As much as the neon-lit streets of Osaka may excite you, make sure you see some of the nearby destinations. Be it for nature immersion, visit a cultural spot, or just getting away from the urban chaos. The best part of our Osaka travel itinerary turned out to be the day trip to Hiroshima and Miyajima Island. Hiroshima is a mainland city in western Japan with a famous and tragic history. A short ferry ride away, the island of Miyajima offers nature and cultural immersion with some lovely shrines and temples to visit. Hiroshima and Miyajima are usually paired together as a popular day trip from Osaka or Kyoto.
There is a lot to discover on both Hiroshima city and the adjacent Miyajima Island. Hiroshima offers epic history lessons, a vast park that makes you reflect on the importance of peace, a museum that showcases the horrors of war, and more. You will find scenic beauty on Miyajima, panoramic views from the highest point of the island, the famous torii gate and more. You can easily spend a night in Hiroshima or at Miyajima Island to take it all in. We could fit only a Hiroshima day trip from Osaka and further to Miyajima island in our schedule. And despite being a long day, that worked well for us.
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How to reach Hiroshima from Osaka or Kyoto
The best way for a Hiroshima day trip is to take a direct Nozomi train (the fastest bullet train) from either Shin-Osaka or Kyoto station (if you are staying in Kyoto). We stayed at The Osaka Station Hotel, and with Osaka Station at a distance of 300 metres, it made it easy to early morning shinkansen. We used Osaka for a couple of day trips, so finding an Osaka hotel near a train station was important.
To transfer from Osaka to Hiroshima, we had booked our train ticket as individual tickets on the Smart Ex site. As discussed in my Japan essential travel tips post, the national JR Pass cost was not worth all the train journeys we had scheduled. For our Japan travel itinerary for 2 weeks, we were better off with buying individual tickets.
However, at times, the regional train passes in Japan are worthwhile. We missed out buying the Kansai Hiroshima Area Pass. This exclusive pass grants you unlimited travel between Osaka and Hiroshima and other cities like Himeji, Kyoto and Nara. It includes unlimited travel on the Sanyo Shinkansen (bullet train) between Shin-Osaka and Hiroshima, as well as other JR lines in the designated areas. Plus unlimited use of JR ferry to Miyajima. The Kansai-Hiroshima Area Pass is good for 5 calendar days in a row from the date of exchange/activation.
Hiroshima Day Trip from Osaka
We had booked an early morning Nozomi from Shin-Osaka to reach Hiroshima station. And then an uber got us directly to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. You can take a bus as well to reach the park from the train station but a taxi is not too expensive for a family.
Can mankind learn from its history?
Hiroshima is definitely one of the best day trips to take from Osaka. It is a must on any first-time visit to Japan, if you are into war history. I went with no expectations and was pleased that apart from some of the exhibits at the Hiroshima Museum which were harrowing, much of what is built on the atomic bomb destruction site makes you reflect about peace.
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park
Where Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park is today was once a downtown commercial and residential district known as Nakajima District. This vibrant area was filled with homes, shops, and restaurants before the atomic bombing.
Hiroshima Park is a vast space for remembering the devastating event. Even if you are travelling with kids and want to skip the Hiroshima Museum, do take them around the park and its different sculptures, exhibits built to promote world peace.
Walking to the park from the main road and after crossing under the museum building, you will first come upon the Cenotaph for A-Bomb victims. This concrete saddle-shaped monument in the center of the park is designed to symbolize a shelter for all the souls who perished in the atomic bombing.
Walk towards the river bank and you will visit the Children’s Peace Monument. The memorial consists of a statue of a child with her arms outstretched to the sky, with a crane above her. There are several other sculptures and installations around the park, you can easily spend an hour or so walking around them.
Atomic Bomb site
From Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park across the Motoyasu river, you will see a skeletal structure. This is named the Hiroshima Peace Memorial or the Genbaku Dome.
This skeleton was once the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall, a prominent building within Nakajima. This building stood near the hypocenter of the atomic blast. While the building was severely damaged, the city council decided to let it remain as is. As a powerful symbol of the bombing and to make people think of the cost of war and the importance of peace.
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum (within the park) has a ticketed entry. In peak season, you can pre-book reservation-only time slots. It is best to reach the museum as early as possible to avoid the crowds that descend as the day progresses. It would take about an hour to 1.5 hr to explore the museum thoroughly.
Close to the entry point is a circular exhibit which showcases a video on the impact of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in World War II. From there on, the exhibits gets more focused on specific families and individuals, and the tales told grow more harrowing. Even with knowing the macro details of this gruesome event, nothing prepares you for the emotional onslaught of seeing the burned clothes, shoes, other personal items that are stored. And the stories can be quite difficult to wrap your head around, both of victims who died and those who survived.
Parents with young kids can decide to visit the Memorial Park and the A-Bomb site, and give the museum a miss entirely.
