts of damage from the atomic bomb dropped on August 6, 1945. The Peace Museum is the part of the school building with the basement of the former Hiroshima City Honkawa Elementary School; it is kept as a place to learn about the importance of peace. The museum is operated by the Honkawa Elementary School PTA, as well as former members of the PTA, and is cleaned and maintained by the students. The memorial service for the students and teachers killed in the blast is held every August 5 at the school. The school has also appeared in the manga Barefoot Gen, written by Keiji Nakazawa.

Chuden-mae is a Hiroden station (tram stop) on Hiroden Ujina Line located in Ote-machi 3-chome, Naka-ku, Hiroshima.

The Aioi Bridge (相生橋, aioi bashi) is an unusual T-shaped three-way bridge in Hiroshima, Japan. The original bridge, constructed in 1932, was the aiming point for the 1945 Hiroshima atom bomb because its shape was easily recognized from the air and also because the bridge was close to the center of the city. Although the bridge was not destroyed by the atomic blast, it did sustain heavy damage. After the war, the bridge was repaired and remained in service for nearly four decades, before it was replaced by a new bridge (built as a replica) in 1983. A surviving portion of a floor girder from the original bridge was subsequently donated to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. The longer part of the bridge crosses the Ōta River just to the north of the island containing the district of Nakajima-cho. The downstroke of the "T" links the main bridge to the island, and is also the north entrance to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.

Genbaku Dome-mae (Atomic Bomb Dome) is a Hiroden tram stop on the Hiroden Main Line, located in front of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial in Ote-machi 1-chome, Naka-ku, Hiroshima, Japan.