Hiroshima Travel Guide – Japan Magical Experience
Hiroshima (広島) is an industrial city of wide boulevards and criss-crossing rivers on the coast of the Seto Inland Sea. Although internationally famous for the horrific split second on August 6, 1945, when it became the site of the world’s first atomic bomb attack, Hiroshima is now a modern, cosmopolitan city with excellent cuisine and a bustling nightlife.
Those expecting to step off the Shinkansen into a pile of smoldering rubble will be in for a surprise, as Hiroshima has all the ferroconcrete and blinking neon of any other modern Japanese city. Teenagers stream in and out of the station, where McDonald’s and the latest keitai (mobile phones) await; hapless salarymen rush down Aioi-dori to their next meeting, casting a bloodshot eye toward the seedy bars of Nagarekawa as they pass. At first glance, it can be hard to imagine that anything out of the ordinary ever happened here.
Today, Hiroshima has a population of more than 1.1 million. Automobiles are a major local industry, with Mazda’s corporate headquarters nearby. There are three excellent art museums in the city center, some of Japan’s most fanatical sports fans, and a wide range of culinary delights – most notably the city’s towering contribution to bar cuisine, Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki.
Although many visitors, especially Americans, may feel apprehensive about visiting Hiroshima, it is a friendly, welcoming city, with as much interest in Western culture as anywhere else in Japan. Tourists are welcomed, and exhibits related to the atomic bomb are not concerned with blame or accusations. Bear in mind, though, that many hibakusha still live in the city, and even most of the young people in Hiroshima have family members who lived through the blast. As such, the average Hiroshima resident isn’t likely to relish talking about it, although you needn’t shy away from the topic if one of the chatty fellows around the Peace Park brings it up.
Hiroshima has many interesting places to visit. A popular destination outside the city is Itsukushima Island, also known as Miyajima, which is a sacred island with many temples and shrines. But inside Hiroshima there are many popular destinations as well, and according to online guidebooks, these are the most popular tourist destinations in Hiroshima:
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum
The Atomic Bomb Dome
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park
Mazda Zoom-Zoom Stadium Hiroshima
Hiroshima Castle
Shukkei-en
Mitaki-dera Temple
Hiroshima Gogoku Shrine
Kamiyacho and Hatchobori (A major center in Hiroshima which is a shopping area. It is directly connected to the Hiroshima Bus Center )
Senko-ji Temple (Senko-ji Park)
Other popular places in the city include the Namiki-dōri shopping area.
Hiroshima is famous for its style of okonomiyaki (お好み焼き), which literally means “cook it as you like it”. Often (and somewhat misleadingly) called “Japanese pizza”, it is better described as a type of savory pancake made with egg, cabbage, soba noodles, and meat, seafood or cheese.
( Hiroshima – Japan ) is well know as a tourist destination because of the variety of places you can enjoy while you are visiting Hiroshima . Through a series of videos we will try to show you recommended places to visit in Hiroshima – Japan
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