The city of Hiroshima has several other notable attractions. One is the Hiroshima Castle. It was a short walk from our hotel and the perfect way to stretch our legs after our ride on the Shinkansen. The original castle was destroyed in the bombing and reconstructed.
The views of the city from the top level of the castle were lovely and so was the breeze!
A lovely tucked away gem was the Shukkei-en Garden. We arrived Tuesday morning when it opened. We essentially had the place to ourselves. It was quiet and serene. Several azaleas were blooming and the hydrangeas were just beginning to bloom.
The focal point of the garden was a large pond with several bridges to cross as you strolled through the garden.
The pond also provided the perfect distraction for Dave. For ¥100 ($1.00), I purchased him a bag of food to feed the numerous turtles and carp. As we walked around, I snapped pictures and he feed the animals. At one spot he had 9 turtles – 3 were to the left of this group.
There was a lot of thought put into the development of this garden. The sign explains.
After the park, I had two Shrines I wanted to visit before we had lunch. One was near the castle. (I left my stamp book in the hotel the first day!) The Hiroshima Gokoku Shrine was very large and lovely. We enjoyed making wishes by the carp statues and mustang.
We continued our walk to the Hiroshima Toshogu Shrine. This ended up being the fourth Shrine of the day. Dave counted the steps – 53 to the top!
Along our walk to the Hiroshima Shrine, I told Dave we might find a bonus Shrine. We found two! The first was the Nigitsu Shrine.
And the second was the Tsuruhane Shrine.
All of the Shrines were destroyed by the atomic bomb. They were rebuilt and along with 12 others are part of the historical walking tour of Hiroshima. At the Tsuruhane Shrine, I was given this map!
Perhaps, if we had more time and we weren’t already sweaty spaghetti, we would have walked the entire route. Maybe next time when you visit! We could almost fill your whole temple book!