When most North Americans hear the name “Hiroshima,” they think of one obvious fact about the city: that at 8:15 on the morning of Aug. 6, 1945, a massive atomic bomb dropped by an American bomber detonated over homes and schools and businesses. The destruction was devastating, and hundreds of thousands of people perished.
On the first of my two visits here, I expected mainly sadness and woe. A place where people still mourned the past on a daily basis, where the legacy of death was inescapable despite the intervening years.
Instead, I found the opposite. It’s a bright, bustling place that is now, above all, steadfastly committed to peace. While any visit must recognize and commemorate the history, there’s just so much more to Hiroshima. There’s true beauty where there was once suffering and a vibrancy and optimism that pervade pretty much everything.
It’s also home to a baseball fan base that’s more committed than any I’ve seen anywhere in the world. It seems rather odd to name your hometown sports squad after a bottom-feeding fish, but they did: the Hiroshima Toyo Carp. Recently, a guide told me that there’s a famous Japanese myth about a carp successfully completing a quest and the gods rewarding the humble swimmer’s courage and perseverance by transforming it into a dragon. What a typical surprise, in a place that’s just filled with them.
Here’s how to best experience all that this coastal city of more than a million has to offer.
A Very Regional Airport
While it’s a perfectly fine place to land, Hiroshima’s single-runway airport (HIJ) is not a major hub. A relative handful of flights operate nonstop to international destinations, but they’re pretty much all to neighboring nations like China and Korea. In fact, the vast majority of planes that arrive here come from one other airport: Tokyo Haneda.
Fortunately, HND is the largest hub in Japan, and direct routes service Haneda from across the globe. If you’re traveling from almost any major city in North America, your trip to HIJ will probably involve just a single connection.
While there’s no direct train (a bit of a surprise in a country absolutely covered in tracks), once on the ground in Hiroshima, arriving passengers can choose from a number of other options. The airport is a fair distance away from the city center (about 30 miles), and you can opt for taxis, ride-share services, or—probably the best option—a “limousine bus” that’ll get you there in about 45 minutes for just 1,500 yen (less than $10).
Experience the History First
When the B-29 Enola Gay dropped “Little Boy,” a nearly 10,000-pound uranium bomb, it was probably the most decisive moment in securing victory for the Allies in the Pacific War. It was key in the trajectory of global history. But seeing the details of that terrible day can be rather rough.
My advice is to take a deep breath and head to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. There’s an animation near the front that shows in clear detail how the bomb, which detonated around 2,000 feet over the city, absolutely wiped out everything for miles around. And photos of a city absolutely flattened are shocking.
But it’s the stories that stick with me. A large section of the museum is dedicated to items left behind by children who died that day. A tricycle absolutely scorched, school uniforms that appear as if ignited by a blowtorch.
Each one is accompanied by a vignette, testimonies from the parents or siblings of these particular children who perished. The mother who returned to her daughter’s bus stop for weeks, keeping alive an extremely slim hope she would somehow return. The father who buried his son with that trike in their backyard so he could ride it, even in death.
The final hall of the museum is sunny and bright and filled with messages of peace, documenting efforts for disarmament. And the next-door Peace Memorial Park is both heartening and heartbreaking. Green and sylvan and set on an island, it is indeed a place of peace.
Genbaku Dome is a can’t-miss site. Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the former Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotional Hall was the only structure left standing at the epicenter of the explosion. Preserved exactly as it was after the bombing, it’s become an icon—a reminder of the past, but also a symbol of hope for peace in the future. Before you leave the area, make sure to ring the Peace Bell, a gong whose deep, resonant sound provides an aural call for peace.
Visit the Shrine
OK, hear me out on this: the Itsukushima Shrine was not my favorite. Yes, the origins of this floating, wooden Shinto place of worship date back to the 6th century. The offshore orange Otorii gate is really quite magnificent, appearing to rise from the depths to the heavens. It’s an emblem not just for the city, but for all of Japan. Riding the ferry out to Miyajima Island, where it’s all located, is also quick, easy, and kind of fun. All great reasons to visit, right? So yes, you should go. Perhaps it was because I visited on a gray, rainy day—which set me in a bad mood—but I found the surrounding village to be overcrowded and overly touristy.
Here’s another reason to visit: hundreds of wild, roaming deer, super-tame, routinely trot down the lanes of the village and approach visitors, probably hoping for a snack. Of course, a lot of tourists pose with them for selfies, which I found annoying in my grumpy, rainy day mood.
Try the Pancakes (That Aren’t Really Pancakes)
Hiroshima’s signature dish, okonomiyaki, is often described as a “Japanese pancake.” So when I ordered my first one, I expected something that you might find in a short stack at Denny’s. But it’s not like that, at all.
The base is certainly a savory crepe. But then the chef just keeps stacking more and more super-delicious stuff onto it, creating a truly unique meal on the griddle. In no particular order, these include a fried egg, yakisoba or ramen noodles (stir-fried in a special sauce), cabbage (so much of it), an assortment of garnishes and sauces, and a meat of your choice. This is usually pork, but on a recent visit, a friend of mine got squid on hers—and it was mouthwatering.
The final result resembles more of a culinary flying saucer. And trust me—unlike with an actual pancake, just one okonomiyaki is enough to fill up even a very hungry diner.
If you’re intrigued and would like a variety to choose from, check out Okonomimura, a four-story complex with about 25 different okonomiyaki restaurants.
See the Carp Play Baseball
We’ve already discussed the heroics of the carp that became a dragon. (For the record, I’m a little murky on the exact details of this legend.) Another history I read is less dramatic: When the team was originally looking for a name, they chose a local animal—the abundant carp that swim in the Ota River. Either way, the hometown Carp are definitely heroes.
During the very difficult days following the Second World War, the team, which was founded in 1949, provided inspiration for the people of the city. The only problem was a lack of funds.
Everyone chipped in. Regular people donated, even filling sake barrels with yen, and players went door-to-door to raise money. “It makes us feel like we all own a piece of the team, even today,” a guide told me. That perhaps helps explain the passion, which you can see all over town.
It’s especially prevalent at games, which are played at the charmingly named Mazda Zoom-Zoom Stadium. It’s a great place to watch a ball game. A retro-classic ballpark, it feels a little like Dodger Stadium, and you can spot surrounding mountains from your seat.
Even if you know nothing about baseball, the cultural experience is worth it. Each player has their own chant, which fans enthusiastically vocalize when they come to bat. People play trumpets and beat drums. And when the home team scores a run—or even just gets a hit—the fans go crazy. Seeing the Carp dragons slay their opposition and take home a win is a pretty good way to end an excellent day in Hiroshima.
