---
node: spot_hiroshima_hiroshima_castle
type: spot
slug: hiroshima_castle
destination: dest_hiroshima
title: "Hiroshima Castle"
lead: "Hiroshima Castle was built in the 1590s on the delta that gave the city its site, and the keep was destroyed by the atomic bomb a kilometre away. The present five-storey tower is a 1958 reconstruction housing a museum of the castle town."
published: 2026-08-12
updated: 2026-08-12
image_file: spot_hiroshima_hiroshima_castle.jpg
image_source: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hiroshima-jo_Castle_hdsr_S5_08.jpg"
image_author: "Hyppolyte de Saint-Rambert"
image_license: "CC BY 4.0"
---

## Overview

Mōri Terumoto chose the spot for its rivers and its access to the Inland Sea, and the city grew as the castle town. In 1945 the castle held the regional army headquarters, and the first radio message reporting the bombing was sent from a bunker in its grounds. Inside the moat, a eucalyptus and a willow survived the blast and are marked as survivor trees; a reconstructed ninomaru gate and guardhouse show timber joinery worth the detour.

## Highlights

The reconstruction is concrete and the exhibits are modest, but the top floor gives the only wide view of the delta and the mountains that ring it. The grounds are free and the moat walk is the pleasant part. Combine with Shukkei-en, five minutes away, and the Peace Park, fifteen.