横川駅から広島駅まで歩いて飲む｜Walk & Drink: Yokogawa → Hiroshima Station (10 km, August)

横川駅から広島駅まで歩いて飲む｜Walk & Drink: Yokogawa → Hiroshima Station (10 km, August)

I tried walking from Hiroshima to Yokogawa. Sometimes I like to take walks like this, stop along the way to buy some alcohol, and walk while drinking. Yokogawa Station is two JR stops from Hiroshima Station. It’s said to be the birthplace of domestically operated shared buses. About the origin of the name “Yokogawa”: one theory says that in the Ota River delta area — which flows from the Chugoku Mountains into the Seto Inland Sea — this was the only place where a river(川,kawa) ran east–west (横, yoko), so it came to be called Yokogawa. Because it faced the castle town to the south and served as a gateway, many people and goods gathered here and commerce became active. As a result, many companies were founded. Originally, samurai of the Asano family (the feudal lords of Hiroshima) used iron sand from the Chugoku Mountains and did home-based work making needles. After mechanization in the Meiji era, these came to be called “Hiroshima needles.” Needles were essential on the battlefield to repair gear, and when demand rose during the Korean War, Hiroshima needles made in Yokogawa were exported. On return trips they imported raw rubber, and that led to hand-stitching competition balls with Hiroshima needles — which eventually became the company “Mikasa.” Employees who later left Mikasa founded and developed the company “Molten.” Also, Otafuku Sauce, essential for Hiroshima’s soul food okonomiyaki, also originated in Yokogawa. I’m filming on a regular smartphone, but I’m surprisingly nervous. I wonder how YouTubers out there manage it. “They say, ‘To the battleground, from Yokogawa.’” Yokogawa Bridge About the Yokogawa Bridge: according to Wikipedia, the date when the first bridge was built is unknown. In the wooden era it was washed away many times by floods in the Ota River system. In particular, in 1919 both the pedestrian bridge and the neighboring railway bridge collapsed. After it was rebuilt as a steel arch bridge in 1920 it seems not to have collapsed again; then in 1983 it was replaced due to aging with the current bridge. It even appears briefly in the film “In This Corner of the World.” There are various routes to Hiroshima Station, but instead of walking straight ahead, taking a detour eating somewhere, drinking somewhere I would like to walk there. It’s hot, isn’t it? Today it’s around 35°C Looks like it’ll go up. I’m looking forward to it. I was able to walk along this river. It’s my first time. It’s the Obon season, isn’t it? Oh — I can see some Bon lanterns, just a little. * Bon(Obon) is a summer event to honor the spirits of ancestors. Hiroshima’s Obon has a distinctive sight: the bon lanterns. They’re built on a six-sided bamboo frame covered with six colored papers — red, yellow, green, blue, purple, and orange — and usually a candle is placed inside. For Obon, they’re prepared at graves to welcome the spirits of the ancestors. By the way, for graves where someone died in the past year — that is, for a first Obon (初盆, hatsu-bon) — white bon lanterns are prepared. This custom is practiced by followers of Jodo Shinshu known locally as Aki-monto, so you probably won’t see it in the western parts of Hiroshima Prefecture like Fukuyama. A common Hiroshima experience: when people leave the prefecture for the first time as adults and learn this is a Hiroshima-specific custom, they’re surprised — that’s a typical Hiroshima-ite thing. EDION Peace Wing Hiroshima Opened in February 2024, it’s a multi-purpose stadium centered on soccer. Site area about 49,900 m², capacity about 28,500. It looks like you can go straight from EDION Peace Wing Hiroshima into Hiroshima Castle. Let’s go take a look. I wonder if it’s okay to go up there. I’ve gone inside about twice. Once to watch a match, and once for a normal work reason. As a city stadium it’s easy to access — it’s one JR stop from Hiroshima Station; from JR Shin-Hakushima Station it’s about a 15-minute walk. The reason it was built: Sanfrecce’s former home, EDION Stadium Hiroshima, doubled as an athletics stadium, so a running track surrounded the field and seats were far from the pitch, making the experience less immersive. Also, the location at the regional park was extremely inconvenient. In particular, access was poor: he closest station was almost an hour away from Hiroshima Station with a transfer, and then you had to walk uphill for about 10 minutes. Parking was limited; on match days you had to rent temporary parking far away for ¥1,000 and then take a bus from there — it wasn’t a place you could go casually. It felt like a mountain with few shops around. Personally, I never want to go back. By contrast, the current Peace Wing is very easygoing to get to. So — from Peace Wing, from Hakushima (Kitamachi) housing Hiroshima Castle over there you can see the RCC broadcasting station`s radio tower. It feels like different eras are mixed together. Peace Wing Hiroshima connects to Hiroshima Castle by a concourse. It’s about a 10-minute walk. Um — from Peace Wing toward Hiroshima Station (?) This is the road on the way to Gokoku Shrine. This area has changed, hasn’t it? There wasn’t a proper parking lot like this before. They seem to have added some trendy shops. Hiroshima Castle. Built by Mōri Terumoto in Tensho 17 (1589). In the