5 more things to do in Hiroshima
by Gilberto
So you already came to Hiroshima or spend a couple of days here visiting Miyajima, the peace memorial park and museum, the dome and the Hiroshima castle, now you feel like you have to go to the next city and maybe come back for a day the next time you came to this amazing city,
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but wait!
Let me tell you that there is more to do that just the typical spots in the city, and yes, the castle is beautiful and Miyajima amazing but there are some extra things to do and places to visit in this city.
Mitakidera Temple 三瀧寺
The three waterfalls Buddhist temple in Hiroshima is in my opinion the hidden gem of the city, a wonderful temple close to the city but at the same time so surrounded by the forest and nature that will make you feel you are far far away from any village. As many places in Japan, spring and autumn are best time to visit them but this is an all year round attraction due to its evergreen gardens (like the name of this Hostel) and the waterfalls on it.
Is perfect to escape from tourist and mostly from everyone, the day I visit it it was literally only two people there, a monk an a lady visiting the temple. The Shingon temple was founded in the year 809, that’s over 1200 years ago! And it was a survivor building after the Atomic Bomb in 1945 and is part of the Chugoku pilgrim.
How to get there:
Is a 20 min walk from the Mitaki JR Station or a 45 min walking from the Hostel, feels like less time due to the many constructions and bridges in the way.
Exercise!
Traveling could be a good excuse for not doing any exercise but is always good to do some sports specially if you enjoy the place where you are doing it, I could say that I love to ride the bike along the many river banks and in some occasion join the running trail around the Hiroshima Castle, great views, fresh air.
You can rent a bike for 1000 yen a day or for members 100 yen the first 30 minutes, that is cheaper than the electric tram and way more enjoyable. Yes it can sound a little bit too much but there is few better ways to get to know a city than riding a bicycle around it.
For more information and instructions on how to rent the bike you can visit Hiroshima Peacecle
Go Carps!
The locals are really proud of the Hiroshima Toyo Carps Baseball team, on game days you can see the city colored with red and white t-shirts and the Carps home, the Mazda Zoom-Zoom Stadium is a great place for BBQs and watching a game with family or friends.
The city has such a big fan party that has one of the biggest baseball stadiums in the country allowing 33,000 people to get in! And the seats prices can vary from 2,700 to 5,900 yen, but the tickets are often sold out at least two weeks before the game so you better look for the next game and see if you can get some tickets for it. The dream of one Evergreen staff is to make a BBQ in the stadium during the game, I hope I can join her next time!
More information and schedule of 2017 games here: Govoyagin
Shopping!
Yes you read it right, shopping in Hiroshima is a good idea, look at the map! The next big city nearby is… well Kobe? Fukuoka? Kitakyushu? this is the biggest city in a whole region and many people came from Kitakyushu to Okayama to get some stuff in Hiroshima! To get an Idea, the next SOGO (そごう) is in Kobe, so the city concentrates a lot of good stores in where you can get high quality clothes and souvenirs to get back home.
Hondori street is the buzziest place in the city and its because of all the surrounding stores and the ones in there, from Sogo to Parco, from Daiso to Uniqlo, book shops, second hand, Book off is one of the best in the area but there are many others, 100 yen cute socks to Manga and Anime action figures in Jump Shop, restaurants, cafés, old and new, and my personal favorite, Don Quijote Store, this one is just a madness of weird and cool stuff you should visit at least once here in Japan
Ok, if you didn’t get enough with Hondori and its surroundings, there is the Marina Hop, a shopping mall besides the Kannon Marina, is not huge but the stores and restaurants over there with the view at the sea will make you feel far away from your vision of Hiroshima.
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…is hard to decide, besides the City museum of contemporary art, the Prefectural museum, the Children’s museum, the city transportation museum, Hiroshima museum of art, the former bank, the botanical gardens, the day trips to the Zoo or the Rabbit Island or the Kure Yamato Museum, during this time here my favorite thing was just walk around the city and wonder about how not so long ago nothing that you can see existed but the rivers, how the city reborn and become one of the biggest cities in Japan, how, in my opinion, it feels like there is no resentment but peace, how people here is warmer and friendlier than many other places in the country, just walk and enjoy this city without the fear of loosing something big or important.
