You can walk in at 13:00.
In English. For nothing.
Almost every travel site tells you that hearing an A-bomb survivor's testimony requires a group, a month's notice and an interpreter. One of those routes does. The other runs every single day at 13:00, in English, in the museum basement, and you do not have to tell anyone you are coming.
A free 60-minute testimony talk in English runs daily at 13:00–14:00 in the Peace Memorial Museum's East Building, Basement 1, Special Exhibition Room. No reservation, no charge, Q&A included — a solo traveller can simply sit down. Japanese sessions run at 10:00, 11:30 and 14:30. Private and group sessions are also free but need between one month and one year's notice, and you arrange your own interpreter.
Daily, in English, walk-in
The thing nobody publishes13:00 to 14:00, every day, East Building Basement 1, Special Exhibition Room. Sixty minutes including questions. Free. No reservation of any kind. It runs every day the museum is open — the exceptions are 30–31 December and the mid-February exhibit-change closure.
You do not need a group, a tour, a booking reference or an interpreter. You need to be in the basement of the East Building at five to one. That is the entire requirement, and it is the single most valuable free thing available in this city.
The Japanese-language sessions run at 10:00, 11:30 and 14:30 on the same basis. If you are in the park anyway, the timing works cleanly with a 7:30 museum entry: do the galleries first, break at 13:00 for the talk, then walk the outdoor monuments afterwards when the coach traffic has thinned.
The four ways to hear testimony, compared
Every routeAll four are free. The difference is notice, language and who is speaking.
| Option | Where | When | Booking |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily English talk | Museum, East Building B1, Special Exhibition Room | 13:00–14:00, every day · 60 min with Q&A | None. Turn up |
| Japanese sessions | Same room | 10:00, 11:30 and 14:30 daily | None |
| Memoir readings | National Peace Memorial Hall, B1 Training Room 3 | English: 2nd Sunday and 4th Friday 14:30–15:10 · 3rd Tuesday 11:00–11:40 · 40 min | None |
| Private or group session | The museum, or your hotel until 19:00 | 60 minutes, by arrangement | Via hpmm-testimony.jp, from one year ahead to one month minimum |
| 5–6 August 2026 special sessions | Hiroshima International Conference Center, inside the park | 10:00–12:30 and 13:00–14:00 on the 6th · actual survivor testimony in English | None |
Every option on this table costs nothing. The speaker honorarium for private bookings was abolished in April 2024.
It is a denshosha, and you should know why
Who is speakingThe daily English talk is delivered by a denshosha — an "A-bomb legacy successor": a trained non-survivor who has spent years learning one specific survivor's testimony and delivers it in the first person. Say it plainly rather than discovering it in the room, because the framing matters.
The arithmetic explains the programme. As of 1 April 2026 there were 264 legacy successors and 48 family successors, against roughly 32 living survivors still able to testify. Nationally there are about 91,000 hibakusha and their average age is 86.66. The generation that can say "I was there" is closing, and Hiroshima built the successor programme rather than let the testimony stop.
Do not treat a denshosha session as a consolation prize. It is a rehearsed, verified, first-person account delivered by someone who chose to carry it, and it is the form in which this testimony will exist for the rest of your lifetime. If you specifically want to hear a survivor speak in English, the 5–6 August 2026 sessions at the Hiroshima International Conference Center are the rarest thing on offer in the city — free, no booking, and covered on the 6 August page.
Why the programme exists
The numbersAll figures as of 1 April 2026 unless stated.
Free, but it needs a month and your own interpreter
Private and group sessionsBooking is through hpmm-testimony.jp, the museum's testimony-request system. Sessions run 60 minutes and cost nothing. You can request from one year ahead and the practical floor is one month — later than that and the answer is generally no.
Three things catch people out. First, you are expected to arrange interpretation yourself if the speaker is working in Japanese; the museum does not supply an interpreter with the booking. Second, a survivor or successor can come to your hotel rather than you going to them, up to 19:00. Third, survivor testimony is not available at weekends or on public holidays — successor talks are, which is another reason the successor programme is the practical answer rather than the fallback.
The minimum group size is not published. We could not verify a number, and we are not going to invent one: ask when you request, and do not assume a couple will be refused or accepted. If you are travelling alone or as a pair, the 13:00 walk-in talk removes the question entirely.
The practical bit
Plan your visitHearing testimony — the questions
FAQPage schema pairedCan you hear a survivor's testimony in Hiroshima without booking?
Yes. A free 60-minute talk in English runs at 13:00–14:00 every day in the Peace Memorial Museum's East Building, Basement 1, Special Exhibition Room, with no reservation and no charge. Japanese sessions run at 10:00, 11:30 and 14:30. A solo traveller can simply walk in — which is the opposite of what most travel sites say.
Who actually delivers the daily testimony talk?
A denshosha — an A-bomb legacy successor, a trained non-survivor who has learned one specific survivor's account and delivers it in the first person. As of 1 April 2026 there were 264 legacy successors and 48 family successors against roughly 32 living survivor testifiers, so this is the standard form the programme now takes.
Is a successor's talk worse than hearing a survivor?
No, and it is not a consolation prize. It is a rehearsed, verified first-person account delivered by someone who trained for years to carry it. The roughly 91,000 hibakusha nationwide now have an average age of 86.66, which is precisely why Hiroshima built the programme rather than allow the testimony to stop with the last speaker.
How do you book a private or group testimony session?
Through hpmm-testimony.jp. It is free — the speaker honorarium was abolished in April 2024 — runs 60 minutes, and can be requested from one year ahead down to a practical minimum of one month. A speaker can come to your hotel until 19:00. You are expected to arrange interpretation yourself.
What is the minimum group size for a private session?
It is not published, and we are not going to invent a number. Ask when you submit the request through hpmm-testimony.jp. If you are one or two people, the 13:00 daily English talk makes the question irrelevant — it takes anyone, free, with no booking at all.
Can you hear survivor testimony at a weekend?
Survivor testimony is not available at weekends or on public holidays. Successor (denshosha) talks are — including the daily 13:00 English session, which runs seven days a week except 30–31 December and the mid-February exhibit-change closure.
What is different about 5 and 6 August 2026?
Special free sessions with actual survivor testimony in English run at the Hiroshima International Conference Center inside the park, including 10:00–12:30 and 13:00–14:00 on the 6th. No booking. Given there are roughly 32 living registered testifiers, this is the rarest thing available in the city on any date.
Is there anywhere else free to hear testimony?
Yes — the National Peace Memorial Hall runs 40-minute readings of survivors' written memoirs in Basement 1, Training Room 3, free and unbooked. English sessions are on the 2nd Sunday and 4th Friday at 14:30–15:10 and the 3rd Tuesday at 11:00–11:40. The Hall's video archive also carries testimony subtitled in more than 20 languages.
Booking and getting there
PracticalEvery testimony option on this page is free and most need no arrangement at all. These are guided tours of the park itself, and a hotel search — at the foot, where they belong.