Hiroshima Orizuru Tower — Attraction in Hiroshima

Orizuru tower is a relatively new tourist attraction in Hiroshima city center overlooking the Peace Memorial Park and A-bomb dome all the way to the rivers, mountains and islands beyond. The viewing platform on the top level offers a rare and beautiful view on clear days.

There are discounts for international visitors with rail passes or passports until September 2020 when buying a ticket to go up to the viewing platform. The next floor below the top viewing platform, there are interactive games and activities to fold paper cranes (the peace symbol of Hiroshima) and drop it down into the paper crane shoot which can be viewed from the outside as the walls are glass. There are historical explanations in English and Japanese on this floor worth reading. They have some English speaking staff and some information in English.

The first floor souvenir shop has a good selection of made-in-hiroshima gifts and goods- make sure to seek out the community equity-building section where you can buy goods made from recycled peace cranes [there are tens of thousands sent each year to Hiroshima and there isn't enough storage, so some have to be burnt. So, if possible please support any recycled orizuru crane products in Hiroshima and Nagasaki].

This is a great facility, and so many things are done well, but there are a few things that could be improved. They need to think of how to give locals more value as locals often want to bring visitors here, but there is no discount for locals or special services. In Hawaii we have the Kama'aina discounts for locals which works well to preserve a balance between meeting the needs of locals and visitors (happy locals = happy visitors too). Also, they need to be using recycled origami paper on the 13th floor which is then folded, dropped in the shoot and hopefully recycled again to create a #circulareconomy

There is also nowhere in the building to refill water bottles which could help improve the visitor experience and reduce plastic waste.

As the peace cranes have a deep meaning embodying a hope for peace, it would be more meaningful on recycled peace crane paper, right? The use of plastic is also wasteful at the cafe at the top and the 1st floor also do not have any #plantbased options, use a lot of #plasticstraws and #plastic cups and lids even for customers who eat-in. The plastic waste issue is a peace issue and offering vegan options helps reduce damage to environment - climate change is also a peace issue as it will be the cause of wars and refugees.

Any Hiroshima or Nagasaki facility like this which uses Peace in its branding needs to be operating at a higher ethical level with a greater effort to be a sustainable-business and balance the needs of the local community and visitors as well as seeking to reduce and limit damage to the environment- there does not seem to be any targets or initiatives...

The view up top is great and the building is wonderfully designed, unfortunately the rest of the experience at this tourist trap was terrible.

Me and my father visit Japan frequently and by the request of our town's local celebrity, Ethan, made a special stop in Hiroshima to drop some cranes at the tower he had folded. Ethan was diagnosed with a rare brain tumor at age 10 and was given a short time to live. Despite the odds, he overcame his diagnosis and for the last 20+ years has dedicated his life to spreading positivity. His favorite thing to do is to fold origami, earning the title "Captain Origami" by Primary Children's Hospital. He does this with one hand as he lost all function in one of his arms as a child. He walks 20,000-30,000 steps a day waving at everyone he sees, there is not one person in our town of 20k people that doesn't know who he is.

With all that said, when we arrived at the tower and after agreeing to pay the rediculous 2,200 yen plus 100 yen for each of us to enter and drop a crane, we were told we would not be allowed to drop Ethan's cranes. The reason? They did not say. Good luck getting Ethan's crane out of there because we dropped it anyway.

They estimate that over 1,000,000 cranes have been dropped in the tower since it's open in 2016. At 2,300 yen a pop, that over 2 billion yen ($14 million plus usd) they have profited over a bombing victim and symbol of peace. Never again will I support this business and I would suggest no one else does as well. The staff was rude and the only thing to do besides look at the view and go down a slide is to spend more money on...

My name is Imane, I am a deaf and visually impaired Spanish girl. Together with Maristella, who is deaf, we are traveling through Japan. During our trip, we came to Hiroshima to visit the historical sites related to the atomic bomb. Walking through the streets of the city, we found the Hiroshima Orizuru Tower and went in to ask for information about visiting hours.

To our great surprise and disappointment, the lady at the reception informed us that they only accept Japanese disability certificates, not those issued abroad. We were shocked, as this had never happened to us before in Japan or anywhere else. We have visited many places without encountering this kind of issue. We explained that this was a form of discrimination, and the lady, visibly embarrassed, called a superior.

We spoke with the manager, who tried to justify the company's policy, claiming the situation was different but without offering a convincing explanation. In the end, they told us that this is a decision made by the director: they do not allow entry to foreigners with disabilities, whether they use a wheelchair or have Down syndrome, if they do not have a Japanese certificate.

This is clearly an act of discrimination. We insisted that they change this policy, as all people with disabilities should be treated equally, regardless of the country of origin of their certificate. Disappointed, we left.

We urge the management of the Hiroshima Orizuru Tower to review this decision and ensure equal access to all visitors, regardless of their nationality. Disability knows no borders, and neither...