I’m curious why everyone always wants to go to Hiroshima. Is it the Bomb? Or is it to visit Miyajima? Nothing wrong with going of course, just truly curious.

Just as some people are famous for being famous, so some places become visit-worthy because they're well visited. The reason that Hiroshima is on so many tourists' itinerary is because outside of Japan's top five most populous cities **, Hiroshima and Nagasaki are probably the only two that EVERYONE has heard of, and Hiroshima is easier to get to. Clearly Hiroshima's fame is largely a result of its history as the first city to have been destroyed by an atomic bomb.

The city has few pre-war historical buildings or neighborhoods of the kind that tourists flock to in other places ... Only the castle ruins, and a few buildings that are famous for having survived the bombing. For that reason, the typical tourist visit takes in the various peace memorials, some time in the park, and then on to Miyajima. That said, it's a very pleasant city with an unusual amount of green space and wide avenues. It's a nice place to cycle around and the people are welcoming. I feel that it has a more outward-looking / international feeling than most places in Japan. Whether that's because of its history as a trading port or its status as a peace city, I can't say for sure. Probably the latter.

EDIT - It also plays host to a greater number of international conferences than similarly sized cities, including trade conferences and academic / scientific / medical forums etc. . Again, that probably stems from its status as a city that has set itself up to promote global peace. All of this creates a virtuous cycle that makes it visit-worthy.

FInally, perhaps we should look at the visitors rather than the city to understand why some places are more visited than others. I think a lot of people go to the same four or five places as everyone else because they want to be able to tell the folks back home that they went to those four or five places. It's tempting to say that this is because of social media but I think it predates that.

** Or let's say outside of the top three and Kyoto.

(And, ironically, while Hiroshima's fame stems from the fact that it was destroyed, Kyoto's popularity among tourists can be attributed to the fact that it wasn't ... so perhaps we should credit Secretary of War H. Stimson as the modern-day tourists' original influencer).

Up until October last year (2023) another additional reason for its inclusion on itineraries was that it was an easy way to give value to the JR Pass. Rather than worry about whether or not to buy individual tickets (and include a ride on the Nozomi) between Tokyo and Osaka/Kyoto or buy the JR Pass, the addition of Hiroshima (and that Miyajima side trip) made the purchase of a JR Pass into a slam-dunk obvious choice.

I sent my parents there without me (I included Kurashiki and Himeji as well as Miyajima on that short solo tour) and their visit to Hiroshima included a memorable encounter with Crown Prince Akishino, but that’s a part of their visit that only happened because it increased the cost-performance of the previous JR Pass.

Hope you saw the post quoted below below.

You can visit Hiroshima and/or Miyajima as a day trip from Kyoto. If you were to spend that night in a nice ryokan on Mijajima then that makes some sense. But the only reason to spend that night in Hiroshima would be to attend a Hiroshima Carp baseball game. (I like Hiroshima and the only reason am suggesting a day trip is because you are wasting a hotel room night in Kyoto).

I reccommend attending Miyako Odori in Kyoto.

We weren't sure how long to spend in Hiroshima, so we booked the hilton (for less than 14000JPY so not a big extra cost) and thought 2 days to be on the safe side and not rushing around, we will have a look at the logistics of doing it in a day trip though!

The atomic bomb memorial is definitely an experience I'll never forget.
I found Hiroshima to be a good central place to stay for the area, I booked the Hotel Granvia Hiroshima attached to the station when I was there which gave me easy access to the shinkansen, JR, and Hiroden trams, and spent a few days going to surrounding areas such as Iwakuni and Miyajima to the west, the bomb memorial, Mazda factory tour, fooding in the city itself, take the ferry to Etajima for the naval academy and Cruiser Tone memorial, and a day trip to Kure for the Yamato and JMSDF museums.

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The extra cost is that 14000JPY or the cost of the Kyoto lodging, whichever is higher.

Two part-days would be better than a day trip but that takes time from Kyoto, where you don't have a whole lot of time already.(especially given you are planning a Nara day trip). A Kyoto fan would urge skipping Hiroshima and even skpping Osaka altogether (or Osaka as day trip at most from Kyoto). People love Kyoto. I don't, but you might.

A day trip plan gives you an option of which day to go depending on weather. A two part-day trip gives you two chances of a good weather day and would give you the option of visiting Himeji Castle on the way.

Are you interested In visiting Miyajima? If not then day trip will definitely do.

