Day 07 – Iwakuni (Iwakuni Station) to Kure (Kure Station)
68km – After a ride up the Iwakuni ropeway to the mountain castle, we’ll set off on a coastal route that takes us through the sprawling historic city of Hiroshima and finishes in Japan’s Shipyard town, Kure. A detour to the Island of Itsukushima will show off the beauty of the famous Torii gate, and we’ll also sample the world renowned Hiroshima Okonomiyaki.
Day 7 will take us to the half way point of this epic journey, and what better place to ride through than the beautifully regenerated city of Hiroshima? Struck by the Atom Bomb on August 6th 1945, the city of Hiroshima rebuilt itself, but preserves the history of that fateful day.
Before arriving at the epicenter of the event itself and seeing the haunting A-Bomb dome, we’ll first take a quick detour to the famous Itsukushima island (also nicknamed Miyajima), home of the famous shrine known for its Torii gate in the sea. This will mark our 4th Japanese Island, and we’ll need to briefly park our bikes to take the ferry ride to this historic place.
Having said goodbye to Yamaguchi, we can’t pass through our second prefecture of Chugoku without taking in one of its greatest exports, Hiroshima-style Okonomiyaki. An endless battle rages between which is best: Osaka-style or Hiroshima-style, so today we’ll have the opportunity to put one style in our bellies.
Highlights
- Itsukushima Island & Shrine
- Hiroshima-style Okonomiyaki
- Peace Park
- A-Bomb Dome
Food & Accommodation
After passing through Hiroshima itself, we’ll arrive in the town of Kure, known for ship building. In fact, Hiroshima prefecture is another key Japanese industrial area, with Mazda having its main manufacturing facility and own port in the outskirts of the city. We’ll stay in a hotel with a view of the Seto Inland Sea, and see what else the area has to offer beside Okonomiyaki.