Hiroshima Prefecture Specialties, Souvenirs, Shrines, Temples, and Travel | 47 Prefecture Guide

Hiroshima is one of the few prefectures with two World Heritage Sites in a single prefecture. The character of those two sites is completely different.

Specialties

oysters is said to account for about 60% of Japan’s farmed production.

The Seto Inland Sea has many islands and calm waves, nutrients flowing in from rivers, and large tidal differences. These three conditions come together here. Oyster farming in Hiroshima is said to have begun as early as the Muromachi period, with more than 500 years of accumulated history.

Lemons (the largest domestic production in Japan), Hiroshima greens, Mihara octopus, and Saijo sake. Saijo in Higashihiroshima City is one of Japan’s three major sake-brewing areas, along with Fushimi and Nada among them.

Souvenirs

Momiji manju is, created in the Meiji era at the request of an inn, inspired by Miyajima’s Momijidani according to estimates.

processed oyster products, okonomiyaki sauce, and Kumano makeup brushes. Kumano makeup brushes have now become a brand overseas as well.

Shrines and Temples

Itsukushima Shrine (Hatsukaichi City) was registered as a World Cultural Heritage site in 1996.

This shrine stands over the sea because the island itself is regarded as the sacred object of worship. Civil engineering work must not be carried out on the island of the gods. That is why it was built over the sea. A religious constraint has become, just as it is, the landscape of a World Heritage Site. It is said that Taira no Kiyomori shaped it into its present form, and it is regarded as the head shrine of Itsukushima shrines across Japan, including shrines dedicated to Benzaiten.

On Itsukushima, Senjokaku was commissioned by Hideyoshi and is a hall that has remained unfinished for more than 400 years. It has neither ceiling nor walls.

The five-story pagoda of Myooin Temple (Fukuyama City) is a National Treasure. Senkoji Temple (Onomichi City) stands halfway up a mountain overlooking the town of Onomichi, and still has an ascetic training site where mountain priests climb strange rocks using chains.

Sightseeing

The Atomic Bomb Dome was registered as a World Cultural Heritage Site in 1996, the same year as Itsukushima Shrine.

One is beauty created by faith; the other is a trace of what human beings caused. Hiroshima does not hide the fact that these two stand in the same prefecture; it places them side by side.

The slopes of Onomichi, the Shimanami Kaido, Sandankyo Gorge, and the townscape of Takehara.

Traditional Crafts

Nationally designated items are Kumano brushes, Hiroshima Buddhist altars, Fukuyama koto, and Miyajima crafts, among others, making 5 items.

Kumano Town (Aki District) is said to account for the majority of brush production in Japan. It originally began as seasonal work during the agricultural off-season. Today, it has become a production area that receives orders from cosmetics brands around the world.

For details, see [VILLAGE Report vol.16] From Migrant Work to a Global Production Area

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References: Hiroshima Prefecture, Hiroshima City, Hatsukaichi City, Kumano Town, Higashihiroshima City, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Agency for Cultural Affairs, Association for the Promotion of Traditional Craft Industries — Value Village Editorial Team