Hiroshima Peace Memorial & Miyajima Small-Group Day Tour

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park

The Peace Memorial Park covers the northern tip of a river delta island that was once the busy Nakajima district, the heart of the city before 6 August 1945. Rebuilt as a place of remembrance and opened in the 1950s, it is laid out on a single axis: from the arched Cenotaph, which holds the register of the names of those who died, you look through the Peace Flame to the Atomic Bomb Dome across the river. The flame is meant to burn until nuclear weapons no longer exist.

On a Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park tour your guide also stops at the Children's Peace Monument, surrounded by booths filled with paper cranes sent from schools around the world, and at the Peace Bell, which visitors may ring. The park is open at all hours and entry is free; this first part of the day lasts about two hours and is unhurried and quiet in tone.

The Atomic Bomb Dome

The building now called the Atomic Bomb Dome was completed in 1915 as the Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall, a modern exhibition building designed by a European architect, with a green copper dome that stood out along the river. When the atomic bomb exploded over the city on the morning of 6 August 1945, it was one of the very few structures near the centre whose walls remained standing.

The ruin has been preserved exactly as it was left, and in 1996 it was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site as a symbol of the hope for lasting peace. Visitors view it from the riverside paths rather than going inside. Your guide shares the history in a respectful, factual way, so the visit is suitable for teenagers as well as adults, and there is time for quiet reflection before the group moves on.

From the city to Miyajima by tram and ferry

Many travellers ask how to get to Miyajima from Hiroshima, and this tour shows you the classic local route. From the park the group boards the city's streetcar, which runs west through the suburbs to the coast at Miyajimaguchi in a little over an hour, a relaxed way to see everyday Hiroshima. Fares for the tram and ferry are included, so you simply follow your guide.

At Miyajimaguchi the ferry crosses to the island in about ten minutes. Stand on the right-hand side of the deck on the way out: as the boat approaches the pier you get a first view of the great torii standing in the water with the forested slopes of Mount Misen behind it, one of the most photographed scenes in Japan.

Itsukushima Shrine and the floating torii

Tradition dates Itsukushima Shrine to the late sixth century, and its present layout of vermilion halls joined by long corridors built over the tidal flat dates from the 12th century. At high tide the whole complex appears to float, and the Great Torii, about 16 metres tall and made from natural camphor trunks, stands in the sea in front of it. At low tide you can walk across the sand to its base. Shrine entry is included.

The shrine generally opens at 6:30 in the morning and closes between 17:00 and 18:00 depending on the season. Your guide explains the shrine's sea deities, the outdoor stage over the water and why the island itself has long been regarded as sacred. Allow about 45 minutes inside the corridors.

Miyajima town, temples and deer

Is Miyajima worth visiting? The free time on this tour answers the question. The Omotesando shopping street is lined with stalls selling momiji manju, maple-leaf cakes filled with sweet bean paste, grilled oysters and conger-eel rice, and wooden rice scoops, a traditional island craft. Above the town rise a five-storey pagoda from 1407 and the great unfinished hall of Senjokaku.

Deer roam freely and are regarded as sacred; feeding them is not allowed, so keep paper maps and snacks out of reach. If you have energy, the stairway to Daisho-in Temple at the foot of Mount Misen is lined with prayer wheels and small stone statues. The best time to visit Miyajima is spring or late autumn, when the maples of Momijidani glow red.