Peace Memorial Park, Hiroshima-Shi

Hiroshima has declared itself an international city of peace, and Peace Memorial Park symbolizes its commitment to a nuclear weapons-free world, as well as commemorating the victims of a brutal fact of history. Despite the serious raison d'etre of its founding, the park is neither morbid nor fixated on the past. Enjoy a picnic lunch near parasol trees that survived the blast. See shrines and monuments--such as the A-Bomb Dome and 1964 "Flame of Peace"--visited daily by prayer-offering, incense-burning monks. The Peace Memorial Museum, opened in 1955, is also located here.