A modern art museum designed by world-famous architect Kisho Kurokawa in the atomic-bombed city of Hiroshima has reopened after around two years of major renovations.

The Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art opened in 1989 as Japan's first publicly run modern art museum and has exhibited many artworks on the themes of atomic bombs and peace, owing to its location in a city that endured an atomic bombing in the final days of World War II in 1945.

Photo shows the exterior of the renovated Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art on March 17, 2023. (Kyodo)

Following the large-scale renovations and repairs to the structure's interior and exterior, the building, which reopened Saturday, is now equipped with barrier-free bathrooms and nursing rooms to make the museum more accessible.

Among other changes to the facility, which closed in December 2020 due to aging, its aluminum roof has been replaced, and its exhibits are now illuminated with LED lights.

A cafe has also been added to the entrance, along with a multi-purpose space.

"Today is a new start. We'd like to continue playing our role in sending out messages of peace," said Junji Teraguchi, director of the museum, as he celebrated the museum's reopening with others, including local kindergarteners.

The museum features around 100 works by artists from home and abroad exploring themes of change in a special exhibition titled "Before/After" that will run through June to commemorate the museum's reopening.

The late architect Kurokawa is also known for his works, including the now-demolished Nakagin Capsule Tower, an iconic structure in Tokyo's Ginza area intended to symbolize the "metabolism" concept promoted by him and other architects that called for a metropolis to be a living organism.

A hanging kusudama ball is broken apart to mark the reopening of the renovated Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art on March 18, 2023. (Kyodo)