From Wikitravel

Hiroshima (広島) [1] is an industrial city of wide boulevards, crisscrossing rivers and a dense city center. It is located along the coast of the Seto Inland Sea in the western Chugoku region of Japan. Although many only know it for the horrific split second on August 6, 1945, when it became the site of the world's first nuclear bomb attack, there are some other sights worth a visit.

Contents 1 Understand 1.1 Orientation 2 Get in 2.1 By plane 2.2 By train 2.3 By bus 3 Get around 3.1 By tram 3.2 By metro 3.3 By bike 4 See 4.1 Atomic bombing 4.2 Gardens and castles 4.3 Other 5 Do 6 Learn 7 Work 8 Buy 9 Eat 9.1 Budget 9.2 Mid-range 9.3 Splurge 10 Drink 11 Sleep 11.1 Budget 11.2 Mid-range 11.3 Splurge 12 Contact 13 Stay safe 14 Cope 15 Get out

Understand

Orientation

Downtown Hiroshima is pretty compact and the trams are reliable and frequent. Hiroshima Station itself is a 15 minute walk outside the city center so most people take the tram into the city if they arrive by train. Hiroshima Bus Center (広島バスセンター) is right in the center of the city inside the Sogo department store. Hondori, a long covered shopping street, is a good landmark to use to orient yourself, and most sites are within walking distance from there. Peace Park (平和公園 Heiwa Koen）is in the middle of the city center easily accessibly by tram or bus from the station (signs and announcements in English). Across from Peace Park is the Hiroshima Carp professional baseball stadium (soon to be demolished 2006), so catch a local "Carp" game there while you can. Also just North of the city center, is Hiroshima Rijo Castle (広島城）a rebuilt version of the original, but beautiful and a great place to relax or stroll. Across the street from the castle is Central Park (中央公園 Chuo-koen) where you can find groups picnicing and exercising in the biggest open space in the city.

Get in

By plane

Hiroshima Airport (HIJ) connects to domestic destinations in Japan. Both ANA and JAL offer flights from Tokyo Haneda and Sapporo Chitose airports. ANA also offers flights from Tokyo Narita, Sendai and Okinawa. There are also international flights to and from Beijing, Shanghai, Seoul and Taipei. Bangkok Airways also (since 2006) flies directly to Hiroshima from Bangkok.

Buses connect the airport to Hiroshima station (50 minutes, ¥1300).

By train

Hiroshima is a major station on the Sanyo Shinkansen line. It is 40 minutes away from Okayama and 90 minutes from Osaka. With cheap but slow local trains it takes 7 hours from/to Osaka. From Tokyo it is four hours via Nozomi; five hours via Hikari (change trains once). There is no charge to use Hikari services with the Japan Rail Pass.

Cheaper but slower local services radiate out to other cities in the region.

The Hayabusa overnight sleeper train leaves Tokyo daily at 6 PM, arriving in Hiroshima at around 5:20 the next morning. A later alternative from Tokyo is to take the 10 PM Sunrise Izumo/Seto train to Okayama, then take the San'yo Shinkansen to Hiroshima, arriving around 7:30 the next day.

By bus

The New Breeze overnight bus runs from Tokyo to Hiroshima. There are two nightly departures in each direction: From Tokyo, departing at 20:00 and 21:00, with both buses arriving in Hiroshima at 8:00 the next day. From Hiroshima, departing at 19:00 and 20:00, with both buses arriving in Tokyo at 7:00 the next day. The trip costs ¥11600 one way, ¥21200 round trip.

Daytime express buses run from Osaka to Hiroshima. There are five departures daily, and the travel time is five hours each way. It costs ¥5000 one way, ¥9000 round trip.

There are also overnight buses from Osaka: The Sanyo Dream Hiroshima from Osaka Station and the Venus from the Namba bus terminal. Both buses take between 6 and 7 1/2 hours to make their journeys, and cost ¥5700 one way, ¥11000 round trip.

There are also two daily buses, and one overnight bus, from Kyoto. The daytime buses take 5 1/2 hours (¥5500 one way, ¥10000 round trip) and the overnight bus takes 6 hours (¥6300 one way, ¥11400 round trip).

Daytime buses also run from cities such as Okayama, Fukuyama, Takamatsu and Fukuoka.

Get around

By tram

Hiroshima is the last major city in Japan with an extensive tram network known as Hiroden (広電), a slow, but excellent way of getting around. Most trams start from JR Hiroshima Station. Trips within the city are a flat ¥150, while trundling out all the way to Miyajima will set you back ¥280.

By metro

The modern if strangely named Astram links Hiroshima city center to its northern suburbs, it is useful if you want to visit the Hiroshima Asa Zoo, or watch a professional San Frecce J-League soccer game at the Big Arch stadium.

