The free building
most people walk past.
It is underground, between the museum and the Cenotaph, and it costs nothing. Inside are a circular Hall of Remembrance, a searchable archive of victims' names and photographs, and a video library of survivor testimony subtitled in more than 20 languages. Twice a month it also reads survivors' memoirs aloud in English, free, with no booking.
Free, open from 8:30, and the most under-used 45 minutes in the park — FY2025 was its first year above half a million visitors (a record 515,784), against 2,580,926 next door at the museum. The Hall of Remembrance and the testimony video library take about 45 minutes. Add 40 more if you time your visit to one of the free English memoir readings: the 2nd Sunday and 4th Friday of the month at 14:30, or the 3rd Tuesday at 11:00.
A national facility, not a second museum
What it isThe Hall is run by the national government rather than the city, and it does a different job from the museum next door. The museum explains what happened. The Hall records who it happened to, by name, and gives them a room to be counted in.
You go down a spiral ramp into a circular Hall of Remembrance lined with a panoramic view of the ruined city, assembled from tiles — one for each of the roughly 140,000 people thought to have died by the end of 1945. We have not independently closed out the exact tile count, so treat that as the widely reported figure rather than a verified one. The room is silent, water-lined and almost empty most hours of the day.
Beyond it are the two things that make the Hall worth the 45 minutes: a searchable register of victims' names and photographs, contributed by families, and a video library of survivor testimony subtitled in more than 20 languages. You sit at a booth and choose. Nobody hurries you, and there is no charge for any of it.
We don't put a verdict badge on the Peace Memorial Museum, the Park, the Dome or the Cenotaph. They aren't purchases to be assessed, and ¥200 against 140,000 dead isn't a value calculation. Where a guided tour of them is worth the money we say so about the tour, not about the place.
Free memoir readings — the schedule almost nobody publishes
The readingsForty minutes, free, no booking, in Basement 1 Training Room 3. A reader delivers a survivor's written memoir aloud. It is the third free testimony option in the park and the one that appears on the fewest travel sites.
| Language | When | Time | Booking |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | 2nd Sunday of the month | 14:30–15:10 | None — turn up |
| English | 4th Friday of the month | 14:30–15:10 | None — turn up |
| English | 3rd Tuesday of the month | 11:00–11:40 | None — turn up |
| Japanese | Regularly, alongside the English sessions | 40 minutes | None |
If your dates miss all three, the museum's daily English testimony talk runs 13:00–14:00 every day with no booking — the full picture is on the testimony page.
How to fit it in, and when it is quiet
TimingThe Hall sits between the museum and the Cenotaph, so it costs you no walking at all. The efficient order is museum first — reserved 7:30 slot if you can get it — then the Hall around 10:30 or 11:00, when the museum is filling up and the Hall is not. It is also the right building for a wet afternoon: it is entirely underground.
It broke 500,000 visitors for the first time in FY2025, at a record 515,784. That sounds like a lot until you set it against the 2,580,926 admissions the museum took in the same year. Roughly four in five people who pay ¥200 next door never come down the ramp.
The hours are now confirmed and they are useful: 8:30–18:00 from March to July and September to November, 8:30–19:00 in August with a 20:00 close on 5 and 6 August, and 8:30–17:00 from December to February. That 8:30 opening is an hour earlier than most itineraries assume, which makes the Hall a genuinely good first stop — you can be underground and alone at 8:35 while the museum queue is still forming. The address is 1-6 Nakajima-cho, Naka-ku, and the number is 082-543-6271.
The one caveat is 6 August itself: the Hall's published hours run to 20:00 that day, but the park around it is closed to the public from 05:00 to 09:00 for the ceremony, so in practice you are not walking in before 09:00. See the 6 August page.
The practical bit
Plan your visitThe National Peace Memorial Hall — questions
FAQPage schema pairedIs the National Peace Memorial Hall free?
Yes, entirely — the Hall of Remembrance, the victims' name and photograph register, the testimony video library and the memoir readings all cost nothing. The only thing you pay for anywhere in this part of the park is the ¥200 museum ticket next door.
What is inside the National Peace Memorial Hall?
A spiral ramp down to a circular Hall of Remembrance, whose panorama of the ruined city is assembled from tiles standing for the roughly 140,000 people thought to have died by the end of 1945; a searchable register of victims' names and photographs; and a video archive of survivor testimony subtitled in more than 20 languages. Budget 45 minutes.
What are the free memoir readings, and do I need to book?
No booking, no charge. A reader delivers a survivor's written memoir aloud for 40 minutes in Basement 1, Training Room 3. English sessions run on the 2nd Sunday and the 4th Friday of the month at 14:30–15:10, and on the 3rd Tuesday at 11:00–11:40. Turn up five minutes early and sit down.
How long do you need at the Memorial Hall?
About 45 minutes for the Hall of Remembrance and a session at the testimony video booths. Make it 85 minutes if you have timed your visit to a 40-minute memoir reading. It is the shortest of the three main buildings in the park.
Is the Memorial Hall busy?
Far less than the museum. FY2025 was its first year over half a million visitors at 515,784, against 2,580,926 museum admissions in the same period — so roughly four out of five people who pay to go into the museum never come down here at all. Mid-morning, around 10:30, it is usually near-empty.
What are the National Peace Memorial Hall's opening hours?
8:30–18:00 from March to July and September to November, 8:30–19:00 in August with a 20:00 close on 5 and 6 August, and 8:30–17:00 from December to February. The 8:30 opening is the useful part — it is an hour before most people arrive in the park, and the Hall is free, so an early half-hour here costs nothing but the tram fare.
Is the Memorial Hall the same thing as the Peace Memorial Museum?
No. The museum is run by the city and charges ¥200; the Hall is a national facility and is free. They are about 100 metres apart and do different jobs — the museum explains the bombing, the Hall records the individual dead and archives what survivors said about it.
Is it a good option in bad weather?
Yes — it is entirely underground, so rain is irrelevant, and it holds 45 minutes comfortably. Paired with the museum's two to three hours you have a full half-day indoors without leaving a 200-metre radius.
Booking and getting there
PracticalNothing here needs booking and nothing here costs money. These are guided options for the park around it, and a hotel search, placed at the foot of the page.