Hiroshima weekend w/M&SIL - Hiroshima Castle, Shukkeien, Okunoshima Rabbit Island, Itsukushima Shrine

For the second weekend of my MIL & SIL's visit, we all met up in Hiroshima. 

During the weekday in between, while my husband and I worked, they had done a couple days in Tokyo and then headed over to Osaka for 1.5 days at USJ. My husband flew over to Osaka on Friday morning to join them there.  

Day 1 - Hiroshima Castle & meeting relatives for Shukkeien 

I flew over to Hiroshima on my own on Saturday morning via a JAL flight. Since we had flown into this airport just a couple weeks prior for our Shimanami Kaido trip, I was already familiar with the bus pick up area and walked straight onto the waiting shuttle with no hesitation once deplaning. 

I was fortunate that my flight arrived on time and I was able to get on the 09:55 shuttle to Hiroshima Station (Shinkansen exit) which was perfect because that's the exact same side our hotel was on. 

My husband, MIL & SIL arrived to Hiroshima station by Shinkansen about 7 minutes after I did. We met up in the hotel, dropped off our bags and then headed out to lunch. All of the okonomiyaki restaurants in the mall near the station had really long lines. Since we didn't want to spend so much time waiting, we opted to go to a nearby Tonkatsu Wako instead since my SIL hadn't yet had tonkatsu on the trip.

We had a little bus stop navigation mix up in the underground passage, but eventually got on the right bus and made our way over to Hiroshima Castle. It was a blue, clear sky day and hotter than it's been all year. 

Since we only had a limited amount of time, we chose not to enter the Castle, but did look around and take some photos from the outside. 

Because of the warm temperatures and the bus schedule, we ended up catching a taxi back to the hotel and waited until check in time. Dropped off our bags and reset a little in the room before meeting up with my husband's extended family in the lobby. 

Meeting up with this extended family is the one of the main reasons Hiroshima was included in my M&SIL's trip itinerary. While my husband('s family) has visited them before years ago, it's been quite a while and it seemed to make sense to check in with them while we were living in the same country. 

They recommended Shukkeien Garden which was already on our list of things to do, so we happily accepted the invitation. 

The weather was truly beautiful this day with such clear skies. My husband and I have been having decent luck with weather at parks/gardens lately which is super nice for photos but does leave it being warmer than we anticipate clothing-wise lol. 

Throughout the walking route, there were so many picturesque scenes set up. We were a bit between seasons for flowers, but there was still plenty of green. I can only imagine how spectacular it is during koyo (autumn leaves). 

My MIL had a particular brand of nori that she wanted to purchase, so our relatives escorted us to a SOGO department store that had a Mikuniya kisok. 

This was a top omiyage product for her, so luckily she was able to get what she needed (although they didn't quite have enough of the full sheet packages.)

For dinner, the family had arranged for dinner at one of the hotel restaurants - Japanese Restaurant Setouchi. It was a course meal that had a lot of variety. We had a lot of time to chat in between courses and the meal was really nice. 

One of the most impressively ridiculous components was the fully ice bowl (filled with crushed ice, also made of ice) for the sashimi course lol. 

Day 2 - Okunoshima and Kurashiki

For breakfast the next morning, we went up to the lounge floor (21F) and had an early 06:30 breakfast with a view that included a small main of your choice + some self serve buffet options. 

We all walked over to the nearby Toyota Rent a Car shop where I made a reservation online for a one day rental. We drove over to Tadanoumi Port which is about 1 hour away from Hiroshima city by car. The first parking lot was full when we arrived at around 09:15 on a Sunday morning but there were still a few spots in lot 2 which we were directed to. 

We bought our round trip tickets in the office/shop and also got some rabbit pellet food. If you don't care about the fancy packaging, you can get the same amount of pellets in the waiting room area for about half the price. From what I read, you're encouraged to bring with you what you intend to feed the rabbits with you as there may not be places to buy it on Okunoshima and that lettuce or other non-nutritious vegetables are not recommended. That being said, I know nothing about rabbit care, so please do your own research if you opt not to feed pellets. 

The ferry ride is fairly short and quick. The boat was decently filled for this 09:40 departure but we were able to get seats from lining up about 20 minutes early.

Once arriving, we immediately sought out the free shuttle bus, timed to the boat's arrival, which takes you to the National Park Resort Hotel which is the only hotel on the island. 

My MIL was interested in doing another bike rental, so we went to the front desk reception. We got two ebikes and 2 regular mamachari bikes for 2 hours. I believe the ebikes were 900yen each and I think the regular bikes were either 600 each. The bikes required a 1000yen cash deposit which is returned when you return the bikes. There are lots of bikes available, so I don't believe a reservation is necessary and didn't see the option for it online. Bunnies were all around right away, included 3 right near the bikes!

We started out on the bikes, right along the coast. Okunoshima is fairly small (I think I read somewhere that it's maybe 4km), so it's not too difficult to navigate.

We didn't have a set plan and just stopped where ever/whenever it suited us or whenever there was a bunny around lol. Which was pretty often.

They won't swarm you like the deer in Nara, but if you arrive early enough (before everyone else feeds the rabbits and fills them up first), they will come out from their hiding spots and approach if they hear the bag for the pellets rustling. 

We ended up biking up the hill and then back down to go around the perimeter of the island (following the path). The hill is definitely easier on an ebike and will take a significant amount of effort on a regular one-speed mamachari lol. 

There were some nice sakura trees still in bloom by the Visitors Center. We stopped here for the flowers, but with so many people here already, none of the bunnies wanted to eat lol. 

