Peace Osaka (Osaka International Peace Center)

Peace Osaka (ピースおおさか), formally the Osaka International Peace Center (大阪国際平和センター), is a peace museum located at 2-1 Osakajo, Chuo-ku, Osaka, within the grounds of Osaka Castle Park. Its operating foundation was established in 1989 with funding from Osaka Prefecture and Osaka City, and the museum opened to the public on September 17, 1991.

The museum was created to document and preserve the history of the Osaka air raids during World War II. Osaka, Japan's second-largest city with a 1940 population of approximately 3.25 million, was a critical industrial center known for shipbuilding, steel production, rolling stock manufacturing, and armaments. This made it a prime target for the United States Army Air Forces' strategic bombing campaign.

The first and most devastating raid struck on the night of March 13-14, 1945, when 274 B-29 Superfortress bombers attacked in three waves over three and a half hours. Incendiary bombs targeted the Minato, Naniwa, Kita, and Nishi wards, destroying 8.1 square miles (21 km²) of the city and killing 3,987 people with 678 missing. Seven more major raids followed through the summer of 1945 — on June 1, 7, 15, 26, July 10, July 24, and August 14. The final raid came on August 14, 1945, the day before the war ended, when about 150 B-29s (145 by some counts) dropped approximately 700 one-ton bombs, including strikes on Kyobashi Station. In total, over 50 air attacks killed more than 10,000 civilians (about 15,000 by some counts) and destroyed roughly one-third of the city.

The museum underwent a comprehensive renovation and reopened on April 30, 2015. Its exhibits span three floors divided into six thematic zones. The second floor displays wartime photographs — particularly from the devastated Minami district — along with authentic artifacts including damaged water bottles, diaries, conscription papers, and food rations. The ground floor features a diorama of wartime Osaka and video testimonies from survivors. An immersive replica air raid shelter uses authentic alarm sounds and simulated incendiary bomb impacts, while projection mapping technology recreates realistic air raid scenarios. The third floor addresses Osaka's postwar recovery and contemporary peace issues.

Outside the building stands the Toki no Niwa (刻の庭, Garden of Time), a memorial courtyard featuring eight bells representing each major firebombing raid and approximately 15,000 tiles inscribed with messages of peace. The center also maintains a library of over 30,000 books, 1,400 videos, and 300 DVDs on war and peace topics, all available for free viewing.

The museum is approximately seven minutes on foot from Morinomiya Station on the JR Osaka Loop Line and Osaka Metro Chuo Line.