Museums in Hiroshima

The Hiroshima Museum of Art is a distinctive circular building set within the lush greenery of Chuo Park, housing an impressive collection of French Impressionist masterpieces and modern Japanese paintings.

The Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum sits elegantly beside Shukkeien Garden, offering a refined collection spanning European masters to contemporary Japanese art, with a particular strength in works by Hiroshima-born painter Hirayama Ikuo.

The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum is the most visited peace museum in the world, documenting the catastrophic atomic bombing of August 6, 1945 and its aftermath. Redesigned and reopened in 2019, the museum presents deeply personal accounts alongside artifacts recovered from the ruins.

The Yamato Museum in nearby Kure is dedicated to the maritime history of the region, anchored by a breathtaking 1/10 scale model of the legendary battleship Yamato — the largest warship ever built.

Perched atop Hijiyama Hill, the Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art (Hiroshima MOCA) was Japan's first public museum dedicated exclusively to contemporary art when it opened in 1989. Designed by renowned architect Kurokawa Kisho.

The JMSDF Kure Museum (nicknamed Tetsu no Kujira — Iron Whale) is a free naval museum in Kure featuring a full-size decommissioned Oyashio-class submarine that visitors can walk through.

The Mazda Museum offers a unique factory tour at the company's global headquarters in Hiroshima, tracing the automaker's history from cork production to the revolutionary rotary engine and modern vehicle assembly.