Historic city of Hiroshima

It was a sunny winter morning when I took Hikari Shinkansen from Shin-Osaka station for about one and half hours to Hiroshima JR station. I only got half day to explore this historic city of Japan, accompanied by my volunteer guide we headed to Miyajima straight away and went back to the city to visit the Atomic Boom Dome, one of two World Heritage sites in Hiroshima along with Miyajima island, I'll write about Miyajima in separate post.

Atomic bomb dome

The Atomic Bomb Dome was constructed in 1915 as a facility for the display and sale of commercial products within Hiroshima prefecture and was the location for the Hiroshima prefecture art exhibition and other such events. In December 1996, it was listed as a World Heritage site. Presently as a remaining landmark of the devastation caused at the time of bombing, it is a symbol for the motto "No More Hiroshimas." Spanning the generations it has become a symbol for the abolition of nuclear weapons and the importance of lasting peace throughout the world. You can read the full history of A-bomb dome from here.

The A-bomb dome is located in The Peace Memorial Park, a large park in the central of Hiroshima city. You can take a street car (tram) from JR Hiroshima station bound for Hiroden-miyajima-guchi or Eba, and get off at 'Genbaku Domu-mae'.

Peace memorial park

From the park we strolled down to the Okonomimura (Okonomi village) to enjoy the famous Hiroshima-style Okonomiyaki, there are more than a dozen of Okonomiyaki shops in this building.

Okonomimura (Okonomi village)

Another Hiroshima's specialty food: Momiji manju (maple pancake)

Hikari shinkansen at Shin Osaka station