Hiroshima prefectural government to set up booth at Osaka Expo around August 6, VR experience of devastation by atomic bombing, recovery
Mar. 7, 2025
by Masanori Wada, Staff Writer
Visitors to the Osaka, Kansai Expo will be able to have a simulated virtual reality (VR) experience of what Hiroshima was like before and after the atomic bombing by the U.S. The Hiroshima prefectural government will set up a booth to convey the horrors of nuclear weapons as well as the process of Hiroshima’s recovery as a city of peace. The expo is scheduled to open in April, and the booth will be open for five days around August 6, the anniversary of the atomic bombing.
The booth, which will be in the 300-square-meter indoor exhibition space “Gallery EAST” from August 5 through 9, will have three areas. In the Peace Zone, visitors will be able to use VR goggles to simulatively experience the city center destroyed by the atomic bomb. They will also be able to make paper cranes and post them on social networking sites. On the anniversary of the atomic bombing, a discussion between U.N. officials and young people to be held in Hiroshima will be streamed.
In the Main Content Area, visitors can experience through images and music how Hiroshima reemerged as a city symbolizing peace after the war. The Energy Zone will promote the appeal of the prefecture’s agricultural and marine products and food culture with a view toward attracting tourists from inside and outside the country.
The expo will be held from April to October on the man-made island of Yumeshima in the city of Osaka. The Hiroshima prefectural government aims to attract more than 12,000 visitors to its booth.
(Originally published on March 7, 2025)
Visitors to the Osaka, Kansai Expo will be able to have a simulated virtual reality (VR) experience of what Hiroshima was like before and after the atomic bombing by the U.S. The Hiroshima prefectural government will set up a booth to convey the horrors of nuclear weapons as well as the process of Hiroshima’s recovery as a city of peace. The expo is scheduled to open in April, and the booth will be open for five days around August 6, the anniversary of the atomic bombing.
The booth, which will be in the 300-square-meter indoor exhibition space “Gallery EAST” from August 5 through 9, will have three areas. In the Peace Zone, visitors will be able to use VR goggles to simulatively experience the city center destroyed by the atomic bomb. They will also be able to make paper cranes and post them on social networking sites. On the anniversary of the atomic bombing, a discussion between U.N. officials and young people to be held in Hiroshima will be streamed.
In the Main Content Area, visitors can experience through images and music how Hiroshima reemerged as a city symbolizing peace after the war. The Energy Zone will promote the appeal of the prefecture’s agricultural and marine products and food culture with a view toward attracting tourists from inside and outside the country.
The expo will be held from April to October on the man-made island of Yumeshima in the city of Osaka. The Hiroshima prefectural government aims to attract more than 12,000 visitors to its booth.
(Originally published on March 7, 2025)
