Originally Posted by tripplanner001

mrwunrfl, your advice is very much appreciated.

Mara, that's great. Onomichi was on my list but removed due to lack of time.

progol, Tomonoura was very relaxed yet fun. I highly recommend it should you return and visit this part of Japan.

A Phoenix Arisen

This morning we travelled by Shinkansen from Kurashiki to Hiroshima by way of Okayama. We came to Hiroshima with mixed emotions. We came as Americans, whose country was the victim of attack by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor and also whose country was responsible for dropping the atomic bomb on the city of islands towards the end of the Second World War. We came as the children and grandchildren of family who suffered from Japanese colonialism that eventually resulted in what is called in Japan as the Pacific War. We also came as human beings who were able to connect with the wonderful Japanese people during this and a prior trip. It was through these different and conflicting prisms that we experienced Hiroshima.

We began our visit where world history was changed forever on that fateful day in 1945. From the Hilton Hiroshima, our home base, we walked down Peace Boulevard to the Peace Memorial Museum and Park. We spent two hours diving into the story of the once politically- and miltarily-important city, learning about Hiroshima before the war and after it. We tried to connect with the stories of lives lost and changed forever through the museum's excellent exhibits. We walked away appreciating what happened here more than what we are able to absorb in history classes of our younger years. This visit felt very similar to our experiences at the museums about the Holocaust in Krakow. We found the Peace Park to be a great complement to our time at the museum.

While we felt most sadness coming out of the museum, we cannot helpful but feel more optimistic and hopeful wandering around the park, with its memorials to the dead. Despite all that the people of Hiroshima suffered, there seemed to be a positive energy all around us, not just in the park but throughout the city. Everyone we encountered seemed happy, relaxed, and carefree. We saw a lot of smiles and heard a lot of laughter, which caught our attention as generally speaking most of the Japanese we've encountered, while friendly, were reserved.

When in Rome... Well, this is Hiroshima and that meant having okonomiyaki for lunch. A dish made of noodles, meat, and vegetables fried in batter pancake-style, it was both delicious and filling.

We were fortunate to come to Hiroshima at koyo's peak. The trees all around us were awash in red, yellow, and orange. We saw more foliage around us in Hiroshima than anywhere else during our three weeks of travel around Japan. We also enjoyed walking along the river, taking in the several bridges spanning the islands that make up the central part of the city. We visited Hiroshima Castle, a reconstruction from the 1950s. Unlike Okayama Castle, we found the exhibits inside Hiroshima Castle of the city's pre-war history and its artwork, very enjoyable. We also visited Shukkei-en, and were pleasantly surprised at how much we enjoyed this relatively small but packed garden. The scenery was as good if not better than the other gardens we visited around Japan, and momijis greeted us at every turn.

Evening consisted of a teppanaki dinner at Mimitei down the street from our hotel, and a stroll along Peace Boulevard, with its brightly-colored holiday lights and people out and about having a good time.

Tourist Crowd Central

As this is our first Western hotel on this trip (one of two), we chose to eat breakfast at the hotel buffet. And this being Japan, we had hoped for a selection that included both Japanese and Western dishes, a wish that was granted. All the usual Western fare were available. Other than the bacon, everything else tasted as we would expect. Seems like the Japanese like their eggs more runny though. On the Japanese end, we enjoyed chirasi sushi and miso soup. We also liked the Chinese-style fried noodles on offer.

Today we were bound for Miyajima, a small island in Hiroshima Bay that is home to Itsukushima Shrine with its world-famous vermillion torii out in the sea. We hopped on the first ferry (8:30) leaving from the Peace Park in central Hiroshima, which took about 45 minutes. There, it seemed as though all of the tourists of Japan, foreign and domestic, descended on the island today. The crowds were insane, definitely the worst we've had all trip. Even though we were tempted to leave throughout the day, we wound up staying for most of it. We thought to ourselves, the crowd situation will probably never get any better, it's very unlikely we will want to come back, so let's make the most of it. The line to purchase tickets to the shrine was 30 minutes long and it was very hard to move around once there. After a brief stop at the main altar to observe what we could of a Shinto wedding taking place there, we left.

Aware that low tide was still more than a couple of hours away, when we could walk out on the seabed to the great torii, we headed for Momijidani Park. Normally we would be here when the foliage is peaking, but because of the intensely warm summer, many of the maple leaves died off before turning color. We did see a few trees sprouting red and orange here and there. The ropeway up Mt. Misen was also out of the question as it wasn't operating due to high winds. Instead, we made our way to Daisho-in, a large Buddhist temple on the base of the mountain. We enjoyed the various subtemples to Buddha and to Kannon, including a large Tibetan-style Buddha and a sand mandala as well as many statues of the thousand-armed Kannon. We prayed at a cave temple with a statue of Buddha for each of the 88 temples around Shikoku Island. We viewed maple leaves at peak at several viewpoints at the temple. Our visit to Daisho-in was our happiest on the island, until...

It was about 2:00 and low tide. We walked back to Itsukushima Shrine and out onto the seabed. The same crowds that marred our visit were with us as well. But for way or reason, we forgot about the crowds and focused on where we were. The torii was impressive as was the views of the sea and mountains all around us. Unlike at the shrine, we actually wanted to be here, right then. We stayed for about an hour, until the waters came in.

While we were on Miyajima, we ate momiji manju, bread in the shape of maple leaves and filled with various items such as red bean and custard, and purchased some for later; and also grilled oysters and eel. We left the island just before sunset, but the way back took longer on the combination ferry and train. It was packed the entire way back.

Dinner was again near our hotel, at Tempura Tenko. Tempura is our favorite Japanese food, so we wanted to enjoy it one more time before we head home.

Originally Posted by shelemm

The Prada building in Tokyo is designed to look like a glass quilt. Designed by Herzog and De Meuron, a firm from Switzerland. One of my favorite examples of modern architecture. FYI, Here is their website:

https://www.herzogdemeuron.com/