Hiroshima in just one day, what to see in this city hit by the atomic bomb, the monuments and symbolic places but also the culture of the Japanese people and itinerary for an exhaustive visit of the Japanese city.
Hiroshima it is 4 hours by Shinkansen from Tokyo and less than 2 hours from Kyoto. We integrate the visit to the city starting from the latter and continue in the evening on the small one sacred island of Miyajima. If you want you can do both on the same day, but we prefer to visit the city calmly and spend the night on the island in order to fully enjoy the atmosphere.
Unfortunately we all know that on August 6, 1945 the city was razed to the ground by the first atomic bomb dropped by the US air force (the second was dropped on Nagasaki), which caused the instant destruction of 98% of the buildings and about 70.000 victims.
The process of urban reconstruction immediately after the war, as well as economic development, were very rapid, reviving the city which is once again a fundamental hub for Japanese life and for Japan's relations with the rest of the world. Inevitably though, the city looks different compared to the sisters next door: it is very recent and aseptic.
Once at the station we head towards the areas of greatest tourist interest using public transport. In the city there is no subway, but you can move with the "streetcar“Which are nothing more than trolley buses which efficiently cover the whole area.
To understand how to pay it was funny because it is quite cumbersome: we go up and collect a ticket where a number is written, at the station concerned the value of the ride appears next to our number and we deduce that it is the sum to be paid by putting the money in a container near the door. (bingo!)
The first point of interest we address is the Bomb Dome (streetcar direction Miyajima or Eba and get off at the A-bomb Dome stop, 50yen) perhaps the best known monument, declared UNESCO heritage and of which the remains of the bronze dome remain iconic. It was the center of the Hiroshima Chamber of Industrial Production. Epicenter of the explosion that occurred above his head and therefore still standing. One cannot fail to perceive in the silence, how much emotion and respect for the victims evokes this place.
On foot we cross the bridge and we are at Memorial park which is certainly the most visited place of interest. Inside there is the Peace Center (Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum) designed by the Japanese architect Kenzo Tange. The Museum offers the opportunity to know the city before and after the nuclear bomb, with images, artifacts, films, documents that testify what happened and also reproduce with plastic models all the drama and destructive force of the explosion. An example above all. a piece of the sidewalk of the central bank with the shadow of the man who was waiting for its morning opening at the time of the explosion.
Everything is described very objectively leaving aside emotionality, unique feature of the Japanese people.
In front of the center, in the esplanade, there is the Cenotaph, which keeps the registers with all the names of the victims of the bomb, both relating to 6 August and to the people who lost their lives as a result of radiation and injuries.
It is also possible to visit a memorial for all the children who died as a result of the war: the Children's Peace Monument. On the top of the monument there is a statue representing the little Sadako Sasaki who, struck by leukemia due to radiation, during her stay in hospital has continuously built small paper cranes. According to a Japanese legend, in fact, by creating a thousand cranes with origami, it is then possible to have one's wishes fulfilled. Little Sadako following this legend, created a thousand cranes but unfortunately her desire to heal was not fulfilled.
Many tourists, especially school groups of children leave their cranes which are then kept inside glass cases, and they are beautiful, hundreds of thousands, which take up every type of shape and color, as a sign of Peace by the little ones.
It is time for lunch and unexpectedly in front of the area we find an Italian restaurant and, why not, we want to try it.
"Da Mario" Restaurant: For the sum of ¥ 1800 I took a plate of tagliatelle with meat sauce accompanied by a salad, coffee included in the price, for ¥ 350 more I added the dessert. It may be nostalgia for home cooking, but I ate really well!
A visit to the most modern Hiroshima it is a must, an area that is not affected by the dramatic past of the Second World War, namely the Nagarekawa district.
The main street winds through the area Hondori Street, characterized by a covered gallery about 600 meters long where there are shops, restaurants, clubs and shopping centers, a riot of puppets, manga and so on and so forth: very funny.
Hondori Street goes up to the department store called Parko and inside it there is a building with 26 restaurants that prepare typical Hiroshima dishes.
It is already evening and with a streetcar we head towards the port to take the boat that will take us to the small island of Miyajima in twenty minutes, but this is another story.
