(Update) Annual Visitors to Hiroshima Museum Top 2 M. for 1st Time

   Hiroshima, March 3 (Jiji Press)--The annual number of visitors to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, which shows how the 1945 U.S. atomic bombing devastated the western city of Hiroshima, has exceeded two million for the first time.
   The number reached the level Feb. 15 before fiscal 2024 ends this month. About 30 pct of the visitors were foreigners.
   The increase seems to have reflected the winning of the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize by the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, or Nihon Hidankyo.
   The museum displays items that belonged to victims of the atomic bombing on Aug. 6, 1945, in the closing days of World War II. Ahead of the 80th anniversary of the bombing, the museum is strengthening measures to alleviate congestion.
   According to the museum's record, the number of visitors was 115,000 in its opening year of fiscal 1955 and reached one million in fiscal 1971. In fiscal 2023, during which Japan hosted a summit of the Group of Seven major powers in Hiroshima, the annual number increased to 1.98 million.

(2025/03/03-11:56)

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