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Hiroshima

A December day in Hiroshima: the rebuilt castle, the A-Bomb Dome and Peace Memorial Park, a local No Nukes sign, and the floating torii of Miyajima.

The day after Christmas 2022 we took the train to Hiroshima. It is a city that asks something of you: to look properly, to read the plaques, to stand still for a while. It is also, and this surprised us, a warm and easy place to spend a day.

Inga and Dileep in front of Hiroshima Castle, its dark wooden keep rising above stone walls and bare December trees
Hiroshima Castle in low December sun. Like most of the city, it was rebuilt after 1945.
A stone memorial with fresh flowers and offered bottles of water standing in front of the ruined A-Bomb Dome
A memorial in front of the A-Bomb Dome. Visitors leave flowers and bottles of water for the victims.
A hand-painted No Nukes sign taped to a delivery box on a parked bicycle, with No More Hiroshimas printed on its side
Seen on a parked bicycle near the Peace Memorial Park: No Nukes, No More Hiroshimas. The city says it plainly.
Inga and Dileep on the shore of Miyajima with the great orange torii gate standing in the sea behind them
We ended the day on Miyajima, where the great torii stands in the sea. A short ferry ride, a different world.

Hiroshima and Miyajima fit into one long day from Osaka, but both deserve more. Go, and take your time.