More to do in Hiroshima
We had a delicious brunch at Eggs ‘n Things after exploring the Atomic Bomb site. It had been an early morning start from Osaka and we got hungry quickly! You can have lunch post visit to the museum. There are several restaurants in the neighbourhood just across the Motoyasu-gawa River from the Peace Memorial Park.
We left for Miyajima Island post the museum visit to make the most of our day trip to Hiroshima and Miyajima. But if you are staying overnight in Hiroshima, there is plenty more to explore in the city.
Post lunch, you can take a break from war history and go to Shukkei-in Garden. This garden dates back to the early Edo Period and is located in Downtown Hiroshima, not too far from the main train station. It is a pleasant place and a nice counterpoint to the heart-breaking memorials of the Peace Park.
If time permits, you can visit the Hiroshima Castle. While it was spared the demolishment that many other castles met during the Meiji Period, Hiroshima Castle was destroyed by the atomic bomb in 1945, like the rest of the city. The castle that you visit now has been entirely reconstructed using original building methods and materials.
Day Trip to Miyajima Island
After spending a few hours in Hiroshima, we decided to visit the beautiful island of Miyajima. It was easy to get a ferry from the pier close to the A-bomb site. We booked a return trip on the spot. The journey is quite pleasant and there is a video informing all about the area history.
Soon enough, we disembarked on Miyajima Island and got our first view of many deer who roam freely on the island. They are not aggressive, and I didn’t see too many tourists feeding them.
Walk to Floating Torii
We walked along the shore towards Itsukushima-jinja Shrine, famous for its floating torii. It was low tide that afternoon and the torii looked majestic in the wet sand. But its beauty shines in high tide when it appears to be floating in the water.
We were trailing behind a wedding group, and when the bride and groom turned to take blessings at Itsukushima Shrine, we wandered ahead. My daughter was keen to go to the highest point on Miyajima Island via the cable car. You can do a 1.5 to 2 hr hike up Mt. Misen if you are staying overnight in Miyajima or Hiroshima.
Walk to Mt Misen Ropeway Station
The ropeway station is a 15-minute walk inland from Itsukushima Shrine. We first crossed the lovely Momiji-dani-koen park behind the shrine up on a hill.
We reached the cable car station and got tickets for the round trip. The Miyajima ropeway [operating between 9 am until 4 pm] has 2 stations and it takes about 20 minutes to reach the top. From the upper station, you can walk to the actual summit in about 30 minutes. There are some temples and shrines to explore on the way. There is a similar ropeway to Mt. Shosha in Himeji area, that you can add to your Himeji one day itinerary along with visiting the popular Himeji castle.
We didn’t have time to take the steep hiking trail to Mt. Misen summit, and strolled to a closer lookout only 5 minutes away. And got rewarded with endless views of the greenery on the island, the ocean and the nearby uninhabited islands.
Soon enough, it was time to head back to the pier to take our ferry back to Hiroshima. Walking back, we crossed via Omotesando Shopping Street. It was full of tourists wanting to sample local delicacies, including fresh oysters and Momiji Manju.
More to do on Miyajima Island
As I mentioned earlier, if you have a full day, you can easily hike up Mt Misen. There are 3 different hiking trails, but the Daisho-in trail offers the nicest views and is not as steep as the others.
We did not have enough time to visit the lovely Buddhist temple of Daisho-in. This Shingon Buddhist temple features a variety of buildings, statues and other religious objects for visitors to admire.
I would have also loved to enjoy the sunset view of the floating torii gate. and if you are travelling with young kids, they may enjoy a visit to Miyajima Aquarium. It is a 5-minute walk from Itsukushima Shrine exit, and showcases 380 species of marine life including finless porpoise, Humboldt penguin, sea lions, seals, otters.
Conclusion
A day trip to Hiroshima can be quite worthwhile to see a significant part of Japan’s history. You can easily visit the key sites like the Peace Park, Atomic Bomb Dome, and Peace Memorial Museum in half-day. And then extend your day trip to include Miyajima Island, famous for its floating torii gate and scenic beauty.
Planning a trip to Japan? Check out –
Start with Essential Travel Tips For Japan and Japan Two Week Itinerary
City Itineraries: 5 days in Tokyo Japan, 3 Days in Kyoto Itinerary, Osaka travel itinerary
Day Trips: Best day trips from Osaka, Day Trip to Himeji, Ultimate Guide to Tokyo DisneySea
And finally, the Best Hotels in Japan
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Thanks for advice to ensure we have enough time to hike up Mt Misen.
I’ve never been to Hiroshima and missed it on ny previous trip! I can’t wait to go back and will definitely visit Hiroshima!
A great post. The A Bomb Museum was one of the best I have been to, it stays in my memory even now, many years later. I found it more informative than the Nagasaki one (and I am a big fan of Nagasaki otherwise)
Not been to Nagasaki but the Hiroshima Museum is superb. You cannot forget that visit.