The museum was established in August 1955 with the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Hall (now the International Conference Center Hiroshima (ja)). It is the most popular of Hiroshima's destinations for school field-trips from all over Japan and for international visitors. 53 million people had visited the museum from its opening in 1955 through 2005, averaging over one million visitors per year. The architect of the main building was Kenzō Tange.