Here is info for getting to Miyajima: Hiroshima to Miyajima: How to get to and around Miyajima - Access, Transport and Orientation (japan-guide.com)

Here is the timetable for the ferry between Peace Park and Miyajima: Timetable - Hiroshima World Heritage Sea Route (aqua-net-h.co.jp)

Here is Peace Memorial Museum info: Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum (hpmmuseum.jp)

For a day trip I think I would go to Hiroshima first, so:
shinkansen to Hiroshima, tram to Genbaku Dome Mae stop, visit park and museum, ferry from park to Miyajima, enjoy the island and then JR ferry to Miyajimaguchi, JR local to Hiroshima Station, then shinkansen to Kyoto.

Would be a good idea to look at the tide table for Miyajima, assuming you want to see the Itskushima Shrine torii standing in water and not mud.

Good point re: checking tide schedule/times at Miyajima. It’s fun to be able to walk to it, but also take photos with it “floating.” Also cool to see the water underneath the shrine.

If you plan it right, you will be able to do it all in a day trip from Kyoto… couple hours in Hiroshima (peace park, eat Hiroshimayaki), a good 5-6 hours on Miyajima (Itsukushima shrine at low and high tides, ropeway to top of mountain with a bit of hiking). It will be a long day but, if you limit the number of sights to visit, it will not be too rushed.

The atomic bomb museum is one of those places you may or may not decide to visit. I went once and it was quite depressing. But at least go visit the peace park and the dome building.

I did not know that Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki is aka Hiroshimayaki. I think you would just order okonomiyaki.

yah the JR pass made people do some stupid stuff and stupidly long day trips. And it seemed like some kind of competition to get the most out of a pass versus go to where people wanted. I never understood it. Thank goodness for regional passes and crap loads of Avios for JAl.

booogle, you can just drop Hiroshima from your plan. Your transportation cost would then be about 30,000 JPY for the shinkansen from Tokyo and back to Yokohama. Cancel the Hilton res and now you have 14,000 JPY to spend on regional Kansai travel which is plenty. Go see Himeji Castle.

My first time to Japan too. I need to go and stay in Osaka for a couple of days and then go to a place called Takamatsu City. I will be arriving from MNL and then going to Toronto.
What is the best city to arrive then. Takamatsu or Osaka or there are more and better flights to Tokyo? I may have to leave from Tokyo to go to Toronto. Is it easy to travel in Japan if you do not know Japanese? How do I get from the airport to a hotel and how expensive are the taxis from the airport?
Any advice would be much appreciated.

Are you/work paying cash or going on miles? Splitting the inbound and outbound on different LLC/alliances might be the most time efficient.

Takamatsu's a smaller airport. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takamatsu_Airport It probably makes sense to fly to KIX and take the train into Osaka https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2033.html Which train might depend on where in Osaka you might need to stay. JR Haruka makes sense for Osaka Tennoji area while the Nankai line goes to Namba, which tends to have more of the entertainment sector.

JR train between Osaka and Takamatsu https://maps.app.goo.gl/EodzgaXSS7jTb12E6.

Air Canada does offer a 3x weekly flight from KIX to YYZ during the summer months https://www.flightsfrom.com/KIX-YYZ otherwise NRT or HND to YYZ.

There's plenty of tourism in Osaka so English isn't a problem. There is plenty of info online for Osaka including restaurant/menu suggestions if you have dietary limitations.

Takamatsu- you won't have issues checking into a hotel or using Google Maps. Ask for the office's phone number for taxi driver's navigation or directions from whomever you are visiting (assuming there's a specific destination in Takamatsu as it's not on the usual first time visitor list). Confirm the info with Google maps and street view.

You should search Google flights or another site to find the flights that work best for you.

Since Osaka is your first destination, look for nonstops from MNL to KIX or flights with connections from MNL to OSA (all Osaka airports - includes ITM and UKB). You might find that a connection in, say, Taipei or Seoul works better than a connection in Tokyo. (With your preferred airlines - BR or OZ).

For your return from Takamatsu to Toronto I guess that it might make sense to fly OZ from TAK to ICN and connect there.

To travel from Osaka to Takamatsu, there are buses (direct) and trains. AFAIK most trains require a connection. Take Shinkansen from Shin Osaka to Okayama and then a limited express to Takamatsu. Carry your luggage onto the train or use a delivery service to send it to your next hotel. You will need to reserve a space for oversized luggage.