Peace Museum visitors reach record 1.75 million in 2019 despite one-month closure due to coronavirus, demonstrating building-renovation, other effects
Apr. 8, 2020
(by Junji Akechi, Staff Writer)
On April 7, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, in the city’s Naka Ward, announced that the number of visitors to the museum reached 1,758,746 in fiscal 2019, the largest visitor number since the museum first opened in fiscal 1955. With its closure since February 29 because of the spread of novel coronavirus, the museum recorded the record visitor number over the span of 11 months. The record seemed to result from the effects of its main building’s renovation, completed in April last year, as well as enhanced interest in the facilities among overseas tourists.
The number of visitors to the museum, located in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, increased by 236,293 (15.5 percent) compared with the number recorded in fiscal 2018, which was flat due to the torrential rains in western Japan that year. Looking at visitor number by month, a significant increase was observed from July through October, recording year-over-year growth of between 30.7 and 51.2 percent during that period. Affected by the spread of the novel coronavirus, the growth rate slowed to 11.2 percent in the month of February this year. With the museum temporarily shut down since February 29, the number of visitors recorded in March was zero.
The number of overseas visitors was 522,781, setting a record for the seventh consecutive year. Overseas visitors accounted for 29.7 percent of all visitors, a record-high percentage. Museum staff considers that positive reviews of the museum from visitors posted on Tripadvisor, the world’s largest travel review website, contributed to the increase in overseas visitors.
The previous largest visitor number, 1,739,986, was recorded in fiscal 2016, a year when Hiroshima captured the world’s attention after then U.S. President Barack Obama visited the city.
The visitor number in fiscal 2019 exceeded that previous 2016 record by 18,760 people. The number of international visitors increased significantly by 156,002, while the visitors from Japan decreased by 137,242. “Our prerequisites are for the pandemic to be contained and our visitors’ health and well-being to be assured,” a museum official was quoted as saying. “On top of that, we hope to create momentum also for increased numbers of Japanese visitors to our museum, by improving the displays in the museum and holding A-bomb exhibits throughout Japan.”
The Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims, which is also located in Peace Memorial Park, announced it had received 379,163 visitors during fiscal 2019. That number represented a decrease of 54,749 visitors (12.6 percent) compared with fiscal 2018. The hall calculates that, in addition to coronavirus effects such as temporary closure of the facilities, a smaller number of tourists on tours visited the hall because they spent more time in the newly renovated museum.
(Originally published on April 8, 2020)
On April 7, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, in the city’s Naka Ward, announced that the number of visitors to the museum reached 1,758,746 in fiscal 2019, the largest visitor number since the museum first opened in fiscal 1955. With its closure since February 29 because of the spread of novel coronavirus, the museum recorded the record visitor number over the span of 11 months. The record seemed to result from the effects of its main building’s renovation, completed in April last year, as well as enhanced interest in the facilities among overseas tourists.
The number of visitors to the museum, located in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, increased by 236,293 (15.5 percent) compared with the number recorded in fiscal 2018, which was flat due to the torrential rains in western Japan that year. Looking at visitor number by month, a significant increase was observed from July through October, recording year-over-year growth of between 30.7 and 51.2 percent during that period. Affected by the spread of the novel coronavirus, the growth rate slowed to 11.2 percent in the month of February this year. With the museum temporarily shut down since February 29, the number of visitors recorded in March was zero.
The number of overseas visitors was 522,781, setting a record for the seventh consecutive year. Overseas visitors accounted for 29.7 percent of all visitors, a record-high percentage. Museum staff considers that positive reviews of the museum from visitors posted on Tripadvisor, the world’s largest travel review website, contributed to the increase in overseas visitors.
The previous largest visitor number, 1,739,986, was recorded in fiscal 2016, a year when Hiroshima captured the world’s attention after then U.S. President Barack Obama visited the city.
The visitor number in fiscal 2019 exceeded that previous 2016 record by 18,760 people. The number of international visitors increased significantly by 156,002, while the visitors from Japan decreased by 137,242. “Our prerequisites are for the pandemic to be contained and our visitors’ health and well-being to be assured,” a museum official was quoted as saying. “On top of that, we hope to create momentum also for increased numbers of Japanese visitors to our museum, by improving the displays in the museum and holding A-bomb exhibits throughout Japan.”
The Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims, which is also located in Peace Memorial Park, announced it had received 379,163 visitors during fiscal 2019. That number represented a decrease of 54,749 visitors (12.6 percent) compared with fiscal 2018. The hall calculates that, in addition to coronavirus effects such as temporary closure of the facilities, a smaller number of tourists on tours visited the hall because they spent more time in the newly renovated museum.
(Originally published on April 8, 2020)