Edo period the Fukushima and Asano clans served as lords and it became the political center of Hiroshima Domain. Buildings were destroyed by the atomic bomb in 1945, and the current keep was reconstructed in 1958 and opened as a museum, but it is scheduled to close on March 22, 2026. Nearby is Gokoku Shrine; the whole area has a somewhat solemn atmosphere yet, as you can see, it’s a busy tourist area. By the way, at that time I planned to go up to the Hiroshima Castle keep, but there were so many tourists I gave up. Too bad. Now we’re at the moat of Hiroshima Castle. I’ll go through the underground passage. Um — which way should I go? Let’s try heading toward the library side. This is the Central Library. Was it supposed to be gone by this year? They’re saying it will be closed, I think. I’ve used it several times myself. break time Anyway,
I took a short break at the Central Library. Maybe because it’s August, they had a special section about the atomic bombing. They’re suspending lending services at the end of August 2025 for a while. The Central Library will be relocated to the Ale Ale A building in front of Hiroshima Station. From the Central Library I went through the underground mall Shareo toward the Atomic Bomb Dome. From here you can also catch the Astram Line, which connects to Hiroshima’s suburbs. This underground mall runs through the center of Hiroshima in a cross pattern. If you come up to the surface in the center you reach the Kamiya-cho intersection, which gets extremely crowded; Shareo was built partly to ease that traffic. The central underground area is an event space and sometimes there are used book fairs — which I like. Okay — the Atomic Bomb Dome. It’s a tourist spot. *This is my impression of the large number of people taking commemorative photos with smiles on their faces. Now I’m on Hondori(Main Street). What should I do? For now I’ll walk to the end of the street, buy something at Burger King, and eat it somewhere while drinking. Alright, I bought something at Burger King Now I’ll buy some alcohol somewhere and find a place to eat. On the way to Hiroshima Station I want to find a spot to sit and eat. Kaneyama-Tyou The train is decorated with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp logo. The Hiroshima Toyo Carp is a professional baseball team. It is also a symbol of postwar reconstruction. Please look into it for more details (^_^ I got some alcohol at a convenience store. I’m almost at Hiroshima Station It’s just before noon. It’s been almost three hours since I started walking But man, it’s really hot, so I took a break for about 30 minutes along the way. Now — where should I eat? Hiroshima Station. Opened in 1894. At the time it was the terminus of the Sanyo Railway. Hiroshima’s central entertainment district is around Hiroshima Castle, which I visited earlier, so the station was built quite far from that area. There are several theories why it was built away from the center: to avoid the outer moats and residential areas of Hiroshima Castle, or to place the station on the outer side of the Ota River delta. Multiple reasons overlapped, resulting in the station being set away from the city center, and for a long time people said, “For a city of Hiroshima’s size, there’s nothing in front of the station.” In March 2025 the new station building and mixed-use commercial facility “Minamoa” opened. In August, with the opening of a new tram route, the Hiroden Hiroshima Station tram stop was newly installed on the second floor of Minamoa. The area is gradually becoming livelier. Now — where should I eat? I want to eat around here, but actually this area is full of rxxch on this back side. It’s a little scary. I’ve moved a little away from the station front. Um, I think we’re a bit closer to the Mazda Stadium side now. Let’s sit down somewhere around here and eat. I walked a lot. For lunch I had Burger King: a Whopper and there were these extra-spicy nuggets. Also, this is handy to have: a bag for carrying boxed lunches — I keep one. I bought a “Tori-hai”(Torys-highboll) at the convenience store. Nice — it’s properly chilled. And rock ice. Well, let’s eat. Cheers. Delicious. It’s a Whopper — looks good. Ya Super spicy-looking. Um, Yum. Yumpicy Whoa Nice weather. Okay! I also made sure to collect all the trash. I think I should say this: look llegal dumping is a crime. Alright, I’ll head back toward Hiroshima Station now. The time is 12:21. That concludes the walk of just under 10 km from Yokogawa Station to Hiroshima Station. Thank you very much for watching. This was my first walking video, and I really enjoyed making it, so I plan to walk somewhere again. I hope you’ll also try walking around Hiroshima. This was NOBUSHI.　(^_^)ノシ This video makes extensive use of AI translation.
If you find any awkward phrasing, please let us know in the comments section.

A relaxed walking tour and drink-hop from Yokogawa to Hiroshima Station in August. Shot handheld on my phone — expect some shaky moments and casual detours.
▶ English subtitles: ON (CC)
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Chapters:
0:00 Start — Yokogawa Station
5:22 EDION Peace Wing Hiroshima
8:04 Hiroshima Castle (Entrance only)
11:47 Atomic Bomb Dome
15:03 Hiroshima Station

8月の広島を散歩して飲む動画です。スマホ手持ちで撮影しているため揺れがあります。寄り道しながら撮影しています。
▶ 日本語・英語字幕あり（プレーヤーの「字幕/CC」からONにしてください）

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