Though Hiroshima is often known for the horrific event that took place on August 6, 1945 - the world’s first atomic bomb attack - it has picked itself up to become a thriving cosmopolitan city.

  Wide boulevards, sprawling green parks, and a cross between beautiful Japanese design and a taste for Western culture give Hiroshima a style all its own.  However, despite the fact that the city has moved on since the bombing, one of the largest tourist attractions in the city is Peace Memorial Park and the surrounding atomic bomb memorials.
Peace Memorial Park is located at the site of the bombing and over fifty different memorials, statues and monuments surround it.  The area that the park stands on was once one of the busiest merchant districts in Hiroshima, but it was completely destroyed by the bomb.
One of the most recognizable symbols in Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park is the skeletal remains of the Hiroshima Prefectural Commercial Exhibition Hall, now known as the A-Bomb Dome.  Because this building was almost directly beneath the explosion, the walls remained standing.  Visitors will be surprised to find that benches surrounding this once devastating site are now filled with locals, reading and relaxing.
One block away from the A-Bomb Done, visitors can visit a plaque that marks the Hypocenter, which is the exact spot where the A-Bomb exploded.
There are also a number of monuments commemorating people who died in the explosion, including the Memorial Tower to the Mobilized Students, the Monument in Memory of Korean Victims of the A-Bomb, the Atomic Bomb Memorial Mound filled with the ashes of 70,000 unidentified victims and more.
The Peace Memorial Museum documents the event and its aftermath.  It is important to note that this museum, while incredibly moving and interesting, can be hard to stomach.  You’ll need time to decompress after your visit.
Many Americans feel awkward about visiting Hiroshima, considering that the United States was responsible for the bombing.  However, the Japanese in Hiroshima are very welcoming and even the memorials and exhibits about the bombing do not place blame on anyone.  Rather, they promote pacifism.  It’s actually quite impressive and moving to see how Hiroshima moved on after the disaster to be the flourishing city it is today, making it a unique and worthwhile tourist destination.