By bike

If you rent a bicycle, Hiroshima is a great city to cycle around- all of the riverside paths along the many branches of the Otagawa river will take you around the city in a much more enjoyable fashion.

See

Those expecting to step off the Shinkansen into a pile of smouldering rubble may be in for a surprise, as modern Hiroshima is a Japanese city like any other. When you get off the Shinkansen, you will be at the back of the station, facing Busharidou temple, a silver Peace Pagoda on the top of Ushita-yama. If you cross through the station to the main side, you will see the trams and busses in front of the station that lead to the city center. The front of the station also has the main tourist information office and the GetHiroshima town map which offers a local ex-pat's perspective of Hiroshima city- showing all the best places to eat, drink and the sights all tourists want to get around (including the drinking area of Nagarekawa). If you feel like walking from the station, cross the river in front of the station and take your first right along the main road- you will be in the city center in less than 15 minutes. If you want to cycle around Hiroshima (highly recommended), walk left along the main street in front of the station for 5 minutes to the Nippon car rental shop that rents bicycles for the day.

Atomic bombing

The following memorials related to the bombing are all clustered in Peace Memorial Park (平和公園 Heiwa-kōen), reachable by tram line 2 or 6 to Genbaku Domu-mae.

• Hiroshima Peace Memorial. Better known as the A-Bomb Dome (原爆ドーム Genbaku Dōmu) is Hiroshima's best-known symbol. Formerly the Prefectural Industrial Promotional Hall, the building was only meters away from ground zero and its skeletal remains were among the very few buildings left standing.

• Peace Memorial Museum (平和記念資料館 Heiwa Kinen Shiryōkan). This heart-wrenching museum documents the bomb and its aftermath, complete with scale models of "before" and "after", melted children's tricycles and a harrowing recreation of a post-blast Hiroshima street. After numerous complaints, the museum now even describes the events leading up to the bomb in some detail. Entry costs a token ¥50. Be warned: a visit here, while by all means worthwhile, will ruin your day.

• Statue of the A-Bomb Children. Perennially draped in thousands and thousands of origami paper cranes, folded by schoolchildren across Japan in memory of bomb victim Sadako Sasaki. Dying of leukemia in 1954, she was told an old folk tale according to which anybody who folds over 1000 cranes will have her wish come true; she managed 642 before her death in 1955 at the age of twelve.

Gardens and castles

• Shukkeien (縮景園). While not officially one of Japan's Top 3, this is a compact and beautifully landscaped Japanese garden well worth a visit. Despite more and more high-rises peeping over the trees recently, it can feel like an entirely different world. Little paths crossing ponds on bridges and winding their way around graceful teahouses and waterfalls. Open daily 9 AM to 6 PM, entry ¥250. Get there on tram line 9, stop Shukkeien-mae. Especially pretty in spring when the cherry blossoms are in bloom, in the fall with the Koyo, vibrant colors of the fall leaves, and in winter when the park is covered in a light dusting of snow.

• Hiroshima Castle (広島城 Hiroshima-Rijō). The castle is a fun place to walk around or jog around- there is a 1.5km running path that circles the castle grounds outside the moat. There is a small kids playpark on one side and its a nice place to sit and relax for a while. Kids have fun spotting the fish that swim in the moat as well as turtles. It is just across the street from Central park if you need more space to run around. The grounds of the castle and the banks of the moat are great places to view the 350 or so cherry trees that come into bloom in early April. The castle museum is a ferroconcrete reconstruction of the 16th century, 5-story Donjon, well worth a look if you are interested in a bit of culture. There are amazing relics and armor to see as well as read about the history of the castle and hiroshima. There are English guides and information inside the castle too, the view from the top is worth the entrance fee.
  • The castle grounds also house a monument to Chinese workers killed by the atomic bomb, which was not allowed into the Memorial Park for political reasons.

Other

• Mazda Museum, Mukainada-cho Shinchi 3-1 (Sanyo line two stops east to JR Mukainada, two blocks south, turn right and cross), tel. 082-252-5050, [2]. Mazda's company headquarters a short distance outside of Hiroshima. They offer free tours every weekday at 9:30am and 1:00pm in Japanese, and 1:00pm in English. The tour is a must for any automobile fan. Space is limited, and they ask that you call first to make a reservation. If you have any serious technical questions then you should go on the Japanese tour and bring along your own interpreter. The English tour guides are not very knowledgable. The tour will begin with a historical view of the Mazda company from its early days making three-wheeled trucks and cork, to the present day Renesis Wankel Rotary Engine. Highlights include the Mazda Cosmos (the worlds first Rotary Engine car) and the 4-Rotor Mazda 787B which is the only Japanese car to win at Le Mans. From there you will be taken to see how the design and build process works at their Ujima plant, and you will be taken onto the actual assembly line to see the latest Mazda vehicles being made. The tour concludes with a view of Mazda's attempts at making Hydrogen fueled cars and some of their concept vehicles.

