Welcome to Western Honshū
Travellers to Western Honshū (本州西部) will find a tale of two coastlines. San-yō (literally 'sunny side of the mountains'), looking southwards out over the Inland Sea, boasts the bigger cities, the narrow-laned portside and hillside towns, ceramic history and the fast train. This coast holds the region's big name – indelibly scarred but thriving and warm-hearted Hiroshima.
Top experiences in Western Honshū
Western Honshū activities
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and Miyajima Island Tour
Miyajima (literally 'shrine island') has been celebrated as a sacred island and one of Japan's three most scenic views. It is most famous for Itsukushima Shrine, which, together with its large wooden torii (gate), stands in the ocean during high tide. Deer move around the island freely, and so do monkeys on top of Misen, the island's highest mountain. The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park was built to commemorate the dropping of the atomic bomb over Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 and to promote a peaceful world. It is located in the area around the atomic explosion's epicenter, and houses the Peace Memorial Museum and many other related monuments. The Peace Memorial Museum graphically displays the atomic bomb's horrible effects on the city and its inhabitants. A visit is naturally depressing. In the museum's east building, Hiroshima's militarist past and the process leading to the dropping of the bomb are documented. Audio guides are available in more than a dozen languages. The Atomic Bomb Dome is one of the few buildings around the explosion's epicenter that partially survived the blast, and the city's only remaining bomb damaged building. Between the museum and the Atomic Bomb Dome stands the Memorial Cenotaph for Atomic Bomb Victims. It contains a list of all the people who were killed by the explosion or died due to the bombing's long-term effects such as cancer caused by radiation. The Statue of the A-Bomb Children and the Cenotaph for Korean Victims are some of many more monuments found in the park.
Private Full Day Hiroshima Tour
You will be picked up at your hotel in Hiroshima City at 10am by your English-speaking driver and be transferred to Miyajima Island. You will then visit the UNESCO World Heritage site, Itsukushima Shrine. Your English speaking guide will show you the proper manners to visit Japanese shrines.Then, after visiting the shrine, you will walk along the local traditional food street where there are many food stands. Here you can decide to have lunch. *Please note: lunch will be on your own. After your visit in Miyajima, you will be transferred back to Hiroshima where you will visit the Peace Memorial Park and the A-Dome. At Peace Memorial Park, you will have a chance to offer your own paper cranes to pray for peace.Arrive at 4pm to your hotel in Hiroshima, where the tour will conclude.
Miyajma Island Rickshaw Private Tour with Itsukushima Shrine
When making your booking, select which time between 9:30am to 5:30pm you wish to begin. At the designated departure time, meet your local private guide at the Miyajima Ferry Terminal where you board the rickshaw. As you start pedaling, listen as your guide provides detailed history of Miyajima Island, one of the three most scenic spots in Japan and site of the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Itsukushima Shrine. The shrine is built over water and famous for its floating red torii gate.Depending on the season, Miyajima is also famous for pink cherry blossoms in the spring and orange maple trees in the fall. The tours described below are sample routes. They may be customized based on your preferred start and end point, the length of your tour, and your personal points of interests.30- to 45-Minute OptionCruise right from the ferry terminal to the center of Miyajima's charming townhouse-filled street and old-fashioned shopping arcade. Continuing on the path along the waterfront, enjoy the great view of the large, orange torii in the water, in front of the Itsukushima Shrine. Going behind the shrine to the Momijidani, you are guaranteed to see colorful foliage in the autumn.1-Hour OptionTravel along the most scenic spots and streets of Miyajima. Start in the townhouse-filled street, then take in a waterfront view overlooking the bay with its huge, orange torii and the Itsukushima Shrine. After leaving the crowded tourist area, head for a quiet, secluded temple at the bottom of the mountain. Return to the ferry terminal by passing through the oldest part of town, noted for its stone walls.2-Hour OptionSame as the 1-hour option, plus: retrace your steps through the small shopping arcade and town houses to reach the ferry terminal.
Japanese Cultural Experience set of 3
Okeiko Japan Miyajima is located in Miyajima island. Class will start at 10:00am and 13:00pm. We starts the course from dress you up in Kimono (30min). The lessons include Japanese calligraphy, tea ceremony and Japanese cooking. Each class will take about 30min. 120min in total. In Japanese calligraphy lesson, learn the name of the tools, how to hold the bamboo brush, practice how to draw the line. Then you will choose the Kanji (Chinese character) from our sample, practice it. Then you will learn your name in Japanese (Hiragana or Katakana) sigh your work, stamp it to complete your work. You can take home all your writings. In Tea ceremony, you will see the performance of Tea master and taste sweet and Macha tea. Then experience tray style tea ceremony and learn how to make macha tea.In the cooking class, you will wear traditional Japanese style apron, and learn to make Onigiri-everybody's favorite snack. But if onigiri is too basic for you we can change it to Higashi (sweet for tea ceremony), Let us know when you make the booking, if you want to do Higashi.
Hiroshima, Iwakuni 7-Hour Private Tour, Museum, Hotel Pickup
Pick up at Hotel or Hiroshima Station at 10 am time flexible. We will head over to the Memorial Peace Park Museum and Hiroshima Bomb Dome. We will stay in the area from 10 am to 1 pm. From 1 pm to around 2 pm we will travel by van to Iwakuni Kintaikyo Bridge. There are a variety of food stalls where everyone can try different types of ice cream and food. We will stay in the area from 2 pm to 4 pm. Once everyone is done, you can choose from a Yakiniku or Sushi restaurant. Finally, when everyone is finished having dinner, I drop everyone off at the hotel or Hiroshima station.
Hiroshima one day private walking Tour
You could visit two world heritages in one day with our guide. In this tour, you could visit both Miyajima(Itsukushima shrine) and atomic bomb dome. Sample itinerary is as follows.(Since it is private tour, we will do our best for you to customize for you.)We meetup at your hotel or train station on 9am. Then move to Miyajima by public train and ferry. It takes about 1 hour. When we reach to Miyajima, we are welcomed by local deer and head for beautiful shrine(Itsukushima shrine). After 15 minutes walking, we get to beautiful Itsukushima shrine and enjoy in that shrine. That shrine is built on the ocean, you may feel calm and mysterious atmosphere. While we go back to ferry station, we pass by Kiyomori street and see many stores and eat lunch. After lunch, we move to atomic bomb dome and peace memorial museum. We will pray world's peace and finish one day tour.