Hiroshima has been the city I’ve stayed at the longest so far, and it definitely didn’t let me down. Hiroshima is filled with memorials and historical monuments, especially from WWII, which made for some somber and inspiring destinations.
—– Day 8 —–
My first full day in Hiroshima started out with me heading back to the Hiroshima Peace Park that I had just briefly walked through the night before to get to dinner. The centerpiece of the park is a small monument to those that died during the atomic bombing. The center box within the monument contains a list of all the name the deceased from the impact of the bomb. It’s hard to see but in the pool behind the monument there’s also an ever burning flame. All of it made for a beautiful monument to those who suffered through one of the most destructive moments in history.
I proceeded on to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum where I learned a lot more about the greater impact that the atomic bomb had on the city. The museum didn’t hold much back, as a lot of the images within the museum were fairly graphic, but it definitely put a lot of emphasis on the destructive nature of this type of weapon and the need to abolish it’s use ever again. The main building of the museum was under renovations so I only got to see the permanent part of the museum, but it was still an informative and sobering experience.
Right next to the museum is a more elaborate memorial to those that lost their lives to the bomb. The indoor memorial was a gorgeous 360 mural of Hiroshima before the bombing made of 140,000 tiles, made to represent each individual. The mural itself was extremely intricate and underneath was listed the names of all of the neighborhoods of Hiroshima, listed by distance from the epicenter where the bomb was dropped. Pictures don’t do it justice, it was beautiful.
As you make your way out of the park you pass right by the Atomic Bomb Dome, a preserved building’s skeleton that managed to survive the explosion of the bomb. The building itself was pretty neat to look at, but more than that, at least to me, it gave the impression of just how populated and established Hiroshima City was before it was destroyed, and just how much work has been done to restore the city to it’s current state. I kinda see it as a testament to those who rebuilt the city.
I then left all of the memorials and headed north a few blocks to Hiroshima Castle park. I didn’t realize this before hand but the complex was actually a reconstruction as the entire place was destroyed by the bomb. It made sense once I got to the castle itself as it was mostly made out of wood which definitely wouldn’t have survived. It still made for a beautiful castle, the mix of worn wood with offset white Japanese-style rooftops.
And of course I wouldn’t be in Japan if not for more shrines!
I still had a little time before I wanted to head home so I stopped by the Hiroshima Museum of Art. The museum itself was fairly small, and I wish it contained more Japanese works, as about half were European, but it was still a cool visit.
—– Day 9 —–
Thursday was supposed to be pretty rainy in the afternoon/evening so I headed out first thing and headed to my last big destination that I wanted to hit near Hiroshima, Itsukushima Shrine. It’s a small ferry ride over to the island that it’s built on, but that made for some really awesome views of the little city, shrines, and temples built there.
I’m not sure if it’s unique with it’s torii gate built on the water, but it is definitely the most well known. The entire temple complex is actually built like a dock over the water.
[Google auto filters, definitely liked the blue]
I didn’t realize this before but the island that Itsukushima Shrine is built on is actually full of deer. I had thought earlier about going to Nara Park, which is known for it’s tame deer, but Itsukushima island is pretty similar I would imagine. Crazy tame but wild deer all over the place, sitting in store doorways and walking up to you to nip at your backpacks for food. pretty crazy.
Here’s some picture of some other pretty cool buildings and shrines nearby.
That’s about all I did my second day in Hiroshima because of the threat of the weather. I had gotten completely soaked in Shizuoka which caused a lot of grief the next day because of wet clothes that didn’t dry, especially my 1 pair of shoes, so I avoided that again at all costs haha.
That about sums up my adventures in Hiroshima. The next and final destination on my Japan trip is Tokyo!
FROSTED TIPS 
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