• Hiroshima's Transportation Museum. Located on the outskirts of the city, the transportation museum is all about transportation and has many exhibits, interactive games etc. Outside behind the museume they have a track with many different, odd, funny and interesting kinds of bicycles to ride. For any one with children this is a must visit as it is great fun for them.

• Hiroshima Children's Museum and Library. Also a must-see for kids, with a planetarium on the top floor and full of fun scientific games for kids to play and learn from.

Do

• Hiroshima's Family Pool. Open from July 1st-August 31st every year, this huge open-air pool is a popular place for kids and families to beat the heat.

• Hiroshima Carp Professional Baseball Stadium. It is only going to be in the center of the city until the end of 2006, a new stadium is being built near the JR station, but it is a real shame that the city center will not be a buzz with excited carp fans during baseball season. The cheers and sounds of the drums coming from the stadium also gives the city center a great atmosphere.

Learn

• Hiroshima International Center. Tel. 082-541-3777. In the Crystal Plaza building on the corner of Heiwa Dori (Peace Boulevard) opposite the Hokke Club Hotel. You can get free Japanese language and culture lessons here.

Work

A good job to have in Hiroshima (or anywhere else in Japan) is to be a JET. The JET (Japanese Exchange Teaching) Programme offers people a chance to teach English in Japanese junior and senior high schools. It is a great way to learn the culture, interact with the people, and share your culture wherever you are from. Only available to native speakers on English for the main programme, if you are interested, you should contact the Japanese Embassy in your own country to find out about how to apply.

Other English-language schools that operate in Hiroshima are NOVA, Geos, AEON and Berlitz. Unlike JET, these are private companies and provide varying levels of support for their non-Japanese staff.

Many non-Japanese find themselves bartending (though technically illegal as you can't get a visa) or freelance teaching.

Buy

The city center is packed with shopping areas- the big malls are the underground Shareo- full of young women's clothing. DeoDeo is a popular shop for anyone interested in the latest gadgets and electronics. Across the street is Sogo and to the north of that is Pacela. Connecting to Shareo and cutting through the city center is Hondori (本通り）which is a busy covered shopping street full of shops, restaurants and coffee houses. At the ends of Hondori (near Peace Park) is SunMall which has lots of small shops, the popular cheap clothing store Uniqro (Western sizes too) and good quality Japanese souvenir shops on the top floors. At the other end of Hondori, is Parco and Motto Parco- both popular department stores with a concert hall at the top of Parco Club Quattro where the biggest bands touring Japan often play. Also in Parco is various upscale clothing shops, bookstores and the ultra popular, cool MUJI (無印）Japanese clothing and household goods store that you can now find in London and major US cities.

Eat

Hiroshima is famous for its okonomiyaki (お好み焼き), which literally means "cook it as you like it". Often (and somewhat misleadingly) called "Japanese pizza", this is essentially a type of savoury pancake made with egg, pancake type batter, vegetables, noodles and meat. It is grilled in layers on a hot plate in front of you and slathered liberally with okonomiyaki sauce, (sometimes) mayonnaise, pickled ginger and seaweed. It sounds and looks like a mess, but can be very tasty if done well. Hiroshima style and Osaka style are the two competing types of Okonomiyaki, the Osaka type places (not popular in Hiroshima) will hand you the (premixed) ingredients in a bowl and let you do the work, but will usually be glad to assist if you need help. The Hiroshima style takes more time, but is packed full of fresh ingredients and is a healthy, tasty meal any time of the day.

Hiroshima is also famous for its oysters and a maple-leaf-shaped pastry called momiji manju (もみじ饅頭). Momiji is the leaf of a Japanese maple tree. Momiji manjuu are available with a variety of fillings, inculding the more traditional anko (あんこ) or red bean and matcha (抹茶) or green tea. It's also available in cream cheese, custard, apple and chocolate flavors. Momiji manju are considered the quintessential Hiroshima souvenir.

Hiroshima also has lots of of great Japanese and international restaurants, so you'll be able to find pretty much any kind of food you want in the city.

Budget

• Grazie Gardens (グラジエ　ガーデンズ). A cheap and tasty Italian on Hondori near Parco department store. It's above a shop called Ships.

• Okonomi-mura (お好み村). 3-3 Nakamachi, Naka-ku. A two-story building packed with no less than 27 okonomiyaki shops. Figure on ¥1000 for a meal.

