Hiroshima Toshogu Shrine

Hiroshima Toshogu Shrine rises on the wooded slope of Futaba-yama, a short walk behind Hiroshima Station, and rewards the climb with history, atmosphere and one of the best free panoramas in the city. Like the many Toshogu shrines across Japan, it enshrines Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founding shogun of the Edo period who was deified after his death as Tosho Daigongen, and it forms part of a chain of hillside sanctuaries that make an appealing, uncrowded pilgrimage on the eastern edge of town.

The shrine was established in 1648 by Asano Mitsuakira, the local daimyo, on the 33rd anniversary of Ieyasu's death, a gesture of loyalty to the Tokugawa house that also anchored the Asano clan's authority in Hiroshima. For centuries it was one of the city's principal shrines. On 6 August 1945 the atomic bomb devastated the complex along with the rest of Hiroshima, but remarkably a few structures endured: the front gate (karamon) and a corridor survived the blast and still stand today, weathered witnesses to that morning. The main hall and other buildings were rebuilt in the decades that followed, most recently commemorating the shrine's major anniversaries.

The experience is very much about the ascent. From the entrance a steep stone staircase leads up to the main hall, handsomely set against the greenery of the hillside. Continue upward and the path becomes a tunnel of vermilion torii gates belonging to the Kinko Inari shrine, in the classic style familiar from Kyoto's Fushimi Inari but on an intimate, local scale and almost entirely to yourself. Higher still, the trail (part of the pleasant Futaba-no-sato walking route that links several temples and shrines along the ridge) opens onto a lookout with a sweeping view across the rooftops of Hiroshima to the mountains and the sea beyond.

That combination, an accessible slice of Edo-period history, poignant Bomb-surviving relics, a photogenic corridor of red torii and a genuinely good free viewpoint, makes Toshogu a satisfying stop that many visitors miss entirely. Cherry blossom softens the approach in spring and the hillside colours in autumn, while clear winter days give the crispest views. Because the site climbs the hill, expect a fair number of steps and some effort; wear comfortable shoes and take your time.

Conveniently, the shrine is only about eight minutes on foot from Hiroshima Station, so it slots easily into an arrival or departure day, or into the Futaba-no-sato temple walk if you want a longer, contemplative morning away from the crowds. The main sights are free to enter. Allow roughly forty minutes for the shrine and torii, and add time if you press on to the summit lookout to enjoy the view over a city that rebuilt itself from the ground up.