Nagasaki · MatsuyamaNo.770★★★Open in map →
Nagasaki Peace Park
A city park laid out across the point where the atomic bomb detonated over Nagasaki. The hypocentre marker stands on the lower ground and the Peace Statue on the hill above, and the walk between the two is the visit.
- FromNagasaki Station
- ~5 min walk from the tramTram from Nagasaki Station
- Get off atHeiwa-koen Station (Nagasaki Electric Tramway, main line)
- On foot
- Nagasaki Peace Park
Where it is
20 more notes in Nagasaki · open the map →What to look for — in walking order
- The hypocentre markera black stone column on the lower ground, at the point beneath the burst
- The old Urakami Cathedral walla surviving section of the destroyed cathedral, kept inside the hypocentre ground
- The Fountain of Peacea wide basin at the foot of the hill, with a verse by a girl who went looking for water
- The Peace Statue9.7 metres of bronze by Kitamura Seibo, one hand raised and one held level
- The World Peace Symbols Zonemonuments sent by cities and governments abroad, set along the paths on the hill
How to actually get there
- Nagasaki Station to Heiwa-koen (Nagasaki Electric Tramway, main line).
- Start in the prayer zone at the hypocentre marker and the old cathedral wall.
- Cross the road and climb to the wish zone, then walk the plaza to the Peace Statue.
- Come back down and give the learning zone and the Atomic Bomb Museum their own hour.
- Tram from Nagasaki Station to Heiwa-koen
- From the tram stop outside Nagasaki Station take the Nagasaki Electric Tramway main line north and get off at Heiwa-koen. The stop sits on the main road at the foot of the park. Fares can be paid with a nimoca IC card or a credit card tapped on boarding.
- Return from Heiwa-koen or the Matsuyama-machi stop
- The same tram line runs back to Nagasaki Station from the opposite platform. City and prefectural buses also call at Matsuyama-machi on Route 206, at the same crossing, which is the fallback when a tram comes in full.
About the place
The park lies about 2.5 kilometres north of Nagasaki Station, on ground that was the Matsuyama district before the bombing. It is organised as five zones rather than one open space: wish, prayer, learning, sport and plaza. The prayer zone is the lower one, built around the point beneath the burst. The wish zone is up on the hill to the north, where the Peace Statue sits at the head of a long paved plaza. The sports grounds and the museum sit between and around them, so the ordinary life of the city runs through the memorial rather than stopping at its edge.
How to enjoy it
Walk it uphill. Start at the marker on the lower ground, cross at the lights, then climb to the plaza. Going in that direction rather than the reverse costs a few minutes and is the order the layout was built for. The Atomic Bomb Museum in the learning zone is the other half of the visit and wants a block of time to itself.
Background & history
The bomb burst above the Matsuyama district at 11:02 in the morning on 9 August 1945. The ground beneath it was later marked and kept as the prayer zone, and the hill to the north was laid out as the wish zone, with the Peace Statue by the sculptor Kitamura Seibo at its head. The park has been rebuilt more than once since. The most substantial redesign ran through the 1990s, and the five-zone plan in use today comes from that work.
Before you go
- Cash
- The park is an open municipal park and is not ticketed. The Atomic Bomb Museum in the learning zone is handled at its own counter. Tram fares take an IC card or a credit card at the door, and a one-day tram pass is sold if you plan to add another district the same day.
- Before you go
- The upper plaza is open ground with very little shelter in rain. The prayer zone and the wish zone are divided by a road crossing, so the link between them is pavement rather than a path inside one enclosure.
- Another way
- Buses reach the same crossing: Nagasaki Bus and the prefectural bus company both stop at Matsuyama-machi on National Route 206, beside the lower entrance.
- After you get off
- From Heiwa-koen tram stop, cross to the park side of the road. The hypocentre ground is the lower, tree-lined enclosure; the stairway up the slope leads to the statue plaza.