Hiroshima in One Day: Hiroshima Station & /14:30 Museum — Guide miki

What Is a Private Miyajima and Hiroshima Tour Like With Luggage? A Licensed Guide's Report

[Japan Guide Agency (JGA Inc.)](https://www.j-g-a.org/) guide led a private tour of Hiroshima and Miyajima for guests traveling with suitcases.

【Realizing How Challenging Sightseeing With Suitcases Can Be】 The guests informed me in advance that they would have suitcases because they were staying overnight on Miyajima. I managed to obtain advance information about lockers that were not too crowded. During the tour, I planned the route so we could move around with as little luggage as possible. We used lockers in the town center. While the luggage was stored, we could sightsee freely and lightly, but once we retrieved the luggage and started walking, I found that even a distance that would normally take five or six minutes was much harder and took more time than expected. In particular, the tactile paving blocks seemed to throw the luggage off balance. As soon as we retrieved the luggage and began walking, the guests said they wanted to take a taxi, so we used a taxi even though it was a distance where I would normally never take one. It was a day when I truly realized how difficult it is to travel to Miyajima carrying luggage. Suitcases can be loaded onto the high-speed boat, but there are stairs to get into the cabin, so loading and unloading were difficult. Compared to the JR line, I thought the direct route was somewhat easier. The JR line is always crowded. It also involves transfers, and to get from Miyajimaguchi to the ferry terminal you have to go down and up underground, so I felt it would be better for the guests to send their luggage ahead to the next hotel by delivery service so they could move around more freely.

【About Taxi Fares and Drivers】 Taxi ① Took a long detour, and the fare was high. As arranged in advance with the guests, we had planned to take a taxi from Hiroshima Station to a locker in the city center to store the luggage. Along the way, I asked the driver to give us time to take photos on the grounds of Hiroshima Castle. Since the driver said OK before we boarded, we got in, and then the driver said, "Where are you going today? If it's Miyajima, why not hire the taxi all the way to Miyajima? It would cost about 10,000 yen, and you wouldn't have to worry about storing the luggage." I said, "Well, the guests are paying, so…" When I asked for time to take photos on the castle grounds, the driver said, "You can't go in there (actually you can), but I can park at the Gokoku Shrine (from there it's far to the castle keep). Instead of the castle grounds, I always let my passengers take photos from the north side. You don't know that spot, do you?" (As a guide I move while watching the time, and being a local, I do know that spot.) I had told the guests not to speak loudly in enclosed spaces (public transportation) as a COVID precaution, yet the driver talked about himself loudly, saying things like "when I was young I often went abroad for business," and although we had taken a taxi to save time, he suggested photographing the castle keep from a spot quite far off route from the coin lockers. (I asked the guests, "The driver is suggesting we photograph the castle keep from the north side; what would you like to do?" and then we went to the north side.) The guests were pleased because they could see the moat and the castle keep, so I was relieved, but the driver took a big detour to the building with the coin lockers, and the guests paid as much as 2,670 yen. I sometimes take taxis for other work, and for that fare you could go 20 to 30 minutes away from the station, all the way near the sea. Since I'm not used to taking taxis on tours, I was flustered dealing with the driver. I didn't expect the driver to make so many suggestions on his own initiative, and I found it a bit uncalled for.

Taxi ② Very good. Took the shortest route, one-meter fare of 670 yen. Since the high-speed boat's departure time was approaching, at the guests' suggestion we took a taxi from in front of the museum to SOGO, where there were coin lockers. The driver said, "You could walk there passing by the Dome," but when I said, "I know, but the boat's departure time is approaching, so please take us there," he said, "I see." In the car, I wanted the guests to watch a video I had made, but the radio in the car was very loud, so I asked the driver to lower the volume. Although he looked tough, he immediately said, "Oh, I'm sorry. I'll turn it down right away," and lowered the volume. He then took us to SOGO by the shortest route at the one-meter fare.

Taxi ③ Average. Perhaps because the destination was in the opposite direction of travel, it was 750 yen even though the distance should have been shorter than Taxi ②.

【The Guests' Reactions】 They were very pleased and gave me many words of thanks both during and after the tour. This was almost my first tour with guests carrying suitcases, and today I learned how difficult it is to move even short distances carrying suitcases. The guests were the kind who clearly express likes, dislikes, yes, and no, so I made suggestions and proceeded with the tour after consulting with them. When I met them and asked about several requests, they said they wanted to look for a Noh mask, so we searched in the city and on Miyajima Island, but unfortunately there were few shops selling them, and it seemed none matched the guests' eye in terms of material or shape, so we could not find one. However, since we entered every shop they wanted to visit to look for a Noh mask, the guests seemed satisfied.

Surprisingly, what they enjoyed was a blueberry garden in the town center that opens only in June. As part of a community revitalization effort, there is fruit picking on the rooftop of a department store, and on certain days of the week they sell drinks, ice cream, and jam made with blueberries harvested from the garden. They were delighted, saying how delicious it was, which made me happy.

At a sushi restaurant we found while walking at lunchtime, one of the guests said, "I like sushi and wasabi," and ordered an extra tube of wasabi. What the restaurant brought out was not a tube but freshly grated wasabi, and when I explained this, they were very pleased. They said the anago's seasoning was a bit sweet and not to their taste, but the sushi one of the guests had and the tempura the other had seemed delicious. When one guest said to the other, "You're quiet," the reply was "It's so good I'm at a loss for words." When I conveyed this to the restaurant staff at checkout, the chefs who had prepared the sushi came to the counter looking pleased.

Since Hiroshima had been holding a yukata festival up until today, I told the guests they could walk around town in yukata. They said they wanted to buy a yukata but did not want to wear it. They planned to see yukata in another prefecture. Although the hotel where they were staying was far from the ferry terminal, when they called, the shuttle came to pick them up right on time, so the guests seemed reassured. They said that the next day they would return to Hiroshima Station by a different route from today's. Traveling with luggage takes time, and moving around an unfamiliar town goes smoothly if you know the tricks. Before the tour ended, I shared some tips for the next day's travel and saw off the hotel's van.

That is all.

Since the guests paid for everything today (including the World Heritage Sea Route), there were no advance transportation expenses.

Click here for more details: Hiroshima & Miyajima in 1 Day: Private Tour, Licensed Guide

Tour Report by miki

Dear guests,
Hello! My name is Miki. I was born and brought up in Hiroshima. I enjoy traveling around Inland Sea areas and I enjoy chatting with guests from overseas!

In Hiroshima, you can see many beautiful rivers and old bridges. Lately, I often take photos of Hiroshima city including bridges and rivers. There are not many tall buildings here, but I know some places you can visit and see the view for free. By the atomic bomb dome, there is a building called Orizuru(paper crane) Tower. You need to pay to go up to the top floor but you can see the view of Hiroshima city and the Miyajima Island(Itsukushima).

Many tourists from overseas as well as Japan want to visit Miyajima Island. You can see a beautiful shrine from Heian Period which is around 12th century and a huge Torii gate in front of the shrine and it is in the water. There are several ways to visit the island from Hiroshima city. If you are going to stay near JR Hiroshima Station, we will visit the island by JR train and JR ferry. If you are staying in the city area, we can go there by streetcar and ferry, or there is a high-speed boat from Peace Memorial Park pier directly to the island and vise versa.

Hoping to see you in the near future!

Miki
Your tour guide in Hiroshima