More than 1.76 million people visit Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum in fiscal 2023, highest number boosted by Hiroshima Summit
Feb. 24, 2024
by Keiichi Nohira, Staff Writer
On February 23, the City of Hiroshima announced the number of visitors to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum in fiscal 2023, which ends at the end of March, reached 1,760,252 (preliminary figure), marking a record high for the first time in four years. The city government attributed the increase partly to the summit of the Group of Seven industrialized nations held in Hiroshima in May last year, which boosted interest in Hiroshima.
By the time the museum closed on February 23, the number of the yearly visitors reached the highest since the museum opened in 1955, exceeding 1,758,746, recorded in fiscal 2019, by 1,506. The increase was largest in April, 3.46 times that of April 2022. The increase in the number of foreign visitors was particularly notable. The city believes that, in addition to the effects of the summit, the relaxation of border control measures against COVID-19 and the depreciation of the yen have also contributed to the increase in the number of visitors.
As part of the measures to reduce congestion, the city began accepting online ticket reservations and sales on March 16. By 3:00 p.m. on March 22, 15,684 people had purchased or reserved tickets. From March 1, the museum will open one hour earlier and close one hour later.
The City’s Peace Promotion Division expects the number of visitors to reach 1.9 million by the end of March. “We will continue to take measures to reduce congestion so as many people as possible can learn the reality of the atomic bombing,” the division said.
(Originally published on February 24, 2024)
On February 23, the City of Hiroshima announced the number of visitors to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum in fiscal 2023, which ends at the end of March, reached 1,760,252 (preliminary figure), marking a record high for the first time in four years. The city government attributed the increase partly to the summit of the Group of Seven industrialized nations held in Hiroshima in May last year, which boosted interest in Hiroshima.
By the time the museum closed on February 23, the number of the yearly visitors reached the highest since the museum opened in 1955, exceeding 1,758,746, recorded in fiscal 2019, by 1,506. The increase was largest in April, 3.46 times that of April 2022. The increase in the number of foreign visitors was particularly notable. The city believes that, in addition to the effects of the summit, the relaxation of border control measures against COVID-19 and the depreciation of the yen have also contributed to the increase in the number of visitors.
As part of the measures to reduce congestion, the city began accepting online ticket reservations and sales on March 16. By 3:00 p.m. on March 22, 15,684 people had purchased or reserved tickets. From March 1, the museum will open one hour earlier and close one hour later.
The City’s Peace Promotion Division expects the number of visitors to reach 1.9 million by the end of March. “We will continue to take measures to reduce congestion so as many people as possible can learn the reality of the atomic bombing,” the division said.
(Originally published on February 24, 2024)
