It was the middle of a cold morning on Miyajima, The souvenir shops weren't doing any business, but the photographer in front of the floating Torii gate was seating twenty at a time on two low benches, daytrippers posing for pictures on either side.I…Read More

It was the middle of a cold morning on Miyajima, The souvenir shops weren't doing any business, but the photographer in front of the floating Torii gate was seating twenty at a time on two low benches, daytrippers posing for pictures on either side.

I left the crowds at Itsukushima Shrine, walking through the tiny town to Daishin Temple, which was, by contrast, an oasis of peace. Water tumbled gently into rock pools, there was the slow tinkle of coins in a donation box, Koi swam in lazy circles around a pond completely still except for the movement of the light. From the highest point of the temple you could see right back across the bay to where the ferry had just come from.

There are three well-marked trails to the top of Mount Misen, four if you include the cable car (though I never do). The Misen Climbing Path is the longest, taking over an hour from Momijidani Park, and also the closest to the route of the cable car. The Ohmoto Course (one and a half to two hours from Ohmoto Park) is the most difficult, a long slog up, down and back up again through primeval forest which is better tackled on the way back down from the top. The middle route, and probably the most scenic, is the Daishoin Course, which a relatively fit hiker could do in little over an hour without stopping for a break (though the signs indicate an hour and a half as an average time). Both the Daishoin and Ohmoto routes involved lots of steps and don't have too many comfortable rest stops, though the paths are well-built and not too hard on the soles. Note the even taking the cable car will leave you with a half-hour walk to the summit.

Picking up the Daishoin trail from the left of the temple's main gate, I stopped for lunch in a wooden pavilion a short way up. Ferries crossed the water and clouds drifted in over the mountaintops, threatening rain. It took a hour to the top, stone step after stone step, bending first this way then that along the sides of mountain streams until I came upon the summit. There were large, rounded boulders, an open-topped wooden building selling sweet sake and udon noodles, someone speaking French, a wild deer grazing on the stone, a man listening to a transistor radio looking out across the islands dotting the Inland Sea. The clouds were low overhead; over the water Hiroshima had been picked out in a single shaft of sunlight.

And then, 529-metres up, the snow began to fall.    Close

How to get to Hiroshima? At 36,000 yen the shinkansen cost a lot more money than I was prepared to pay and the Seishun 18, while less than a third of the price, would have left me with one full day in the city…Read More

How to get to Hiroshima? At 36,000 yen the shinkansen cost a lot more money than I was prepared to pay and the Seishun 18, while less than a third of the price, would have left me with one full day in the city and two on the train. The best of the remaining choices turned out to be Willer Express, the biggest of the discount coach operators, who were charging just under 15,000 yen return for their overnight services from Shinjuku to Hiroshima Station.

Out of the west exit at Shinjuku Station, I followed a commuter tunnel as far as Shinjuku Centre, crossed back under the road, and eventually found the check-in desk by a Lawson's Convenience Store. A man spoke at me in rapid Japanese, waved his arm in the direction of a bench seat (the first and only part of the exchange I understood) and handed me a voucher for a free cup of coffee at McDonald's. Ten minutes later he reappeared with a megaphone and led us to the bus.

You couldn't see much with the curtains drawn and the lights off, but soon we were out of Tokyo and a flap at the edge of the window revealed slow-moving traffic on the Tokaido Road. I'd paid extra for the Relax bus, which had "improved cushions" and "a front seat span...30cm longer for more free space". There was an arm rest separating me from my neighbour, who was curled up like an egg, with his head sticking out at a right angle across the aisle. I pushed back my seat, using all of the "maximum reclining degree", pulled down the attached lampshade-shaped head cover until it almost reached my chest, and blocked out what little remained of the light.

Most often we sped, sometimes we crawled, there wasn't a sound on the bus but the changing of gears. At midnight, three and a half hours into the journey, we stopped at the services and everyone got off to peer at vending machines. I must have slept, fitfully, afterwards because the next thing I remember distinctly was half the bus emptying at Fukuyama. The clock said 6.02. The only thing left in the seat next to me was a thin red blanket.

