Hiroshima in One Day: Hiroshima Station — Guide miki

What Is an 8-Hour Private Tour of Hiroshima and Miyajima Like? A Licensed Guide's Report

The guests were a group visiting from North America. One of the guests mentioned an interest in Buddhism. Throughout the tour, the guests smiled, listened attentively to the explanations, and asked good questions. One of the guests had difficulty walking, with almost no cartilage in the knee, and dragged that leg with each step. During the tour, this person also rested on chairs many times.

I had been in contact with the guests about the tour for several days beforehand. One of the guests had said they wanted to take a high-speed boat from Miyajima to the Peace Park but was worried about seasickness, so I had been planning to skip the boat. However, when we saw the calm Seto Inland Sea, the idea changed to taking the boat if seats were available, and we ended up taking the high-speed boat on the way back. Given the walking difficulty, I was glad there were open seats. At Miyajima, the guests were amazed at how long the line to visit the shrine was, stretching almost all the way to the ferry terminal.

We had originally planned to eat in the city, but when I talked about Miyajima's local specialties, the guests decided they wanted to try conger eel, okonomiyaki, and oysters, and to eat something on the island rather than in the city. However, every restaurant we looked into had long lines reaching to the side of the road, and it seemed impossible to get in. We happened to find a restaurant with a short line and were seated, but it was about three times more expensive than an ordinary place. The guests were delighted with how delicious their orders were. I ordered oysters because they were a small, easy-to-eat portion, but afterward I developed a stomachache and regretted eating them. I had eaten oysters as takeout during tours before without any stomach trouble, so I had not been very worried, but since I struggled with a stomachache during the tour, I decided to avoid them in the future. This was also the first 8-hour tour I had accepted. Partly because of the stomachache, it felt very difficult and long. My time with the guests was enjoyable, but I had to rush to the restroom several times while trying not to let the guests notice my stomachache.

Once we reached the city, we visited the memorial monuments and the Atomic Bomb Museum. Inside the museum, some of the guests looked frightened by the exhibits or did not want to look at them, while another of the guests examined the displays carefully, not wanting to miss a single word. I told that person, "Since you have come all this way, please take your time with the exhibits you want to read carefully," while I let the other guests know where they could rest on chairs and go ahead, or wait in a section where a video of survivor testimonies was playing. After leaving the museum, we continued the memorial monument tour.

While chatting with the guests, one of them was interested in vintage jeans and asked if there was a shop where they could look, so we decided to go to a secondhand store. Since one of the guests seemed to be in a lot of pain from walking, I suggested taking the streetcar from in front of the Atomic Bomb Dome, and the guests were thrilled to be able to ride yet another form of public transportation in Hiroshima. They happily said, "Today we rode the Shinkansen, a local train, a ferry, a high-speed boat, and now we can ride the streetcar!" At the secondhand store, they finally found some jeans they liked, but after trying them on they did not feel right, so we headed back to Hiroshima Station. The tour felt as though it would end at that spot, but the plan suddenly changed for everyone to return to Hiroshima Station together, so I used the fastest way back to the station (the bus), accompanied them to Hiroshima Station, and saw them off at the Shinkansen gate, ending the tour.

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