Futabayama Peace Pagoda Viewpoint

On the wooded flank of Mount Futaba, directly behind Hiroshima Station, a brilliant white Peace Pagoda looks out over the entire city, and the terrace around it is one of the most rewarding easy climbs in Hiroshima. From here the view runs south across the rail yards and downtown towers to the delta rivers and the Inland Sea, with Ogonzan and the eastern hills rising to the left. Few visitors expect so complete a panorama so close to the station, and fewer still make the short climb — which means the terrace is often quiet.

The pagoda itself, a gleaming buddhist stupa, was raised as a monument to peace in a city that has become synonymous with the wish for it. Its clean white dome stands out sharply against the green hillside and, floodlit at night, glows above the eastern skyline as a beacon visible from the streets below. The structure belongs to the same movement of peace pagodas built across the world in the postwar decades, and its placement here, overlooking a rebuilt Hiroshima, gives it particular resonance.

The climb is part of the reward. The lower slopes of Mount Futaba form the Futaba-no-Sato, a string of historic temples and shrines linked by a quiet walking trail. Chief among them is Hiroshima Toshogu Shrine, dedicated to the deified warlord Tokugawa Ieyasu, its ornate gate and stone stairways a worthy stop in their own right. From the shrine, a path continues up through the trees to the pagoda, gaining height steadily until the city opens below. The full ascent takes twenty to thirty minutes at an unhurried pace.

Spring and autumn are the loveliest times: cherry trees soften the temple approaches in early April, and maples colour the hillside in November. On a clear morning the air is sharpest and the sea most visible; at dusk the reward is the city lights spreading out while the pagoda catches the last glow and then its own illumination. It is a contemplative spot, well suited to a slow hour away from the downtown bustle.

Facilities are modest — benches, shade and restrooms among the temples below — so carry water, especially in summer, and wear shoes suited to a woodland path that can be uneven and steep in places. The moderate gradient makes it best for reasonably able walkers.

Getting there could hardly be simpler: from the north, or Shinkansen, side of Hiroshima Station, walk a few minutes to the foot of the Futaba-no-Sato temple row and begin climbing past Toshogu Shrine toward the white pagoda above. The whole area is free and open at all hours. Allow around an hour to take in the temples, make the climb, and enjoy the view before descending back to the station.