Discover Hiroshima

Tragedy has turned Hiroshima, the main city of the Chugoku Region on Japan’s main island of Honshu, into the country’s most famous tourist attraction.

On August 6, 1945 the unfortunate city became the first ever target of an atomic bomb. Early in the morning three United States B-29 bombers flew in from the northeast; one dropped its deadly ordnance over the centre of the city, leaving a mushroom cloud that darkened the sky while more than 200,000 civilians died.

Today thousands of visitors make a pilgrimage to Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park, marvelling at the lively modern city that has overcome its tragedy to become the thriving home to more than a million people.

Not surprisingly the city has become vehemently engaged in the promotion of peace. Visitors are drawn mainly to the Peace Memorial Park and its museum, but the rebuilt city is an attractive place to visit in its own right, criss-crossed by rivers and wide avenues and containing several good museums. Nearby are some of Japan’s most scenic excursion destinations.

Fast Facts

• Target of the world's first atomic bomb attack
• Rebuilt as a modern, clean, open city
• Population: 1,200,000
• Founded in 1589 by Terumoto Mori
• Easy to navigate on foot or street car
• Within easy reach of Miyajima and rural Shimane
• Home of the Mazda Motor Corporation