Kansai-Hiroshima Area Pass
Famed for its fantastic street food, friendly
nature and electric nightlife, Osaka is where
your journey begins. You’ll arrive from
Kansai Airport into the enormous JR Osaka
Station in the heart of the city. From
here, you can see the robot-like 558ft-tall
Umeda Sky Building, which has a circular
observation deck on the 39th floor, offering
eye-popping views of western Osaka’s
skyscrapers and the meandering Yodo
River. After getting your bearings, fuel up
on some of Osaka’s sensational street food.
Lit up like a jukebox and packed with
stalls, restaurants and cafes, the canal-side
Dotonbori is a favourite place to fill up on
kani (crab), fugu (pufferfish), and crunchy-
squishy takoyaki (batter balls typically
filled with octopus). End the night with
some late-night shopping and drinking in
the Souemoncho party zone.
While Osaka is a modern metropolis, it
has a key historic building that’s not to be
missed: Osaka Castle, an elegant pearl-
white fortress dating back to 1583, set in
a 106-acre plum tree park. Its beauty is
only rivalled by that of the hilltop Himeji
Castle, a UNESCO World Heritage Site
located 30 minutes on the Hikari line from
Osaka-shin Station — an outing which
teams perfectly with a tour of the dreamy
Edo-period gardens of Okayama.
Then there’s Kobe, just 15 minutes from
Shin-Osaka station by Shinkansen. Perched
between the Rokko mountains and Osaka
Bay, it’s considered one of Japan’s most
attractive cities, as well as the producer
of its best beef. Take a historic cable car
to the city’s highest peak for views of the
Seto Inland Sea and islands; dip in the
Arima Onsen hot springs, the oldest in the
country; tuck into a top-quality beef burger
folded over rice and topped with a fried
egg; and visit the emotive Kobe Earthquake
Memorial Museum, which commemorates
the Great Hanshin-Awaji disaster of 1995.
The following day, take the Sanyo
Shinkansen line 90 minutes west, passing
the Chugoku Mountains, and into the
ruggedly beautiful Chugoku region.
Hiroshima, the biggest city in the area,
features wide boulevards, six beautiful
rivers, a range of galleries and a buzzing
food scene. It also, of course, has a tragic
past, having been the first city in history to
suffer a nuclear attack. Spend the morning
learning about the immediate and long-
term impact the A-bomb had upon the
city with visits to the Atomic Bomb Dome,
the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park,
the Hiroshima National Peace Memorial
Hall for Atomic Bomb Victims and the
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.
Follow with an afternoon river cruise
and an evening sampling the local treat
okonomiyaki (a fat, savoury pancake stuffed
with some variation of meat, seafood,
vegetables and shredded cabbage).
From Hiroshima Station, it’s also just a
25-minute rail journey to Miyajimaguchi
Station, where you can catch a ferry to the
temple-studded island of Miyajima; both the
train and ferry are covered by the JR West
Pass. Miyajima, considered one of the three
most scenic spots in Japan, is home to the
1,400-year-old Itsukushima Shinto Shrine,
a UNESCO World Heritage Site. From here,
head to Kintai Bridge, one of the country’s
most iconic landmarks.Take a historic cable car to
the city’s highest peak for views
of the Seto Inland Sea, or go
for dip in the Arima Onsen
hot springsABOVE: Canal Boat
in Kurashiki Bikan
Historical Quarter
RIGHT: Sagano Romantic
Train, Kyoto
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Tea house interior at
Kenrokuen Gardens,
KanazawaIMAGES: OKAYAMA PREFECTURAL TOURISM FEDERATION; GETTYPARTNER CONTENT FOR WEST JAPAN RAILWAY COMPANY