Mid-range

• Nono Budo, in the Sogo-Pacela Credo building. An all non-smoking, healthy "viking" buffet style Japanese restaurant in Pacela offering a ¥1575 for lunch (¥2100 for dinner) all you can eat & drink deal (no alcohol). A great selection of juices, teas, and coffees. If you want nomihōdai (飲み放題）(all you can drink) for alcohol, add on another 1900 yen. The menu offers a wide selection of curries, tempura, and other Japanese dishes, some made with organic products, most foods are made with ingredients from in and around Hiroshima.

Splurge

• Floating Oyster Boat, Kanawa. Hiroshima is famous for oysters and this high class floating restaurant offers the highest quality oysters and seafood all year round. Wait staff serve in Kimonos and the view is romantic and relaxing. Located just across Peace Boulevard, South of Peace Park. Expect to pay ¥7,000-¥15,000 per person not including drinks.

• Shabuchin Shabu Shabu dip fresh meat and vegetables in a hot sauce to lightly cook it before dipping it in a savory sauce to eat. Small, friendly, family run shabu shabu restaurant in fashionable Jizo-dori. They make their own sauces and all the ingredients are of high quality and superfresh. Expect to pay from ¥3,000-¥5,000 per person including drinks.

• Sumojaya Takabayama Chanko Nabe- the food of sumo wrestlers is a filling, fun and healthy dish for anyone to enjoy, especially on colder days. Expect to pay ¥4,000-¥8,000 per person including drinks. Much cheaper lunch deals available.

Drink

Hiroshima's Saijo area is famous for its sake and its annual Sake Festival in October. Saijo's located in Higashi-Hiroshima.

• Kulcha is a popular bar just off Hondori. If you're walking towards Parco from Rijo-dori, take a right at Andersens. Walk one block down (past Daiei supermarket) and turn left. The bar is on the right. It's frequented mainly by foreign teachers and tourists and is known for its monthly theme parties and televised rugby and soccer games.

• Mac Bar is another bar worth visiting. The bar owner is chatty and has a substantial collection of rock CDs. He's only happy to take requests. Mac Bar is located in the Nagarekawa district, so be careful going there alone.

Sleep

Budget

• Hiroshima Youth Hostel [3] tel. 082-221-5343. About the cheapest accomidations available in Hiroshima. Rates are about 2000 yen for the night including sheet and the charge for air conditioning. Off the beaten path, but well worth the savings.

• Capsule Inn Hiroshima (カプセルイン広島), Yagenbori 4-6, tel. 082-248-0101. In the Shintechi Entertainment District, halfway between JR Hiroshima station and the Peace Memorial Park; on Aioi-dori, after T6 Kanayama-cho tram stop, turn left at the corner with a post office. Enter the fourth small street on the left. (There are actually two hotels on the both sides of the street). The capsule hotel charges ¥2300/night but available only for male visitors. Has a decent sento (hot bath) for free and advantage of being in the city centre.

Mid-range

• Dormy Inn. Centrally located along Heiwa Odori, this is a comfortable and friendly full-service hotel with Western rooms, free laundry facilities (with soap) and a great Japanese style sento bath for guests to enjoy any time of day.

• Comfort Hotel Hiroshima (コンフォートホテル広島), 3-17 Komachi. Conveniently located near the Peace Park and opposite the Chuden-mae tram stop.

• Toyoko Inn Heiwa Odori, [4]. An affordable business hotel on Heiwa Odori, and within walking distance from the Peace Park. Also has a small shuttle from Hiroshima Station. This is one of several Toyoko Inns in Hiroshima.

Splurge

• Rihga Royal Hiroshima, [5]. Centrally located near Peace Park in the middle of downtown, near the Hiroshima Carp stadium, this is a luxury hotel. It is the tallest building in Hiroshima.

Contact

Stay safe

Hiroshima has quite a rough reputation compared to other Japanese cities, but it's much safer than any large Western city. The nightlife district (Nagarekawa) gets quite disturbing in some areas at night, since it's full of prostitutes and sex clubs and rip-off hostess bars. Recently there has been a crack down on legitimate dancing places in response to a crack down on latin american foreign residents running businesses and the immoral behavior of couples dancing together (all over Japan). So, many of the bars and clubs will not be allowed to advertise whether or not they have dancing after 1am.

Cope

Hiroshima is a very modern, cosmopolitan and clean city. It's also safe and friendly, so travellers should have no problems.

Get out

• Miyajima, Not hard to get to from Hiroshima, only a short tram and ferry trip away. It is ranked as one of the top 3 sights in Japan and has a world heritage site- Itsukushima shrine and a great red torii gate in front of it. Great views of the sea and surrounding islands from the top of monkey mountain too.

• Onomichi, a hillside town of temples and Japanese novelists, 75 minutes away by train

• Take a hike. There are many great walks in and around Hiroshima for you to enjoy.

• Aki no Kofuji. Off the beaten track, old style Japanese village, a great hike and wonderful views.

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