The free building
most people walk past.
It is underground, between the museum and the Cenotaph, and it costs nothing. Inside are a circular Hall of Remembrance, a searchable archive of victims' names and photographs, and a video library of survivor testimony subtitled in 23 languages. Three times a month it also reads survivors' memoirs aloud in English, free, with no booking.
Free, underground between the museum and the Cenotaph, and the most under-used 45 minutes in the park — the museum next door took 2,580,926 admissions in FY2025, and the Hall, free and underground, is far quieter. The Hall of Remembrance and the testimony video library take about 45 minutes. Add 40 more if you time your visit to one of the free English memoir readings: the 2nd Sunday and 4th Friday of the month at 14:30, or the 3rd Tuesday at 11:00.
A national facility, not a second museum
What it isThe Hall is run by the national government rather than the city, and it does a different job from the museum next door. The museum explains what happened. The Hall records who it happened to, by name, and gives them a room to be counted in.
You go down a spiral ramp into a circular Hall of Remembrance lined with a panoramic view of the ruined city, assembled from roughly 140,000 tiles — one for each of the people estimated to have died by the end of 1945. The panorama is the view from the hypocentre, built from a US military photograph taken in October 1945. The room is silent, water-lined and almost empty most hours of the day.
Beyond it are the two things that make the Hall worth the 45 minutes: a searchable register of victims' names and photographs, contributed by families, and a video library of survivor testimony subtitled in 23 languages. You sit at a booth and choose. Nobody hurries you, and there is no charge for any of it.
We don't put a verdict badge on the Peace Memorial Museum, the Park, the Dome or the Cenotaph. They aren't purchases to be assessed, and ¥200 against 140,000 dead isn't a value calculation. Where a guided tour of them is worth the money we say so about the tour, not about the place.
Free memoir readings — the schedule almost nobody publishes
The readingsForty minutes, free, no booking, in Seminar Room 3 on the upper basement floor. A reader delivers a survivor's written memoir aloud. It is the third free testimony option in the park and the one that appears on the fewest travel sites.
| Language | When | Time | Booking |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | 2nd Sunday of the month | 14:30–15:10 | None — turn up |
| English | 4th Friday of the month | 14:30–15:10 | None — turn up |
| English | 3rd Tuesday of the month | 11:00–11:40 | None — turn up |
| Japanese | 3rd Sunday of the month | 11:00–11:40 and 14:30–15:10 | None |
If your dates miss all three, the museum's daily English testimony talk runs 13:00–14:00 every day with no booking — the full picture is on the testimony page.
Rather book it?The bombing and its legacy on GetYourGuide ↗
How to fit it in, and when it is quiet
TimingThe Hall sits between the museum and the Cenotaph, so it costs you no walking at all. The efficient order is museum first — reserved 7:30 slot if you can get it — then the Hall around 10:30 or 11:00, when the museum is filling up and the Hall is not. It is also the right building for a wet afternoon: it is entirely underground.
Set it against the museum next door, which took 2,580,926 admissions in FY2025: the Hall is free, underground and far quieter, and on most visits you will share the Hall of Remembrance with a handful of people.
It also opens earlier in the day than most itineraries assume, which makes it a genuinely good first stop while the museum queue is still forming — opening times change by season, so check the Hall's own site or the Google Maps link. It is free on every day it is open and closes only on 30–31 December. The number is 082-543-6271.
The one caveat is 6 August itself: the park around it is closed to the public in the early morning for the ceremony (05:00–09:00 in 2026), and the Hall opens once that cordon lifts. See the 6 August page.
The practical bit
Plan your visitThe National Peace Memorial Hall — questions
Straight answersIs the National Peace Memorial Hall free?
Yes, entirely — the Hall of Remembrance, the victims' name and photograph register, the testimony video library and the memoir readings all cost nothing. The only thing you pay for anywhere in this part of the park is the ¥200 museum ticket next door.
What is inside the National Peace Memorial Hall?
A spiral ramp down to a circular Hall of Remembrance, whose panorama of the ruined city is assembled from roughly 140,000 tiles, one for each of the people estimated to have died by the end of 1945; a searchable register of victims' names and photographs; and a video archive of survivor testimony subtitled in 23 languages. Budget 45 minutes.
What are the free memoir readings, and do I need to book?
No booking, no charge. Volunteer readers deliver survivors' written memoirs and A-bomb poems aloud for 40 minutes in Seminar Room 3, on the upper basement floor. English sessions run on the 2nd Sunday and the 4th Friday of the month at 14:30–15:10, and on the 3rd Tuesday at 11:00–11:40; Japanese sessions on the 3rd Sunday. Turn up five minutes early and sit down.
How long do you need at the Memorial Hall?
About 45 minutes for the Hall of Remembrance and a session at the testimony video booths. Make it 85 minutes if you have timed your visit to a 40-minute memoir reading. It is the shortest of the three main buildings in the park.
Is the Memorial Hall busy?
Far less than the museum, which took 2,580,926 admissions in FY2025. Mid-morning, around 10:30, it is usually near-empty.
Who runs the National Peace Memorial Hall?
The national government. It was built under the 1994 Atomic Bomb Survivors' Assistance Act, designed by Kenzō Tange, opened on 1 August 2002, and is operated by the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation for the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. It is closed only on 30–31 December; opening times change by season, so check before an early or late visit.
Is the Memorial Hall the same thing as the Peace Memorial Museum?
No. The museum is run by the city and charges ¥200; the Hall is a national facility and is free. They are about 100 metres apart and do different jobs — the museum explains the bombing, the Hall records the individual dead and archives what survivors said about it.
Is it a good option in bad weather?
Yes — it is entirely underground, so rain is irrelevant, and it holds 45 minutes comfortably. Paired with the museum's two to three hours you have a full half-day indoors without leaving a 200-metre radius.
Booking and getting there
PracticalNothing here needs booking and nothing here costs money. These are guided options for the park around it, and a hotel search, placed at the foot of the page.
Sources
Where these facts come from- Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall — memoir readings hiro-tsuitokinenkan.go.jp
- Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall — floor guide hiro-tsuitokinenkan.go.jp
- Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall — translations of testimony videos hiro-tsuitokinenkan.go.jp
- Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall — about the Hall hiro-tsuitokinenkan.go.jp
- Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall — visiting hiro-tsuitokinenkan.go.jp
The prices, dates and rules on this page that come from these sources were checked against them on . Operators change prices without notice — the official page wins if it disagrees with us. Spotted something out of date? Tell us — it gets fixed.