Hiroshima was the last stop on my tour of Japan. I was there for a day and a half because I had to take a long (~4 hour) shinkansen ride back to Tokyo and arrive early enough so that I could reasonably wake up for class in the morning the next day, but I could’ve easily spent 2 full days in the city. Here's what I got up to during my time in the city:
- Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park - Obviously, this is a must-do. The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and Atomic Bomb Dome in particular offer an immersive way to fully understand the tragic events and aftermath of the bombing of Hiroshima on August 6th, 1945, but it is worth visiting the other memorial monuments spread across the park as well.
- Yamato Museum & Japan Maritime Self Defence Force Kure Museum - Located in the Kure area (easily accessible by bus from the center of Hiroshima), these two adjacent museums offer a different look at the Japanese experience of war, this time focusing on their naval weaponry and its production. While the Yamato Museum primarily showcases a diverse array of artifacts from WWII, the JMSDF Kure Museum covers a broader timeframe from the post-WWII years to the present and highlights minesweeping and submarine operations. Of the two, I preferred the latter (which has free admission, by the way) because it gave me a thorough introduction to minesweeping, had many English captions, and features a real Japanese submarine that visitors can walk through.
- Miyajima - Miyajima island presents a nice contrast to the previous attractions in being natural rather than industrial. Though Hiroshima wasn’t my favorite of all the cities I visited on this trip, Miyajima was a very close second to Osaka’s Expo ‘70 Commemorative Park as my favorite site. The Itsukushima Shrine and floating torii gate were as beautiful as the viral photos online (though note that the gate only appears to be floating at high tide), and the deer did not disappoint, at times walking right next to you and allowing tourists to touch them. Overall, the architecture was extremely traditional (more so even than that in Kyoto) and aligned with what I imagined old Japan would be like. Make sure to take the Mount Misen ropeway up and hike to Reikado and the Observatory for some incredible panoramic views of the Seto Inland Sea, and try the local specialty grilled oysters and Momiji manju desserts once you’ve worked up an appetite.
I didn’t get to it, but Hiroshima Castle is also supposed to be worth visiting.
Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe, and Hiroshima were all so much fun—I am thrilled with how my trip went and am looking forward to doing more traveling over my next break in November!
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Daxton Mironoff
My name is Daxton and I'm from NYC. I'm a senior studying the social sciences, entrepreneurship and film. Outside of class, I enjoy doing film photography, traveling, conducting interdisciplinary research, and DJing at my campus radio station!
