Hiroshima is a beautiful and modern city in Hiroshima Prefecture, located four hours away from Tokyo by shinkansen and also served by a local airport and highway buses. The following article suggests activities to plan for on a 3-day trip to Hiroshima.
Day One – Visiting Miyajima Island
Once you check in at your local accommodation, I recommend you go to Miyajima Island. This holy island is located about 50 minutes away from Hiroshima Station. You can take the JR local train to Miyajimaguchi Station and a ferry to Miyajima, or using Hidoden Pass. Once you’ve arrived at the island you will be greeted by the local animals, the deer.
Miyajima Deer
These animals walk all around the island peacefully, unless you don’t have any food in your hand. If you are into hiking you can take a two hour hike up to Mount Misen. Alternatively a ropeway can take you up to the mountain station. From there it’s just a 30 minutes walk to the sightseeing spot.
If you are lucky to go there on a sunny day, you will get a stunning view of the Seto Inland Sea. But even when it is raining it is a very nice view.
Mount Misen during a rainy day.
The rest of your afternoon can be spent visiting some of beautiful and traditional temples. Before leaving the island you should make a stop at the big red torii floating in the sea. The whole island is meant to be a sacred place, so the gate is located in front of the island. If you check out the tide information before visiting the island you can see the Torii at low tide.
Miyajima’s famous torii gate
Day Two – Mazda Museum
The second day you can visit the Mazda Museum in Hiroshima. The car manufacturer’s head quarter is located in Hiroshima along with a huge car manufacturing department. To visit the museum it is necessary to make an online reservation in advance. The reservation can be made via this Link to the Mazda Museum.
The museum gives you a very organized and structured overview about Mazda. Upon arriving you are welcomed at the lobby and handed your visitor pass. At the time of departure, a bus will take every visitor from the lobby to the museum itself. The museum is located about a 10 minute bus ride away. During the bus ride you can enjoy the first attractions, the manufacturing and processing buildings. After a short introductory movie, the English speaking guide begins with the tour. You will the see the different decades of car manufacturing and the first Mazda products
Mazda T2000
The last stop during the museums tour mark the highlight of this whole museum, the assembling road. While walking on a balustrade underneath the ceiling of the assembly hall, you can see the workers of Mazda in action. It is very interesting to watch how a car is built up. You will see two different assembly roads. On each road you can learn how the different car models are composed. If there is time left after the museum tour and you are hungry, visit okonomimura. This village of Okinomiyaki restaurants is located in the city center of Hiroshima. One building has more then 20 different Okinomiyaki restaurants on four floors.
Day Three – Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park
The last day in Hiroshima, do not miss to visit the memorials in the city. Hiroshima was the first city hit by an atomic bomb and suffered unimaginable damage during the second world war. To keep a memento of all victims, the city built several memorials. The following tent-shaped sculpture should protect the souls underneath it. You can see the atomic bomb dome in the back.
Peace park Hiroshima
The Atomic bomb dome is a building which was almost destroyed by the atomic bomb. It didn’t remove the building and the city kept it to memorialize the event.
Atomic bomb dome
Then, you can go to the atomic bomb museum. Currently (as of September, 2017) the main building of the museum is under construction and not accessible until July 2018.
The peace park is just a 5 minute walk away from the shopping area of Hiroshima. You can enjoy the evening at one of the many nice restaurants in Hatchobori.
