Hiroshima: Enter the museum — Guide Yoshiko

What Is a Private Hiroshima Peace Memorial Tour Like on a Rainy Day? A Licensed Guide's Report

I guided a group visiting from Oceania on a private tour of Hiroshima.

It rained all day. While the guests were traveling by Shinkansen from Osaka, I received a request asking me to bring umbrellas if I had any, so I brought three extra umbrellas from home and met them at Hiroshima Station.

According to the original itinerary, we were supposed to get off the bus in front of the Atomic Bomb Dome, tour the monuments, and then enter the museum. However, because of the rain, I explained that we would change the plan and visit the museum first, and we boarded a bus from Hiroshima Station. The guests were very cheerful and lively, and I was asked many questions about my own life and work during the bus ride. I pointed out the scenery visible from the bus and we got off in front of the museum before entering.

When I asked whether the children had studied about Hiroshima at school, I learned that this topic is covered in high school, so only the eldest among them had studied it beforehand. The museum was quite crowded even at 10:00 a.m., but some of the guests read the explanations very carefully and spent a great deal of time viewing the exhibits. Although we changed the plan because of the rain, since this was a group that spent so much time in the museum, entering the museum first turned out to be the right decision.

Also, while touring the museum, I gave the explanations of the Memorial Cenotaph and the Peace Flame that can be seen from the connecting corridor while still indoors, so we could keep the time spent walking outside as short as possible. I think that worked out well too. For the Children's Peace Monument as well, I gave the explanation indoors so there would be no need to explain it outside. One of the guests seemed to have studied the story of Sadako, who was the model for the Children's Peace Monument, and was very interested in the paper cranes. I was told that a friend at school folds them very well, but that they themselves could not fold them so skillfully and wanted to learn how.

We then made a quick tour of the monuments in the rain: the Memorial Cenotaph → the Peace Flame → the Children's Peace Monument → Aioi Bridge → the Atomic Bomb Dome → the memorial for mobilized students → the hypocenter, before heading to the okonomiyaki restaurant I had reserved.

Trying okonomiyaki had been such an anticipated part of the trip that it was requested in advance. After a series of questions about the ingredients, how it is made, and whether they make it at home, the guests eagerly took photos of it being cooked at the restaurant. It seems a friend living in Yokohama had recommended that they be sure to eat okonomiyaki in Hiroshima.

According to the original plan, we were to visit Shukkeien Garden after the okonomiyaki and part ways there, but again we changed the plan because of the rain. We bought origami paper and I offered to teach them how to fold cranes. We went back to the park in the rain and headed to the rest house. On the second-floor café, we folded paper cranes together, and after I shared information about the museum in the basement, the tour ended. It was a memorable tour, as the three children looked so happily at the paper cranes they had folded themselves and carefully put them away in their bags.

Click here for more details: Hiroshima Peace Park Customized Tour with Licensed Guide

Tour Report by Yoshiko

Hello,I’m Yoshiko.
Hiroshima is my home town, I love this city. I believe that Hiroshima is one of the best tourists’ destinations in Japan. In this place surrounded by natural beauty combined with abundant greenery and water flowing of rivers, you could have valuable opportunities for thinking the world peace and for reflecting on Japanese traditional culture that has been nurtured throughout Japan’s long history. I’m happy if you could enjoy your tour at my favorite city of Hiroshiima with me. I will introduce the charm and significance of Hiroshima, focusing on its two World Heritage Sites: the Atomic Bomb Dome and the beautiful Myajima island and Itsukushima shrine built over the sea.