An Early Start and Breakfast Sushi
We started the morning off pretty early catching a train from Kyoto to Hiroshima station which was only about an hour on the Shinkansen. We had a full day planned with a walking loop around the historic sights and a highly regarded garden. However, the train station breakfast sushi did not meet my high freshness standards, sadly.
The Shiukken Garden
It was very interesting learning about the history of the atomic bombing and the sobering remnants that are left behind to remind us including this Ginko tree that was the only tree left standing, although now severely slanted from the power of the explosion.
The Shiukken Garde dates back long before the Hiroshima bombing and was reconstructed to its former state with reminders placed around the garden of the impact that history has played.
We spent more time than I expected at the garden because it was such a calm, relaxing urban sanctuary and exceeded my expectations on its charm with unique mini scenes constructed very cohesively.
The Hiroshima Castle Ruins
From there we walked past the Hiroshima castle ruins, which was literally just the foundations of building left. It was a large complex, there may have been more to see further back on the grounds, but for time’s sake, we kept on the move.
The A-Bomb Dome
The A-bomb dome and adjoining memorial along the island to its side was an informative and sobering reminder of the devastating effects of war
The Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall
(approx. 160 meters from the hypocenter)
This building was completed in April of 1915 under the design and supervision of Czech architect Jan Letzel, capturing the fancy of the citizens of Hiroshima with its characteristic green dome. The atomic bomb exploded at an altitude of 600 meters approximately 160 meters southeast of the Industrial Promotion Hall, instantly killing everyone inside the building which was seriously damaged and completely burned out. In December 1996 this structure was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List as a reminder to the entire world of the horrors of the atomic bomb and a symbol of global peace.
The explosion by a single bomb claimed the lives of over 200,000 people and the city area of about 2-km radius was turned into ashes. In order to have this tragic fact known to succeding generation and to make it a lesson for humankind, the reinforcement work of the ruins has been done by the contributions of many people who desire peace within and out of the country. the ruins shall be preserved forever. August 6, 1967 – Hiroshima City
Hiroshima also had some lovely gardening/greenspaces in their public spaces which was refreshing to see!
From there, regrettably, we did not have the time to go to the Peace park memorial, which is also a paid fee to enter and looked to be quite a little ways off and not the direction we needed to go… to get lunch!
Our First Okonomiyaki Lunch
Okonomiyaki was a new food experience for us that I am told in my various blog readings originated in Hiroshima and is a must eat when there. I read about this food court/mall that came highly recommended.
We had the address saved, but as usual locations in Japan didn’t feel very specific once you got to your “destination.” We went up an elevator to where we thought the food court was going to be and the doors opened to a fairly small room with two private okonomiyaki cooking classes going on!
We went down the street a little further, the main building had the same address number but we found proper signage with the multitude of restaurants and small descriptions of each one and what floor they were on. Ok. Got it, we think. Up the elevator again now.
After Lunch… Miyajima
This was the extent of our brief stay in Hiroshima, after lunch, we worked our way quickly back to the Hiroshima train station via the local street tram. From there used our JR pass to get to the station near where the JR managed ferry leaves for Miyajima.
