Shukkeien is the most popular Japanese garden in Hiroshima. The name means “miniaturized scenery garden.” It used to be called “Sentei” garden. The samurai and tea master Soko Ueda designed the garden about 400 years ago. Three teahouses grace its premises.

Shukkeien is located 1.2 kilometers away from the hypocenter of the atomic bomb. The bomb devastated almost everything here. Many people evacuated to Shukkeien immediately after the atomic bombing to escape the fires. Dense forests covered Shukkeien before the bombing.