Heiwa Kinen Koen and Hiroshima’s river island of remembrance

Heiwa Kinen Koen occupies a low island between branches of the ?ta River in central Hiroshima. Its lawns, museums and memorials form a broad public landscape, while the skeletal Genbaku Dome remains visible across the Motoyasu River.

The park was completed on 1 April 1954 after a plan by architect Kenzo Tange and colleagues. Its defining feature is the meeting of open green space with preserved industrial architecture and memorial structures.

Heiwa Kinen Koen between Hiroshima’s rivers

The park lies in Nakajima, within Hiroshima’s central Naka Ward. The Motoyasu River borders the western side, while the Honkawa River runs along the eastern edge, placing the memorial landscape within the city’s waterways.

Approximately 122,100 square metres form the park’s lawns, paths, tree plantings and memorial precincts. The scale is urban rather than remote: streets, bridges and office buildings surround the island, while the park itself contains a concentrated group of civic and commemorative buildings.

Heiwa Kinen Koen is arranged around a north–south axis. The Peace Memorial Museum, Memorial Cenotaph and Peace Flame occupy the central sequence, with the Genbaku Dome visible beyond the river. This alignment is the clearest expression of Tange’s plan, which joined buildings, open ground and monuments into one composition.

Kenzo Tange’s 1954 memorial landscape

Kenzo Tange’s design emerged from Hiroshima’s post-war reconstruction. The Hiroshima Peace Memorial City Construction Law of 1949 established the Nakajima district as a site for peace memorial facilities, and a design competition followed.

The completed park belongs to the architecture of the early post-war period. Its concrete museum buildings use strong horizontal lines, raised sections and open spaces, while the surrounding lawns provide room for monuments, trees and ceremonial movement.

The park’s main buildings are closely related in position and scale. The Peace Memorial Museum occupies the southern part of the axis, and the Memorial Cenotaph stands farther north. The Peace Flame and Peace Pond sit within the same sequence, linking water, stone and concrete.

The park’s completion date is recorded as 1 April 1954. The park was a joint work by three designers, including Tange, whose proposal received first place in the competition.

The Genbaku Dome across the Motoyasu River

The Genbaku Dome is the most immediately recognisable structure associated with Heiwa Kinen Koen. It stands across the Motoyasu River, close enough for its exposed brick walls, steel framework and damaged dome to remain part of the park’s visual field.

The building was designed by Czech architect Jan Letzel and completed in 1915 as the Hiroshima Prefectural Commercial Exhibition Hall. Its name changed in 1921 and again in 1933, when it became the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall.

On 6 August 1945, the first atomic bomb used in war exploded over Hiroshima. The building remained standing in skeletal form, and Hiroshima City Council adopted a resolution in 1966 for its permanent preservation.

The Genbaku Dome became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996. The historic dome and park are linked by the river, the central axis and the shared memory of 6 August 1945.

The Peace Memorial Museum opened in 1955. Its exhibitions, the Cenotaph, the Peace Flame, the Children’s Peace Monument and other memorials give the park distinct points of reference, while the lawns preserve a continuous open setting between them.

Heiwa Kinen Koen therefore combines two kinds of surviving fabric. The park is a planned post-war landscape, while the Genbaku Dome is a preserved pre-war building whose damaged structure remains visible across the water.

Visiting Heiwa Kinen Koen: what travellers from Western Europe should know

• Heiwa Kinen Koen is in central Hiroshima’s Nakajima district, between the Motoyasu and Honkawa rivers. Hiroshima Electric Railway trams serve the Genbaku Dome Mae stop near the northern end.
• The park is a low river island with paved paths, lawns, bridges and memorial buildings. The approach includes ordinary urban walking, with no mountain terrain or high-altitude route.
• The official language is Japanese and the currency is the Japanese yen.
• The Genbaku Dome lies across the Motoyasu River from the main park. The Peace Memorial Museum, Memorial Cenotaph and Peace Flame are within the central park composition.
• Entry requirements depend on your nationality; UK travellers can check the FCDO travel advice at gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice, Irish travellers the Department of Foreign Affairs at ireland.ie.

Searching for Heiwa Kinen Koen on social platforms

These links open searches for Heiwa Kinen Koen on each platform.

Frequently asked questions about Heiwa Kinen Koen

Where is Heiwa Kinen Koen?

Heiwa Kinen Koen is in central Hiroshima’s Nakajima district, on an island formed by branches of the ?ta River.

What can visitors see there?

The park contains the Peace Memorial Museum, Memorial Cenotaph, Peace Flame, memorial monuments and lawns, with the Genbaku Dome across the Motoyasu River.

What makes the park distinctive?

Its planned 1954 landscape brings post-war concrete architecture and open lawns together with the preserved 1915 Genbaku Dome.