広島駅から三滝寺まで歩いて飲む | Walk & Drink: Hiroshima Station → Mitaki-dera (Mitaki Temple)
Hello — I’m Nobushi. I’m out walking and drinking.”Ride Stroll Sip”. Today I’ll walk from Hiroshima Station to Mitaki-dera. Mitaki-dera is a Koyasan Shingon Buddhist temple located west of Hiroshima Station. It’s about a 5 km (roughly 3.1 miles) walk from Hiroshima Station. That would be a bit too short, so today I’ll stop by Shukkeien on the way. On August 25, 2025, removal work was underway at the old Hiroden Hiroshima Station tram stop in front of Hiroshima Station. “Um — I’m looking toward the south right now.” “You can clearly see how the river splits.” I’ve lived in Hiroshima a long time, but I’ve never been to Shukkeien or Mitaki-dera. Is it just me that doesn’t visit places near where I live, even if they’re tourist spots? The scenic Shukkeien garden — on weekday mornings it’s fairly quiet. Admission is ¥350 for adults and ¥150 for children. The Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum is attached and there are combo tickets available. They were selling carp food — ¥100 a bag. I couldn’t help but buy one. You can rent a traditional Japanese umbrella for ¥300. Both are sold via unmanned stands. I had heard that spring and autumn are beautiful, but… It seems that coming in summer is also beautiful. Shukkeien is a daimyo (feudal lord) garden started in 1620 (Genna 6) by Asano Nagakoto as a villa garden. In the late Edo period they invited the Kyoto gardener Shimizu Shichiroemon for major renovations. Restorations after the large fire of 1758 and postwar reconstruction each took decades, and the garden took its present form in the 1970s. People say that these repeated restorations are what give the garden its quiet depth. As a stroll-style garden, it has a pond, tea houses, and many sights spread throughout — you can enjoy changing views as you walk. One highlight was the Yuyutei pavilion. The view from here looked like a single large photograph framed beautifully. Later, I found that the garden’s name is said to come from a preface by the Confucian scholar Hayashi Razan: “To compress sea and mountain into this place, gather the scenery in this tower,” which literally suggests a garden meant for “enjoying a condensed landscape.” The Taku-ei Pond was full of splendid carp and turtles. “Alright, leaving Shukkeien now. I’m going to walk from here to Mitaki-dera. Shukkeien was a lovely place — in 40 years living in Hiroshima, this is my first time here.
It was a great spot. So, from here, let’s head toward Mitaki Temple, It says it takes about an hour, Can you see? It’s 4.1 kilometers. I think I’ll give it a try. Ootagawa-river “This is Mitaki Bridge. Oh — the breeze feels nice.” “This is quite a steep uphill.” “This is the grave for those who became ‘muen’ because of the atomic bombing—that is, whose remains were unidentified. Please pay your respects. (Gasshō — with hands joined in prayer.)” “Right — I guess you could call this more like mountain hiking than just a walk.” “I wonder if it’s okay to enter here… it’s marked as the approach to the temple, so I guess it’s fine.” “I got pretty tired getting up here, so I might not be speaking very clearly.” “So this is where you put the money. ¥200. It says you can pay on the way back too. Let’s put in ¥200. Oh — it makes a sound.” “Ah — this is it.” This memorial contains the remains of Holocaust victims. When Pope John Paul II visited Hiroshima in 1981, a cardinal accompanying him visited the temple on the Pope’s behalf and celebrated Mass in front of the pagoda. Mitaki-dera. According to temple tradition, Mitaki-dera is an ancient temple said to have been founded in 809 by Kūkai (Kōbō Daishi). True to its mountain setting, statues, stone monuments, and Rakan figures dot the path up to the main hall — just walking around you can sense the breath of history. As the name implies, there are three waterfalls on the grounds, so the sound of running water is always present and the place feels very calming. Especially the temizu (purification basin) — the water was cold and felt incredibly refreshing. At the time of the atomic bombing, this site — just over 3 kilometers from the hypocenter — served as an evacuation area. Later, a tahōtō was relocated here from Hirohachiman Shrine in Wakayama Prefecture as a memorial for atomic bomb victims. The temple has other memorials as well, and numerous monuments praying for peace stand throughout the grounds. Many ema (wooden prayer plaques) with wishes for peace had been offered by tourists from abroad. his is the route up from the temple to the summit of Mount Mitaki, but the sign says it takes about an hour. I didn’t have hiking gear today, so I turned back here. Next time I’ll come properly equipped and try the climb. The tahōtō pagoda. It was relocated from Wakayama in 1951 (Shōwa 26) to console the atomic bomb victims. Inside is enshrined a wooden seated Amida Nyorai statue designated as an Important Cultural Property by the national government. “Alright — we’ve come down quite a bit from Mitaki-dera.” “That’s right — I want to.. I want to buy something to eat or some drinks somewhere, but I checked around here and it doesn’t look like anything is being sold. Maybe there’s nothing even down at the station. For now, I’ll head toward Mitaki Station.” “Okay, I was going to go back from Mitaki Station, but since I came all this way I want to eat something. I’ll try going to a nearby bento shop. ‘Nearby’ still means about a 1 km walk from here, so let’s push on a little longer.” Inakaya-Bento “rural house bento” “Alright — I got a bento from a place called Inakaya Bento. It’s a “tenmusu” bento — I hear it’s tasty. I’ll grab some alcohol somewhere and there’s a park nearby, so I’ll eat there.” Misasa-kitamachi Park “Alright, we walked.” “Here we have Inakaya Bento’s tenmusu bento.” “And the drink.” “Cheers.” “Delicious.” “The tenmusu(Tempura-rice ball) bento looks tasty.” “Yeah — it’s good.” The tenmusu bento had two-bite-sized rice balls filled with roughly chopped shrimp tempura. The seasoning felt slightly restrained, but it was very tasty. The weather’s nice, isn’t it… Ow-hot! “Okay — I finished cleaning up. Now, what should I do from here? I had originally planned to return from Mitaki Station, but Yokogawa Station is actually closer from here. In my previous video I went from Yokogawa to Hiroshima Station, and this time — well, going the other way — I guess that’s fine too. Let’s head back to Yokogawa Station.” This time I walked from Hiroshima Station, visited Shukkeien and Mitaki-dera, and ended up at Yokogawa Station. It was about 13 km and just under a four-hour walk. It was a very peaceful, little-known spot with few people — a real hidden gem. I hope you’ll give it a walk too. Thanks to everyone who watched and liked the previous video. I upload videos occasionally, so I’d really appreciate it if you’d subscribe, leave recommended route comments, and give it a like. Please watch the next video as well.
A relaxed walking & drink-hop from Hiroshima Station to Mitaki-dera (Mitaki Temple).
This route is great for a short urban escape — a mix of city streets, local stops, and a peaceful temple in the hills. Shot handheld on my phone — there are some shaky moments.
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広島駅から三滝寺まで歩いて飲む動画です。
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