Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum

Top choice in Hiroshima

The main building of Hiroshima's premier museum houses a collection of items salvaged from the aftermath of the atomic bomb. The displays are confronting and personal – ragged clothes, a child's melted lunchbox, a watch stopped at 8.15am – and there are some grim photographs. While upsetting, it's a must-see in Hiroshima. The east building presents a history of Hiroshima and of the development and destructive power of nuclear weapons.

At the exit, don't miss the first-person video accounts and guestbook of world-leader visitors – including the first visit by a sitting US president, Barack Obama in 2016, who gifted origami cranes.