Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum starts sales of stamps for visitors to communicate their impressions through ‘Peace Mail’ service
Apr. 2, 2024
by Keiichi Nohira, Staff Writer
On April 1, the Hiroshima City government began sales of stamps at its Museum Shop on the first floor in the East Building of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, located in the city’s Naka Ward. The city government hopes the stamp sales will lead to increased use of its ‘Peace Mail’ service, through which visitors can write their impressions of their visit to the museum and wishes for peace on postcards, which they can drop in the ‘Peace Post’ mailbox inside the museum.
The Museum Shop started sales of a 63-yen stamp for mail to be delivered in Japan and a 100-yen stamp for international mail. Ever since the visitor lounge Aogiri, on the first floor of the museum’s East Building, stopped selling stamps in March 2022, visitors have been unable to buy postage stamps inside Peace Memorial Park, where the museum is located. Postcards featuring the A-bomb Dome and other images are also available at the Museum Shop.
The Peace Mail service kicked off in August 2006 with the aim of encouraging visitors to send messages about the atomic bombing and peace directly from the museum to people around the world. When postcards are placed in the Peace Post mailbox, in the Information Lounge on the first floor of the museum’s East Building, they are delivered with a postmark featuring a design based on the Cenotaph for the A-Bomb Victims. According to the museum, more than 1,000 postcards were posted in the first year after the service began. Since then, however, the number has declined, and now only those with previous knowledge are aware of the service.
The city’s Peace Promotion Division said, “Our hope is the visitors can describe their impressions on postcards shortly after touring the museum exhibits so their messages will be the recipients’ first step in learning about the reality of the atomic bombing.”
(Originally published on April 2, 2024)
On April 1, the Hiroshima City government began sales of stamps at its Museum Shop on the first floor in the East Building of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, located in the city’s Naka Ward. The city government hopes the stamp sales will lead to increased use of its ‘Peace Mail’ service, through which visitors can write their impressions of their visit to the museum and wishes for peace on postcards, which they can drop in the ‘Peace Post’ mailbox inside the museum.
The Museum Shop started sales of a 63-yen stamp for mail to be delivered in Japan and a 100-yen stamp for international mail. Ever since the visitor lounge Aogiri, on the first floor of the museum’s East Building, stopped selling stamps in March 2022, visitors have been unable to buy postage stamps inside Peace Memorial Park, where the museum is located. Postcards featuring the A-bomb Dome and other images are also available at the Museum Shop.
The Peace Mail service kicked off in August 2006 with the aim of encouraging visitors to send messages about the atomic bombing and peace directly from the museum to people around the world. When postcards are placed in the Peace Post mailbox, in the Information Lounge on the first floor of the museum’s East Building, they are delivered with a postmark featuring a design based on the Cenotaph for the A-Bomb Victims. According to the museum, more than 1,000 postcards were posted in the first year after the service began. Since then, however, the number has declined, and now only those with previous knowledge are aware of the service.
The city’s Peace Promotion Division said, “Our hope is the visitors can describe their impressions on postcards shortly after touring the museum exhibits so their messages will be the recipients’ first step in learning about the reality of the atomic bombing.”
(Originally published on April 2, 2024)
