Bach's one-day trip to the atomic bomb-devastated city had been the subject of widespread criticism this week, and a civic group had accused him of "dishonouring" survivors.

As the German official laid a wreath at the Peace Memorial Park cenotaph, protestors, kept far away from the IOC President, told Bach he was "not welcome here" and that he should "go home".

A separate group held signs, including slogans such as "cancel the Olympics", Associated Press reported.

Bach claimed Hiroshima, bombed by the United States in the last year of the Second World War in 1945, reaffirms the "peace mission in the Olympic Movement".

The IOC President predicted Tokyo 2020, scheduled to open here on July 23, would be a "beacon of hope for a better and more peaceful future".

He also took a tour of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum in the park and met an 82-year-old survivor of the bombing.

Kyodo News reported Bach was given similar treatment to world leaders who have visited Hiroshima in the past, including US President Barack Obama.

The civic group in Hiroshima raised concerns over Bach's reasons for the trip, claiming it was politically motivated.

Bach had insisted the purpose was to mark the date where the United Nations Olympic Truce for Tokyo 2020 comes into effect, but sidestepped a question earlier this week on whether it was appropriate for him to be travelling more than 800 kilometres from an area under emergency measures.

The visit came on the same day as IOC vice-president and Tokyo 2020 Coordination Commission chair John Coates visited Nagasaki, the other Japanese city subjected to a nuclear bomb by the US.

Bach and Coates have borne the brunt of the criticism aimed towards the IOC from a Japanese public which has expressed opposition over the Games going ahead during a pandemic.

The President's arrival in Japan last week was met with the hashtag "Bach Go Home" on Twitter, while a small group of protestors opposing the Games held up signs including phrases such as "get out Bach" outside the IOC's five-star hotel in the capital.

Another sign read: "Don't go to Hiroshima".

Tokyo was last week placed under a fourth state of emergency because of a rise in COVID-19 cases, although the measures are largely optional and mainly focus on asking bars and restaurants to close early.

Medical experts have warned the Games could become a "super-spreader" of the virus.

Shigeru Omi, the Japanese Government’s top COVID-19 advisor, has claimed staging the Olympics amid the pandemic is "abnormal".

The Olympics, pushed back to this year because of the COVID-19 crisis, are due to run through to August 8.