VR tour in Japan shows World War II atomic bomb’s devastating aftermath in Hiroshima

As fewer survivors remain to tell their stories, a travel company is providing visitors with an immersive window into Japan’s wartime past

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Hiroshi Yamaguchi, head of travel company Tabimachi-Gate Hiroshima, uses a VR headset on a tour that allows people to experience Hiroshima as it was before, during and after the atomic bomb attack during World War II in 1945. Photo: AFP

Published: 4:15pm, 6 Aug 2024

With an ever-dwindling number of survivors able to tell their stories of the two devastating atomic bombs dropped on Japan at the end of World War II, a younger generation has been turning to new technologies to convey something of their lived realities, determined that they should not be lost.

In the western Japanese city of Hiroshima, hit by a US atomic bomb on August 6, 1945, a travel company has been operating a unique tour using virtual reality headsets to provide visitors with an immersive window into the past.

The 80-minute tour by Tabimachi-Gate Hiroshima, available in English as well as Japanese, takes visitors around key areas in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park near the bomb’s ground zero.

The images begin with the city before the bomb was dropped, and, after showing its immediate impact, present glimpses through the decades leading to the city’s current state.

The remains of Hiroshima’s Prefectural Industry Promotion Building, which was later preserved as a monument, in September 1945. Photo: AFP

“As the number of atomic bomb survivors dwindles, I think it is our generation’s duty to be aware of the reality of the bombings and to make an effort to pass it down,” says Momoka Masushige, who is responsible for the VR tour at the company.