Heiwa Koen in Nagasaki, a memorial park shaped by peace statues and water

Heiwa Koen in Nagasaki is a memorial park on a low hill north of the atomic-bomb hypocentre, where statues, water features and open lawns mark a landscape of remembrance.

Heiwa Koen in Nagasaki, known in English as Nagasaki Peace Park, is a landscaped memorial on a low hill north of the hypocentre of the atomic bombing of 9 August 1945, structured around statues, water features and open lawns that carry the city’s memory of that day.Nagasaki Peace Park lies in the Matsuyama-cho area of Nagasaki’s Urakami district on the island of Kyushu, and its terraces and monuments form one of Japan’s most recognisable post-war memorial landscapes.Nagasaki Peace Park is a park located in Nagasaki, Japan

Heiwa Koen on the hill above the hypocentre

Heiwa Koen occupies ground just north of the point where the atomic bomb exploded over Nagasaki on 9 August 1945, transforming an area of devastation into a shaped landscape of remembrance.Peace Park is built on a low hill to the north of the hypocenter The park sits on a hillside in Matsuyama-cho in the Urakami district, above the streets that once lay closest to the blast, and it is part of a wider peace complex that includes the Atomic Bomb Museum and other memorial spaces.Nagasaki Peace Park is in Urakami district

The memorial park was established in 1955, a decade after the bombing, giving physical form to the city’s wish that such destruction should never be repeated.The Nagasaki Peace Park was established in 1955 near the hypocenter Broad lawns, planted terraces and paved areas are laid out around the main monuments, and paths lead visitors from the hillside down towards the hypocentre site and neighbouring commemorative structures.

The Peace Statue and other monuments

At the heart of Heiwa Koen stands the large Peace Statue created by Nagasaki-born sculptor Seib? Kitamura, who designed the figure in the mid-1950s.The green, spacious park is presided over by the bronze Nagasaki Peace Statue, designed in 1955 by Kitamura Seib? The statue rises above a stepped plaza, its seated figure extending one arm horizontally and one vertically, and it has become the most recognisable single image of the park.

Elsewhere in Heiwa Koen, water plays a prominent role in the memorial landscape, most clearly in the Fountain of Peace, which takes the form of a large basin shaped in the outline of a dove.It also includes the dove-shaped Fountain of Peace The park also contains a Peace Symbol Zone, where sculptures donated by cities and organisations from different countries are placed in a garden setting, each carrying its own interpretation of remembrance through stone, metal or concrete.The park features the Peace Statue and other monuments

Water, terraces and the wider peace landscape

Heiwa Koen is one part of a larger memorial landscape in Urakami that links the park with the Atomic Bomb Museum, the hypocentre marker and other structures commemorating the bombing.Nagasaki Peace Park reminds us of the horrors of war The hillside setting gives the park a layered character, with terraces stepping down towards the valley and open spaces framed by trees and low planting, so that monuments stand amid greenery rather than among dense buildings.

Within this wider landscape, Heiwa Koen is reached by paths from the hypocentre area, passing smaller markers and plaques that recall particular aspects of the bombing and its aftermath.It’s a park constructed on a hill to the north of the ground zero The Urakami River runs nearby, and tram tracks and streets outline the district around the hill, making the memorial zone part of the everyday cityscape of Nagasaki.

Visiting Heiwa Koen: what travellers from Western Europe should know

• Heiwa Koen is in Matsuyama-cho in the Urakami district of Nagasaki City on Kyushu, north of the historic centre, on a low hill above the atomic-bomb hypocentre.
• Nagasaki’s public transport network serves the area, with tram lines reaching a stop named Peace Park (Heiwa Koen) and local buses using nearby stops that also carry the Heiwa Koen name.
• The memorial park lies on a hillside, and routes through it involve walking on sloping paths and stairways between terraces and monuments.
• In summer, Nagasaki experiences humid, warm conditions, while winter brings cooler temperatures; the memorial landscape remains an outdoor space exposed to the weather throughout the year.
• The official language is Japanese and the currency is the yen.

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Frequently asked questions about Heiwa Koen

Where is Heiwa Koen in Nagasaki?

Heiwa Koen is in the Matsuyama-cho area of Nagasaki City on Kyushu, in the Urakami district north of the historic centre, on a hillside near the atomic-bomb hypocentre.

What should visitors expect on a visit to Heiwa Koen?

Visitors encounter a memorial park laid out with lawns, terraces, monuments and water features, centred on the Peace Statue and linked to nearby sites such as the Atomic Bomb Museum and the hypocentre marker.

What makes Heiwa Koen distinctive among memorial parks?

Heiwa Koen is distinctive for its combination of large-scale statuary, water elements like the dove-shaped Fountain of Peace and a hillside layout that integrates the memorials into the broader urban landscape of Nagasaki.