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Four different views of the city, through four different guides.
Hiroshima is a place with many stories to tell: those of a city devastated by the world’s first atomic bombing, those of its victims, its survivors, and its aftermath. There are the stories of Hiroshima’s recovery and regeneration: of its significant feudal history as a once-thriving castle town; its history as a port city on the Seto Inland Sea – a place with a distinct culinary identity.
And, what really brings Hiroshima’s stories to life are its locals guides. We recently sent freelance writer and editor, Kate Crockett, to Hiroshima. Here, she met with four guides that we’re proud to work with, each with their own deeply personal perspective and experience to offer. This was her experience.
The atomic bomb survivor
Keiko Ogura, 88, is a hibakusha, an atomic bomb survivor, and founder of Hiroshima Interpreters for Peace (HiP), an organisation dedicated to sharing the unmediated stories of the Hiroshima bombing from its victims and their descendants. Born and raised close to the hypocenter, Ogura-san survived the blast after her father – fearing what was to come for the city – had the foresight to move the family to Hiroshima’s suburbs. “My memory is so clear: and while I have a clear memory, I want people to hear my story,” she explains.
I heard her firsthand, deeply personal account of this dawn of the nuclear age during a private meeting at the impactful Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. It was a fitting location for our conversation – a harrowing but necessary collection that honours the victims of the atomic bomb and bears witness to the horrors of nuclear weapons.
The next-generation cycle guide
Hiroshima born and bred cycle guide Shin Fukuhara is the son of a hibakusha: his mother was in-utero when the atomic bomb hit her home city. With his irrepressible energy, knowledge and unflinching insights, Shin is the most extraordinary company in which to explore Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and beyond.
“When I was 11 years old, I heard my grandparents experiences of the bombing. They told me everything they could about their traumatic experience, keeping nothing from me. I was so shocked I couldn’t sleep for five days. But my grandpa gave me a great message. He said to me, ‘We all have an ability to create peace through hope. Shin, you can create peace by making friends all over the world, because who can drop a bomb on their friends?’”
Shin has taken his grandfather’s message as his call to action, connecting with global visitors every day. Cycle tours with Shin start at the Rest House in the Peace Memorial Park, a former kimono shop and survivor building with its own remarkable story. It was inside the Rest House basement that Eizo Nomura survived the atomic blast – just 170m from the hypocentre – and where his story is retold.
The ‘outsider’ perspective
Originally from Hawaii, travel guide, podcaster and sustainable tourism expert Joy Jaman-Walsh, has been a Hiroshima resident for 30 years. Joy’s knowledge of how post-war Hiroshima has emerged as the dynamic, cosmopolitan and forward-looking city of peace that it is today – and the challenges it still faces – is wide-ranging and deeply insightful.
During a half-day, private walking tour in Joy’s convivial company, I discovered a side of Hiroshima City that was off the beaten tourist trail – because she tailors the tour entirely to each guest’s interests.
She told me about a recent request from an InsideJapan Tours customer: guiding around some of Hiroshima’s 160 or so hibakujumoku – survivor trees that sprung new growth even after the scorching of the atomic blast. Located all around the city, including in the grounds of Hiroshima Castle and the beautiful Shakkeien Garden, these hardy gingko, eucalyptus, willows and camphors are potent symbols of hope.
The culinary guide
Hiroshima’s food scene is mouth-watering, with okonomiyaki – a layered savoury ‘pancake’ originating in the postwar era – being the city’s iconic dish. Made with cabbage, soba noodles, bean sprouts and egg, and slathered in special sauce (there’s a whole district dedicated to making it), Hiroshima okonomiyaki is ubiquitous and high-quality. Ask any local and they’ll point you to their favourite counter.
But I was after a deeper dive into Hiroshima’s food scene, and InsideJapan Tours hooked me up for an evening with local cook and culinary guide, Ami Onda. And so began a tour of the city’s tastiest gems.
A typical three-hour group experience (for 2-10 people) will variously take you to sample Hiroshima craft beer and sake, to a local ‘antenna shop’ filled with specialities from Hiroshima prefecture, to various food stops (for okonomiyaki, oysters and other local bites), and to a taiyaki stand for a sweet-adzuki-bean-in-batter dessert. A private tour can be tailored to your tastes – be that the hottest speakeasies, or the hippest summer spots for a Hiroshima oyster BBQ. No interest is too niche: a recent tour took guests to a tiny taproom serving only Asahi Superdry from a Meiji-era (19th-century) tap, with the elderly owner using his skills to alter the flavour of the beer with each pour.
You can read more about Kate’s journey through Hiroshima in The Times.
Discover Hiroshima for yourself
You can visit Hiroshima as part of a Small Group Tour, or as part of your own bespoke Self-Guided Adventure.
We work with guides across Japan to bring you a slice of local life as part of your trip. We can include guided time in many cities and regions in Japan – just ask when you get in touch to start planning.