We pulled into Hiroshima early, in the middle of the morning rush. There was a cafe selling Danish pastries and an underpass to the other side of the station. People were sitting watching breakfast TV on a giant screen. All the bakeries had special offers on. By eight o'clock I was out of sight of the station, across the first river, looking at a shrine built on the roof of a concrete car park.
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I found the hotel choices for Hiroshima difficult. The Royal Rihga Hotel was the only one that seemed to fit our expectations. By this time, we had stayed at a business hotel (good value but small, no nice hotel perks) and the Japanese style inn…Read More

I found the hotel choices for Hiroshima difficult. The Royal Rihga Hotel was the only one that seemed to fit our expectations. By this time, we had stayed at a business hotel (good value but small, no nice hotel perks) and the Japanese style inn (great experience but no facilities to speak of). We were ready to stay in a nice, big hotel. But this hotel had some terrible reviews on tripadvisor. So with very low expectations, we checked in but we were pleasantly surprised. The room (ours was just the standard room) was very nice. We had the view of the ocean, not the castle. Although, next time I wouldn’t mind the castle view. The service was excellent. DH was impressed by the bathroom mirror which had a heated area so after you shower, there’s a nice big square that is not fogged up. Hey, it’s the little things we love, right?

Museums: Of course the main reason we went to Hiroshima was to see the A-bomb dome and the museum. The people in Hiroshima were very kind and helpful. At the museum, we met some high school students from Australia who were there for a school trip. What an educational trip that would be! The experience was sobering but everything was well presented and the information was unbiased.

We also went to the Hiroshima Museum of Art which is right across the street from the Rihga Hotel. Excellent! There was a special exhibit by a Japanese artist named Hiroshi Noda. That was probably a highlight for me as well. DH also went to the Contemporary Art museum which is near the Hiroshima JR station. He thought it was well done. There is a huge SOGO department store attached to the Rihga hotel. And much to my delight, that week they were having a Hokkaido festival and were selling my favorite chocolates… "Royce" chocolates from Hokkaido. If you have a chance, you must try the soft, dark (champagne-flavored is my fave) chocolates. Similar to a chocolate truffle. But softer, creamier and just… BETTER! Comes in a beautifully wrapped square box. Even my husband who does not care for chocolate loves these! Unbelievable, they only sell these chocolates in Hokkaido so it was a huge bonus to be able to buy these in Hiroshima. I stocked up but did end up giving most away to friends when I got home.

Shopping: Was a little disappointed in the shopping here. It was not as good as other cities in Japan. But they had a lot of nice malls and department stores. The grocery store in the basement level of the SOGO was amazing! One night, we just bought some pre-packaged foods and some cold beer for dinner and took it back to our hotel for a night in. We tried the deep fried chicken cutlets, sushi, grilled chicken skewers, salad. It was a feast! Everything tasted wonderful.

Another good place for gifts is the 100yen store. A bit of a step-up from the average $1 dollar store at home. Loved the stationary and pens in Japan. On the first floor of all the department stores, is the womens’ accessory section. I loved the tights and nylons in Japan. Bought some cute cute cute "Rebecca Taylor" tights which I have never seen here. They had some really cool colours too… nice chocolate browns, navy, forest green… they will be great to wear in the winter!

Food: Hiroshima is famous for their okonomiyakis which are savory pancakes filled with meat or seafood, noodles, cabbage and other veggies. We went to the Okonomiyaki Mura, which is a four floor building filled with stalls making these pancakes. We arrived around 5pm and it was pretty empty. We thought the place itself was a bit dive-y. Not really squeaky clean after getting used to the Japanese standards, we thought. But we plunged in and ordered ourselves one meat pancake and one seafood. We were not disappointed! Loved them. Different but definitely delicious. They also pour a yummy sauce over it, which we loved as well.

Overall: Hiroshima is quite a small city. It’s perfectly easy to walk everywhere you need to if you stay in a central hotel. It was a nicer city than we were expecting. We are not dying to return anytime soon but we are glad we went.
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So we took the street tram to Miyajima guchi and then the 10 min ferry ride to the island of Miyajima. We arrived on the island around 1pm. My first impressions: Wow, to me this is the epitome of Japanese nature and beauty. There’s…Read More

So we took the street tram to Miyajima guchi and then the 10 min ferry ride to the island of Miyajima. We arrived on the island around 1pm. My first impressions: Wow, to me this is the epitome of Japanese nature and beauty. There’s a very surreal feel on the island. There are wild deer that roam the streets. Little shops selling traditional Japanese foods, toys and gifts. This area is famous for their oysters. Although the oyster season is February, the restaurants serve them year round. Well, DH and I are HUGE fans of oysters. So the three days we were there… oysters, oysters, oysters. Grilled oysters, raw oysters, pan fried oysters, deep fried oysters… well you get the picture. It was fabulous!!! Oysters are very expensive where we are from… So we went a little nuts while we were there. An average oyster dish with about 5 oysters cost about 1000Yen.

