Dec 15 (NHK) - A museum in Hiroshima that documents the 1945 atomic bombing of the city has been temporarily closed amid a surge in coronavirus cases.
The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum is one of 45 facilities in the western Japanese city that officials have decided to temporarily close to reduce personal contact.
A notice at the entrance says the museum will remain closed until January 3. But people who have already made reservations will be allowed to enter.
Visitors who turned up on Monday looked disappointed when staff told them the museum was not open.
A high school student from Gunma Prefecture, north of Tokyo, said he feels disappointed because he has little chance of learning about the atomic bombings in his prefecture.
A woman in her 40s from Yamanashi Prefecture, near Tokyo, said she thinks the closure was inevitable as she has heard that infections are also surging in Hiroshima.
A city official in charge of preserving the memories of the atomic bombing, Inada Ayumi, said Hiroshima had wanted to welcome as many visitors as possible to the museum as the UN treaty banning nuclear weapons is set to go into effect. Inada expressed hope that the rise in infections will be curbed by the time the museum is scheduled to reopen.
