Admission to the permanent exhibition at the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum is 200 yen for everyone aged 15 and over, and free for high school students and under. The museum’s site, read on 24 September 2026, also carries a notice that part of the permanent exhibition is closed while the displays are renewed, with completion planned for March 2027. The figures below are the ones the museum, the city and the tram operator publish, each source given with the date its page was read.
Everyone aged 15 and over pays 200 yen, and the group rate has been abolished
The museum’s fee table itself has a single row: general visitors, given as aged 15 and over, 200 yen for the permanent exhibition. Two notes printed above the table carry the rest. The first states that from 1 April 2026 the group rate was abolished and all general visitors pay the same 200 yen. The second states that high school students and under are all admitted free, and asks them to show a student card or similar at the permanent exhibition reception. The two overlap for part of one age group: the paying row starts at 15 while the free note runs to the end of high school, and neither the row nor the note says which of the two applies to a 15-year-old still at high school.
Reductions sit in a longer list of ten lettered categories, in three groups by how they are claimed. Four require a written application in advance: use in a peace project or an atomic bomb survivor support project run by Nagasaki City, the leaders accompanying a group from a school, kindergarten, nursery or certified childcare centre located in the city, dignitaries received by the city, and peace guides, listed as two named schemes in one category, entering to show visitors around. Five are claimed by showing a document at the permanent exhibition reception: a disability certificate, dealt with below; a student card and residence card from an international student at one of seven named universities and colleges or at a language or vocational school in the city; an atomic bomb survivor health handbook; one of four certificates covering health examinations and medical benefits for people affected by the bombing; and a Nagasaki City tourism ambassador card, for entry on ambassador business. The tenth category needs no document at all: anyone entering on 9 August, the day of the bombing, is admitted to the permanent exhibition free, and the museum’s question and answer page states that it does this every year, on what it gives as Nagasaki Peace Day. The disability line is drawn by address. A Nagasaki City resident holding a physical disability, mental health or rehabilitation certificate is reduced, with one carer also reduced, while the page prints a 50 per cent reduction for a holder living outside the city and prints no figure for the resident. Fifty per cent of a 200 yen ticket is 100 yen, an arithmetic of my own.
Part of the permanent exhibition is shut until March 2027 while the displays are renewed
The museum opened in April 1996, built on the site of the former Nagasaki International Culture Hall as one of the city’s projects marking the fiftieth year after the bombing. Thirty years later it is changing the displays, and its notice of 25 August 2026, updated on 7 September, explains that the generation which feels the war to be a distant era has come to make up the majority and that the number of survivors falls year by year, and gives the work as a large-scale display renewal carried out as a project for the eightieth year after the bombing. The fee table carries the practical consequence in one line: a partial suspension of the permanent exhibition accompanying the display renewal, running from September 2026 with completion planned for March 2027. The notice sets out which parts go behind partitions, as of its update of 7 September 2026: part of corner A from 10 September to 10 October 2026, corner C from 24 November 2026 to March 2027, part of corner B from the end of December 2026 to March 2027, and corner D from January to March 2027, the last three marked as planned. It states that the greater part of corner B, where the bombing artefacts are displayed, can be seen as usual, and that the areas outside the work are open as usual.
A special exhibition marking the thirtieth anniversary ran from 25 March to 31 August 2026 in the special exhibition room on the second basement level, and the museum noted that entry to that special exhibition alone was free. The permanent exhibition and the special exhibition room are both on that level; the entrance lobby, video room, hall, peace study room, shop and cafe are one level above.
Opening hours come in three bands, and 7 to 9 August is a band of its own
The museum publishes three bands of hours rather than one, plus a closure. From April and again from September through to the following March it opens 8:30 to 17:30 with last entry at 17:00. From May to August it opens 8:30 to 18:30 with last entry at 18:00. From 7 to 9 August, the three days around the anniversary of the bombing on 9 August, it opens 8:30 to 20:00 with last entry at 19:30. It closes from 29 to 31 December, and it warns that the library and the hall keep different hours and a longer closure of 29 December to 3 January.
| Period at the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum | Open | Last entry |
|---|---|---|
| April, and September to March | 8:30 to 17:30 | 17:00 |
| May to August | 8:30 to 18:30 | 18:00 |
| 7 to 9 August | 8:30 to 20:00 | 19:30 |
| 29 to 31 December | closed | closed |
Two further timings are published alongside. Peace guides are stationed in the building from 10:00 to 16:00 to explain the displays in the museum and in the National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims next door, at no charge and without booking, except from 29 December to 3 January; the page adds that museum admission is still payable for the museum while the memorial hall is free to enter. The museum also lends an electric power-assisted wheelchair, one unit, free, for the trip between the museum and Peace Park below it, on advance booking, in two-hour slots between 9:00 and 17:00, to be returned 15 minutes before the slot ends, with the arrangement running to 31 March 2027 and not on 29 to 31 December.
