Hiroshima: Just Opened

Hiroshima is not usually among the very first cities to see the cherry blossoms open, but this year it was the fourth prefectural capital to record kaika, the opening of the blossoms, on March 25 (after Naha on January 13, Kochi on March 23 and Miyazaki a few hours before Hiroshima on the 25th).

Two days after the reported opening I visited Hiroshima and the nearby island of Miyajima to check on the state of the blossoms, and not surprisingly found them still at an early state. However, the temperatures are forecast to skyrocket from Friday, which will lead to an acceleration in the opening process. Consequently, I expect the best viewing period in this part of the country to start from early next week.

Today I visited Miyajima for the first time since the island introduced a visitor tax of 100 yen per person last October, but little did I notice because the tax was included in the ferry fare, which I paid with my Suica card. Only holders of rail passes that cover the JR ferry will need to pay the visitor tax separately at a special vending machine at the ferry pier.

The number of tourists who visited Miyajima today was overwhelming, considering it was a weekday, albeit with perfect weather conditions and during the spring school holidays. I have never seen anything close to today's crowds on the island before in my previous 20 or so visits since 1996. The main approach to Itsukushima Shrine was as crowded as Harajuku in Tokyo, and there was a roughly 50 meter long queue for entering the shrine.

The cherry trees on Miyajima have only just started to open their first few blossoms. Given the warm weather ahead, I expect the best viewing period to start early next week.

While the main streets of Miyajima were very crowded today, you could escape the crowds by venturing into the side streets. Two of the island's nicest cherry blossom spots are located at the end of such side streets, including a small park near the tahoto-style pagoda, which is currently covered up for renovations. The blossoms in this sheltered park were the most advanced that I encountered today, with some trees approaching the 10 percent mark.

Another nice cherry blossom spot is a small park on the hillside behind the 5-storied pagoda, overlooking the town. The blossoms in this park, which is more exposed to the elements, were not open yet and still needed some more time to start opening.

In the city of Hiroshima I visited the Peace Memorial Park, where hundreds of cherry trees have been planted. The blossoms there were generally still closed with a very small number of exceptions. I expect the best viewing to start here in the first half of next week.

At the center of the park stands the Peace Memorial Museum, which introduced e-tickets from this month in an effort to decrease lines at its ticket counters. However, it seems that most visitors were not taking advantage of the new system yet, as there was a considerable line of people without e-tickets in front of the entrance.

Before taking the shinkansen to my next destination, I inspected the construction site in front of Hiroshima Station, where a bridge is being built for trams to enter into the second floor of the station, greatly improving the convenience of transfers between trains and trams. Works on the improved station building are scheduled for completion in spring of next year.