Happy Birthday! Today was my birthday, only when I got up to leave the capsule hotel the storm that was forecast had finally hit. It was pouring with rain outside so I had to put my jacket and cap on and walk with my umbrella to Hiroshima Station. I was gambling that as I take the train back south to Kyushu Island I could avoid the storm. Hiroshima is on the south side of Honshu island while Fukuoka is on the north side of Kyushu Island. This gamble could also b...

My hotel in Hiroshima was going to be in a capsule hotel. I was excited about this as I've stayed in capsules in Tokyo and Kyoto before and enjoyed the experience. For those that dont know, in a capsule you dont get your own room but instead just a sleeping compartment in a communal area with others. The capsule hotel was a bit tricky to find despite having a map from there website. It said to take the first turn off the main road and I counted six streets down o...

From the Peace Park I now wanted to goto Miyajima Island. This is one of the most famous sites in Japan. There were two options. Go back to Hiroshima Station and use my train pass to get there in 30 mins. Or take a tram from the Peace Park for one hour. I decided to take the tram since I was already at the tram stop rather than going back to the main train station to get the direct train. Also the tram may be more scenic. It seemed to go very slow at first grind...

The next and most important stop was to the Hiroshima Peace Park. This was the site of the first atomic explosion in 1945. I'd seen pictures of the scarred dome building remains but it was moving to be present where such an instantaneous holocaust has taken place It felt eerie arriving in Hiroshima even though it has been 65 years since the tragic events. The dome of the old prefectural building is within easy reach of the tram bus stop. There were tour groups a...

The train ride to Hiroshima was to last an hour and twenty minutes. I was looking forward to the sea crossing from Kyushu Island to the larger mainland Honshu but we went thru a tunnel so no bridge span. The train was quite nice and comfy. It is fun watching all the trains pull in as they arrived at Hakata station. Announcements are made in Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and English as are the display boards. Arriving at Hiroshima I saw some of the city and river bu...