The audio guide costs 160 yen, which is 80 per cent of the admission fee
The audio guide is rented at the ticket desk for 160 yen per unit and cannot be reserved. Against a 200 yen ticket that is 80 per cent of the admission price, a division of my own from the two published figures. The guide is offered in Japanese, English, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, German, French, Russian and Arabic, a list of 11 entries in which Portuguese is marked as covering both Portugal and Brazil. The same page calls the audio guide 12 languages, counting Brazilian Portuguese separately from the 11 in which a QR code read on a phone brings up the exhibition commentary.
Coin lockers take a 100 yen coin that is returned afterwards, and are placed behind the information desk and in front of the museum hall; lockers sized for large wheeled suitcases are charged at 200 yen and that charge is not returned. Free wireless internet covers the building and the outdoor garden, with the password displayed inside. The museum states that its main exhibits carry captions in four languages, Japanese, English, Chinese and Korean, with some places in Japanese and English only for want of space.
Two numbers describe the building itself: a site of 15,391.53 square metres and a total floor area of 7,949.73 square metres. The museum does not require booking, but asks parties of 10 or more, and anyone making a preparatory visit for such a party, to submit expected numbers through a form, and it notes that it may restrict entry to the exhibition rooms temporarily when more than roughly 300 visitors are expected in a time band. It names its busy periods as the school excursion seasons of May to June and September to November, around midday and after 16:00.
The trams charge one flat fare of 150 yen, and route 4 is suspended
Nagasaki Electric Tramway prices its network on a flat fare rather than by distance, charged per ride, with some transfers permitted and set out on a separate page. The ordinary fare is 150 yen for adults, meaning junior high school students and above, and 80 yen for children of elementary school age. A special discount fare for disabled passengers and carers is 80 yen and 40 yen. A group fare is 130 yen and 70 yen. A short-ride discount applies to journeys within two fare sections paid by cashless means, at 110 yen and 60 yen.
Children under one year old travel free. For preschool children the rule is counted: one preschool child travels free with each accompanying adult or child passenger, a second preschool child pays the 80 yen child fare, and a preschool child travelling alone pays 80 yen. On the third Sunday of every month the operator carries elementary school children and younger free across the whole network, and asks those passengers not to touch their IC card to the reader.
| Nagasaki tram fare | Adult, junior high school and above | Child, elementary school age |
|---|---|---|
| Ordinary flat fare | 150 yen | 80 yen |
| Group fare | 130 yen | 70 yen |
| Short-ride discount, cashless, within two sections | 110 yen | 60 yen |
| Special discount for disabled passengers and carers | 80 yen | 40 yen |
The route map page carries a line that a timetable alone would not reveal: route 4, which used to run in the morning and evening only, is suspended for the time being. The three routes shown as running give their daytime intervals between 9:00 and 19:59 as about 7 minutes on route 1 between Akasako and Sofukuji, about 10 minutes on route 3 between Akasako and Hotarujaya, and about 11 minutes on route 5 between Hotarujaya and Ishibashi. The operator also publishes a stop-name list in five scripts, Japanese, English, Korean, traditional Chinese and simplified Chinese, and a real-time tram position service.
Nagasaki’s annual rainfall normal is 1,894.7 mm, and a third of it falls in June and July
The Japan Meteorological Agency’s normals for the Nagasaki observation site, from the 1991-2020 statistical period with 30 years of data, give an annual mean temperature of 17.4C and annual precipitation of 1,894.7 mm. January is the coolest month at a mean of 7.2C with a mean daily minimum of 4.0C, and August is the warmest at 28.1C with a mean daily maximum of 31.9C. June is the wettest month at 335.9 mm and July follows at 292.7 mm; together those two months carry 628.6 mm, which is 33.2 per cent of the annual normal. Both the addition and the percentage are mine. The driest month is January at 63.1 mm, followed by December at 74.8 mm.
The temperature range across the year is narrower than the rainfall range. The gap between the coolest and warmest monthly means is 20.9 degrees, while the wettest month carries 5.3 times the rain of the driest; both figures are calculated here from the agency’s monthly normals. For how visitor numbers to Japan spread across the calendar, our page on what the 2025 arrival figures show month by month sets out the national pattern.
