Ruins can still be seen since the atomic bomb landed and killed hundreds of thousands. This is a park that every human being’s responsibility to visit so that something this vile and terrible will never happen again.

Shukkeien Garden is Hiroshima’s largest garden and it is also incredibly beautiful. This Japanese style garden has a long standing history that dates back to the 1600’s. It was originally constructed as a villa for local feudal lord. Shukkeien literally translates to shrink scenery garden and it displays a hint of Chinese design miniaturized in forms of ponds, bridges and various plants.

Definitely worth a visit if you are in Hiroshima visiting it’s Peace Garden. A little nature walk might take the heaviness off your chest.

How to get there?

Shukkeien is a 15 minute walk from Hiroshima Station, located just next to the Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum. Streetcar number 9 stops just in front of the garden at “Shukkeien-mae”. From Hiroshima Station, take streetcar line 1, 2 or 6 to Hacchobori where transferring to streetcar line 9.

Via Japan-Guide.

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Perfecture, the largest city of Chugoku region. This is the place where the Peace Memorial Park is - a park dedicated to the legacy of Hiroshima as the first city in the world to be nuclear bombed. There are a variety of monuments around the park that commemorates the events that evolved since the black day of the bombings.

This historical site is a must visit for anyone, of any age, for it is an educational site for the understanding of devastation that wars cause. Something which i think everyone in the world should understand and feel strongly about. The innocent lives of those who perished are remembered by the monuments built around the park - they are symbols that reminds us to be peaceful.

Statue of the A-bomb Children is also erected on the Park to commemorate a little girl who suffered from radiation after the bomb dropped. She believed that if she folded 1000 cranes, she would healed, therefore the statue is of a little folding a crane ontop of a dome like architecture. Many people who visit the park, replenish the paper cranes and leave it around the statue to represent peace and world fellowship.

Near the center of the park is a concrete, saddle-shaped monument that covers a Cenotaph holding the names of all of the people killed by the bomb. The Cenotaph carries the epitaph, “Repose ye in Peace, for the error shall not be repeated.” Through the monument you can see the Peace Flame and the A-Bomb Dome.

Hiroshima’s Peace Park including the memorial museum and the island of Miyajima (literally translated to shrine island) is located 40 minutes away from the city center by train and ferry. The park and museum are among Japan’s most interesting tourist attractions.

Source: Wikipedia, Hiroshima Travel Guide