Honkawa Elementary School Peace Museum

One of the closest structures (around 400 m) to the centre of the atomic bomb explosion of 1945, the Honkawa Elementary School was the worst hit of all places in Hiroshima. As many as 400 students and 10 teachers were killed immediately while 2 miraculously survived. Most of the original building that managed to stand through the bombing as a dead concrete shell was demolished and a new one was constructed in its place. However, the ground floors and the basement were preserved and transformed into a museum. While the museum now majorly caters to spreading the message of peace by virtue of colourful paper cranes among other symbolism, the most striking representation is that of a massive three-dimensional model of the destroyed city and the ‘Little Boy’ bomb. Apart from this, there is a room filled with artefacts such as damaged glass, calligraphies by students and pictures of the horrifying mushroom cloud.
While the school reopened in 1946, the museum is operated and maintained by the Parent-Teacher Association and a memorial service is held every year in the month of August for the victims. The gloomy atmosphere of the memorial will send shivers running down your spine and your mind will conjure up deadly sounds of blasts and screams. A visit, despite the grief that it might cause, is worth your time.