Lewis' Japan Retrospective #4: Hiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture.

There are few places in Japan as infamous as Hiroshima City, but given its proximity to Okayama, it’s a place where I’ve also had the pleasure of spending a lot of time in. 

Now, it goes without saying, but Hiroshima City has an absolutely devastating past. Whatever your opinions on the legitimacy of the decision to use an atomic weapon during the Second World War, it’s far more pressing to realise the impact it had on the city and its people. A walk through the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park shows the haunting reality of what happened. The preserved Atomic Bomb Dome is as humbling as it is harrowing. Between it and the Peace Memorial Museum lies the Peace Flame, which will stay lit until the world relinquishes all of its nuclear weapons.

But through the dark memories of its history, Hiroshima truly rose like a phoenix through the ashes. The city is bustling, vibrant, full of life and soul. The castle stands tall near its centre, the vast array of shopping malls, arcades, bars etc. are all teeming with happy residents. The atmosphere in Hiroshima is a great balance between respecting what came before, with all the benefits of a large, modern city. 

The itinerary writes itself in Hiroshima, and though I will do a separate post for Miyajima Island, I strongly recommend you include it in any trip you make there. 

If I had to pick a city to live in next, Hiroshima would be just that, perhaps even without the obvious personal reasons. 

Hiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture is written like 広島市、広島県. 
(ひろしまし、ひろしまけん). Where 広 (ひろ) typically means ‘wide’, and 島 (しま) refers to ‘island’. As far as I know, this is because the city itself is built upon the divided channels and banks of the Ota River, which splits into six ways before meeting in the Seto Inland Sea. 



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