Sources Checked
Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum – museum guide, read on 24 September 2026
Confirmed the single row of the permanent exhibition fee table at 200 yen for general visitors aged 15 and over, the two notes above it giving the abolition of the group rate from 1 April 2026 and free entry for high school students and under on production of a student card, the ten lettered fee reduction categories in their three groups, including the seven named universities and colleges, the four health certificates, the distinction between city residents and holders living outside the city at 50 per cent and the free entry for anyone on 9 August, the opening hours for April and September to March, for May to August and for 7 to 9 August with their last entry times, the closure from 29 to 31 December and the separate closure of the library and hall from 29 December to 3 January, the peace guides on duty from 10:00 to 16:00 free of charge with museum admission still payable and the memorial hall free, the audio guide at 160 yen per unit with no reservation and its languages given as 12 against the 11 of the QR code commentary, the four-language captions on the main exhibits, the coin lockers at a returnable 100 yen and the large lockers at 200 yen, the building-wide wireless internet, the site area of 15,391.53 square metres and floor area of 7,949.73 square metres, and the floor layout.
https://nabmuseum.jp/genbaku/
Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum – top page, read on 24 September 2026
Confirmed the same two fee notes and the same one-row fee table, the note of a partial suspension of the permanent exhibition from September 2026 with completion planned for March 2027, the thirtieth anniversary special exhibition from 25 March to 31 August 2026 in the second basement special exhibition room with free entry to that exhibition alone, the electric wheelchair loan of one unit free on advance booking in two-hour slots between 9:00 and 17:00 to be returned 15 minutes before the slot ends, running to 31 March 2027 and not from 29 to 31 December, the request for parties of 10 or more and their preparatory visitors to submit expected numbers, the temporary entry restriction where around 300 visitors are expected in a time band, and the school excursion periods of May to June and September to November with the busy hours around midday and after 16:00.
https://nabmuseum.jp/
Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum – notice on the partial suspension of the permanent exhibition, dated 25 August 2026 and updated 7 September 2026, read on 24 September 2026
Confirmed the stated reasons for the renewal, its description as a large-scale display renewal carried out as a project for the eightieth year after the bombing, and the periods of partial closure as of the update of 7 September 2026: part of corner A from 10 September to 10 October 2026, corner C from 24 November 2026 to March 2027, part of corner B from the end of December 2026 to March 2027 and corner D from January to March 2027, with the greater part of corner B and the areas outside the work open as usual.
https://nabmuseum.jp/oshirase/exhibition/
Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum – question and answer page, read on 24 September 2026
Confirmed that the museum makes admission to the exhibition rooms free every year on 9 August, which it gives as Nagasaki Peace Day, and that it closes at 20:00 on that day.
https://nabmuseum.jp/genbaku/faq/
Nagasaki City peace site – the Atomic Bomb Museum, read on 24 September 2026
Confirmed the opening in April 1996 as a project marking the fiftieth year after the bombing, the rebuilding of the former Nagasaki International Culture Hall on the site, and the display captions in Japanese, English, Chinese and Korean.
https://nagasakipeace.jp/visit/abm/
Nagasaki Electric Tramway – fare guide, read on 24 September 2026
Confirmed the flat ordinary fare of 150 yen for junior high school students and above and 80 yen for elementary school children, charged per ride with some transfers permitted, the special discount fares of 80 and 40 yen for disabled passengers and carers, the group fares of 130 and 70 yen, the short-ride cashless discount of 110 and 60 yen within two sections, free travel for children under one year, the preschool rule of one free child per accompanying passenger with 80 yen from the second and 80 yen for a preschool child travelling alone, and the free travel for elementary school children and younger on the third Sunday of each month with the request not to touch the card reader.
https://www.naga-den.com/pages/10/
Nagasaki Electric Tramway – route map and timetables, read on 24 September 2026
Confirmed that route 4, formerly worked in the morning and evening only, is suspended for the time being, the daytime intervals between 9:00 and 19:59 of about 7 minutes on route 1 between Akasako and Sofukuji, about 10 minutes on route 3 between Akasako and Hotarujaya and about 11 minutes on route 5 between Hotarujaya and Ishibashi, the stop-name list in five scripts and the real-time tram position service.
https://www.naga-den.com/pages/9/
Japan Meteorological Agency – climate normals for Nagasaki, read on 24 September 2026
Confirmed the 1991-2020 statistical period with 30 years of data, the annual mean of 17.4C, the annual precipitation of 1,894.7 mm, the January mean of 7.2C with a mean daily minimum of 4.0C, the August mean of 28.1C with a mean daily maximum of 31.9C, and the monthly precipitation figures of 335.9 mm in June, 292.7 mm in July, 63.1 mm in January and 74.8 mm in December.
https://www.data.jma.go.jp/stats/etrn/view/nml_sfc_ym.php?prec_no=84&block_no=47817
Last updated: September 2026
