The first thing you do once you get inside is purchase your tickets.
For the most part, just know that if you get there before 5:00 p.m. and after 8:30 a.m., you should be good.
The price for admission is Y200 for adults, high school students have to pay Y100 (unless it’s a high school trip, as 20 or more is free) and junior high school students and younger are free.
As of right now due to COVID-19, the number of visitors has been limited and so 150 reservation vouchers are given out per half hour.
The museum does not recommend people to come if they have a fever are coughing, have a sore throat or shortness of breath.
Temperatures are now being taken and you must wear a mask.
Once you go in, you will see numerous signs. What you see at the museum is presented in both Japanese and English.
After paying, the first thing you are going to see is “Hiroshima before the bombing”. Photos of Hiroshima and the smiling faces of students in the area.
On August 6, 1945, it was a normal day in Hiroshima and its estimated population of 340,000-350,000 people.
The city was known for its industrial and military significance and it was the headquarters of the Field Marshal Shunroku Hata’s Second General Army, which commanded the defense of all of southern Japan and it was located inside Hiroshima Castle.
Hiroshima served as a supply and logistics base for the Japanese military.
The Japanese wondered why there were no firebombings in the city but for the American military, Hiroshima was a primary target, Kokura and Nagasaki were alternative targets.
The 393d Bombardment Squadron B-29 Enola Gay, took off from North Field, Tinian for a six hour flight from Japan. Accompanied by two other B-29’s, the Great Artiste and Necessary Evil (the photography aircraft)
An alert was given by the radio broadcasting that bombers were flying towards Saga at 00:05. Around 7:09, the all-clear was sounded over Hiroshima.
At 8:09, the bomb known as “Little Boy” (which carried 141 pounds of Uranium) was released at about 31,000 feet at 8:15 a.m. The detonation height was about 1,900 feet above the city. After dropping the bomb, the Enola Gay was 11.5 miles before it felt the shockwaves from the blast.
Because of crosswind, the bomb missed its aiming point, the Aioi Bridge and detonated over Shima Surgical Clinic.
Around 80,000 people, 30% of the population of Hiroshima were killed by the blast or firestorm., Another 70,000 were injured and 20,000 Japanese military personnel were killed.
We will discuss the aftermath of atomic bomb drop on Hiroshima in my next post.