After a lunch of… well, you can guess what we had… we went to the Morinoyado to check in. Well, this ryokan-style inn is highly recommended in the Frommers Guide. The rate of 19,000 per night for 2 included breakfast and a kaiseki-style dinner (we chose the 12 course dinner). The dinner was beautifully presented. Everything tasted fresh and lovingly prepared. But the hotel and rooms themselves were just ok. The rooms were kind of tired. I don’t like bathrooms that have the sink outside, in the hall. The view however of the ocean and the mainland was wonderful. The location was a bit far, a good 20 min walk from the pier and the "town". Not much else in the immediate vicinity, except the aquarium. But for that price, it was fine.

What we loved doing on Miyajima was renting a bike (rental at the pier) for the day. Initially we thought we could cycle around the island but it’s actually WAY too much. Parts of the island is very hilly. But it was neat having the freedom to go parts of the island where there were NO tourists. Miyajima is very touristy. We heard German, French, Spanish, Korean, as well as English on the streets. Definitely recommend renting a bike and getting off the beaten path.

Another day, we hiked up Mt. Misen. You can also take a tram. Our inn, the Morinoyado was right beside the beginning of the trail to one of the two paths (used to be three, but the third one is now closed) going up to the mountain. We took the Omoto Course up. It is the most difficult but also the most rewarding in terms of view. We know this because took the Momijidani Course down. The Omoto trail took about 2 and a half hours but it was extremely intense. (Going down the Momijidan course took about 45 mins or so.) The Omoto course was mostly stairs all the way up. At the top there are a couple of shrines and observation areas. The view is amazing! Apparently this part of the Inland Sea has over 3,000 little islands scattered over it. So from the top of the mountain, which is about 1,000 miles above sea level… you can see quite far into the distance. It’s extremely picturesque. There is no need to hike up, you can take the tram up. But I highly recommend going up to the top of Mt. Misen.

Another fun thing about Miyajima is that their speciality is miyajima manjus (a little cake shaped into a Japanese maple leaf filled with cream cheese, chocolate, vanilla, green tea, and a myriad other flavors). Many of the little shops sell them and DH and I had fun buying every kind of flavor and rating them. DH’s fave was the chocolate and mine was the cream cheese.

The guide books do tell you that the charm of Miyajima is in the early morning and in the evenings (much like Venice) when the tourists are gone. We have to agree. Our 2 nights and 3 days on Miyajima were magical. We loved it!
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I went to Hiroshima Japan on 2 different occasions. There are beautiful gardens to visit there and amazing historical sights like the marker showing the epicenter of where the atomic bomb dropped. Also there is a peace park devoted to keeping peace throughout…Read More

I went to Hiroshima Japan on 2 different occasions. There are beautiful gardens to visit there and amazing historical sights like the marker showing the epicenter of where the atomic bomb dropped. Also there is a peace park devoted to keeping peace throughout the world so that an atomic bomb is never dropped again. During both occasions I went to the atomic bomb museum. This is a museum that shares the horrific stories of all the victims of the dropping of the atomic bomb. That experience was one of the most meaningful experiences of my life. It honestly change my views a lot. When I talk about going to this museum many asked if I was given evil looks by the Japanese. The most amazing this is that we weren't. The main reason behind the museum is to show what bombs do and that this should never happen again. I suggest that if you ever get to go to Japan that you go to the peace park and War Museum in Hiroshima. You will never be the same again.    Close

It was almost dark by the time I got to Hiroshima Castle. It had stood intact since 1599, as old as the name Hiroshima itself. Five floors, nearly thirty-metres high, a National Treasure with the Imperial General Headquarters situated in its grounds.…Read More

It was almost dark by the time I got to Hiroshima Castle. It had stood intact since 1599, as old as the name Hiroshima itself. Five floors, nearly thirty-metres high, a National Treasure with the Imperial General Headquarters situated in its grounds. On the morning of August 6th 1945 it was completely obliterated. Only the moat and the stone foundations survived.

Partially restored in the 1950s, what you see today is a replica of the main tower in reinforced concrete (the original was made predominantly of pine wood and had extensive wings on two sides). The interior houses an exhibition on the building's history. At the top, a viewing point looks out across the floodlights of the old baseball stadium to the A-Bomb Dome and Peace Park. If you've seen other castles in Japan, there's nothing markedly different here, except perhaps its inauthenticity.

It was the grounds that I found far more interesting. There were stone ruins like the remains of a Roman town which turned out, on closer inspection, to be the foundations of a military barracks, all that was left of the Imperial General Headquarters. When the bomb exploded much of the Fifth Army was killed instantly by heat rays. A concrete bunker, partially destroyed, marks the site of the first radio broadcast out of the city in the aftermath of the bomb. Crossing what was once the West Parade Ground, there's a gold embossed shrine and A-bombed trees: a willow split evenly at the base, semi-decayed eucalyptus. An elderly man dressed all in white jogged slowly around the moat.


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