Before giving up the bikes, we explored the area around the hotel a little more, trying to get a few last photo ops. It was around 11:30 and the island was much more crowded now. Lots of lazy bunnies hanging out in the shade already being fed lol. We managed to find a few that would still eat from us!

This little grey rabbit was small compared to the others we had seen and so precious. 

We returned to the hotel just as the 12:00 shuttle back to the pier was leaving, so unfortunately we missed it. But did feed a couple more rabbits and got our deposit back before speed walking ourselves to get to the boat on time. 

This time it was a smaller passenger only boat. If you are sensitive to seasickness, you can feel the sway of the ocean much more in this type of boat compared to the larger ferry.

We returned to the car and debated what our next activity would be. We eventually settled on a drive over to Kurashiki! It was about 1.5 hours away but mostly expressway driving. I had picked out some parking lots ahead of time and we navigated to "Shiei Central Parking Lot 倉敷市営中央駐車場" which I think is a municipal parking lot so the rates are not too steep compared to the private lots. A car was leaving just as we arrived, so we were happy to get a spot at 14:30 which is late in the day.

We walked to Kurashiki River which was much less crowded than when my husband and I had previously visited a couple of weeks ago!

We got some snacks and did some leisurely shopping. 

And then headed back towards Hiroshima city around 16:30, on schedule to return the rental car and enjoy the 21F lounge in the hotel with plenty of time. 

My husband, MIL and SIL went out to find Okonomiyaki for dinner, but I opted to do gyudon take out since that's not something I eat. It was a low key night after exploring around all day in the sun!

Day 3 - Hiroshima Castle & Peace Park morning run & Itsukujima Shrine

We only had one activity on the agenda for the day since the afternoon would be spent traveling. Since we were getting a later start than usual, I took advantage of that time to get a quick run in. 

I left the room at around 06:15 as the sun was starting to peek out more and wanted to try to do a loop that included the outside perimeter of Hiroshima Castle and Peace Park & Peace Blvd. 

I was able to get a fantastic view of Hiroshima Castle which we didn't get when we entered the grounds 2 days earlier. The reflection in the water was so clear and there weren't any people around! 

I continued on a little farther towards Peace Memorial Park and viewed the Atomic Bomb Dome from across the river which I think is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. These are the remains of a building from the atom bomb blast during WWII.  

I continued through the park and stopped at the Bell of Peace (no ringing prior to 9AM) and the Children's Peace Monument which I recognized from my Spring 2017 trip. 

I did end up a bit short on time, so I didn't stop too long in any one spot, but I also passed the Peace Memorial Museum, the Flame of Peace and the Prayer Fountain. I made my way back on Peace Blvd which was another area I recognized, but this time from my visit in December 2022 when I went to check out the illumination during a work trip. 

There were a lot of intersections with traffic lights and I got a little lost trying to navigate my way to the correct side of Hiroshima station, but it was otherwise a great use of about an hour in the morning for me and I really glad I did it! 

We met up for breakfast on 2F this time instead of the lounge and were happy with the different options. They even had a soft serve machine. 

We checked out of the hotel after breakfast and left our bags with the coat check. 

We navigated from Hiroshima Station to Miyajimaguchi station and then followed the crowds to the ferry terminal. Since my M&SIL had JR Rail Passes, we knew we wanted to catch the JR ferry. On the Miyajimaguchi side, there is a 100yen fee that you have to pay even with the pass which is done at the ticket machine. My husband and I passed through the ticket gate with just our regular IC cards. 

The 1055 ferry was quite crowded and since we boarded in the last minute before departure, we didn't have a seat. But the ride is very quick and you can see the torii gate right away if you're on the correct side of the boat. 

There are free roaming deer around the island, so be sure to watch out for dangling/hanging bits from your bags or outfit. They have also been known to snatch away maps or paper as well. 

High tide wasn't expected for more than an hour after we arrived on Itsukushima, so we took our time in the shopping area first.  

and eventually made our way to the shrine.

The floating torii at Miyajima is the third of the Nihon Sankei (three most scenic places in Japan) that my husband and I visited together. (The two others: Matsushima islands in Sendai and Amanohashidate in Kyoto.) While I've been to Miyajima two times before, both times were at low tide. This is my first high tide experience! 

We took these photos about 40 minutes prior to when I thought high tide would be (but maybe an hour before the posted high tide time at the shrine entrance). 

We opted not to pay to get into the shrine area and there was a long line to take pictures from the platform inside as well. Instead, we walked towards the Folklore Museum which was closed (Monday, I guess) and then found on our way onto the shore near the exit of the shrine for some additional photos before heading back.

It started to rain, but that didn't stop us from getting some quick snacks on our way back to the ferry terminal. 

The ferry back was not nearly as crowded seeming since we were near the front of the line to board the 1320 boat. We easily got seats on the third floor but could probably have sat nearly anywhere with our boarding position. 

We returned to Hiroshima station the same way we came and then hurriedly got a snack from the Anderson bakery before picking up our bags and getting on the next airport shuttle right outside the hotel. Apparently I took no pictures during this, but we made it to the airport, got some omiyage for our friends and coworkers and then boarded the plane for our 1710 flight (albeit delayed by 10 minutes so it became a 1720 flight). 

This was a pretty successful weekend. We managed to do everything on our itinerary and there wasn't too much rushing around between activities (although we did almost have a tight squeeze for the return ferry from Okunoshima). It was nice to see my husband's extended family and we had a good afternoon and dinner together + a bunch of sightseeing. 

This was my third visit to Hiroshima (and a repeat for my husband and in-laws as well) but at least Rabbit Island was a complete first for all of us and Kurashiki was a first for them. Finally seeing all three of the Nihon Sankei (for my husband and myself) was a nice benefit as well.