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Visitors to Peace Memorial Museum hit record high in first half of fiscal year — Annual number could surpass two million for first time, boosted by Hidankyo Nobel Peace Prize

by Michio Shimotaka, Staff Writer

On October 17, a Hiroshima City government survey revealed that the number of visitors to Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, located in the city’s Naka Ward, had reached 1,188,065 people in the first half of the fiscal year (April–September), a 15-percent increase from the same period in 2023, which ended up being the year with the highest annual visitor number in history. The pace of increase hints that the museum might experience two million visitors in a one-year period for the first time. The city government is to put even more effort into measures to mitigate congestion at the museum based on its projections that Nihon Hidankyo being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize will continue to draw many visitors to the museum.

According to the city, the number of international visitors reached around 386,000 people, accounting for more than 30 percent of the total, which was an increase of 3.7 percent year-over-year. The largest number of monthly visitors to the museum of around 237,000 people was achieved in May, a time during which Japan enjoys a long national holiday. In August, the month marking commemorations of the atomic bombings, the museum welcomed around 220,000 guests. Visitors had to wait more than 30 minutes to enter the museum on a total of five days — two days in April and August, respectively, and one in May. The days in August took place during the Obon holiday period, leading to 60-minute and 50-minute wait times.

Last fiscal year, in fiscal 2023, a total of 1,981,782 people visited the museum, driven by the holding of the summit meeting of the G7 (Group of Seven industrialized nations) in the city and the effects of a weak yen. During the Obon period in August that year, 120-minute wait times occurred on three days, along with 90-minute waits on six days. With that, coming up with solutions to deal with crowd sizes was recognized as being an important challenge.

The city government began online ticket sales to enter the museum in March. During the period April–September, 40.5 percent of the visitors used the online system. Meanwhile, the city set aside slots for visitors with reservations by extending open hours one hour in the morning and evening, but visitors taking advantage of the reservation system made up only 26.1 percent of the museum’s visitor capacity (1,200 people per day). A city employee said, “Wait times to enter the museum have been drastically reduced, but we still need to let more people know about the measures we have in place.”

As a new measure to eliminate congestion, the city has created flyers in both Japanese and English to inform people about online ticket sales and times the museum tends to be crowded. On October 17, it started distribution of the flyers to hotels in the city and organizations involved in school field-trip programs. An employee at the Hiroshima City’s Peace Promotion Division said, “To have people better understand the reality of the atomic bombings, we will work on improving the museum’s environs to ensure visitors can focus on the exhibitions.”

(Originally published on October 18, 2024)

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