After four days packing in the sights in Kyoto, we were ready to slow things down just a little bit. We headed west to spend two nights between Hiroshima and Miyajima.
Of course, when most people think of Hiroshima, they think of the atomic bomb, and the city has some beautiful memorials to remember that tragic event during WWII.
Today, Hiroshima is a lively city like any other, and we found it to be refreshingly un-crowded compared to Kyoto and Tokyo. After finding our hotel, we started out at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial museum for some more history and context. The museum seemed to be the one place in Hiroshima that was super crowded, which detracted a bit from the overall experience. I thought the most moving parts were video footage of survivors of the bombing who described what it was like that day, and a room with stories, and articles of clothing from children who died in the bombing or from the after-effects of radiation.
We spent some time reflecting while walking around the peace park, which is alongside the “A-bomb dome” - the only (I think) structure that remains from the bombing, whose skeleton and rubble serve as a reminder of events from the past.
The A Bomb dome
The park also has a peace flame, and children’s memorial, where school groups from around the world have left thousands of folded paper cranes.
A few of the thousands of paper cranes
For lunch, we tried to go to a Mediterranean restaurant near the museum, but it happened to be closed, so we went across the street to a super random French bistro called La Vague where we were the only customers. It only had a menu in Japanese so we had no idea what we ordered, but it turned out to be a delicious 4-course meal!
After our visit to the memorial site, we didn't have any particular agenda. We wandered around the gardens of Hiroshima Castle and made our way to the surprisingly lovely Shukkeiein Garden for a relaxing stroll.
Shukkeien Garden
Isn't portrait mode the coolest?
For dinner, we wanted to try some okonomiyaki, a speciality of Hiroshima made by layering lots of ingredients on top of each other (a thin rice pancake, cabbage, egg, pork, noodles, etc). We found a place online called Lopez, which is run by a Guatemelan expat and his Japanese wife. Maybe not the most traditional option, but delicious nonetheless.
NOM
Miyajima
The island of Miyajima is an easy day trip from Hiroshima, and home to the famous orange Torii gate on the water, many deer, some shrines, and very delicious sweets in the shape of a maple leaf. We decided to stay overnight so we could check out a ryokan experience (more on that later)
During the day, we hiked to the top of Mt. Misen- an hour and a half of stairs, whew! The views at the top were great, though not as un-crowded as you’d expect because you can also take a cable car up there! We decided to take it down to spare our legs.
At the starting point, the Daisho-in temple, all the statues had tiny knitted hats to protect them from rain, wind and snow.
Views from the top
After the hike, we caught some of the sunset at the Torii gate, which is supposed to be one of the most spectacular times to see it (I believe that after witnessing it!)
After snapping some photos, we headed back to our ryokan, called Iwaso. A ryokan is a traditional Japanese inn/B&B, with tatami mat rooms, communal baths and delicious meals. Our place was super nice, and HUGE compared to the hotels and AirBnbs that we’d been staying in, plus we had our own hostess who was the sweetest thing ever. I didn't sleep very well on the futon beds, but it's all part of the experience I guess!
Our little paradise in the woods.
Dinner time! (in our traditional clothes to match the setting)
Welcome tea and a local sweet (maple leaf shaped cake filled with red bean paste)
Overall we really loved Miyajima, it ended up being our overall favorite experience of the trip. While many do it in a day trip, I'd definitely recommend staying overnight to anyone visiting Japan!