Okayama (岡山市; -shi) is the capital city of Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan.

The city is known as the site of the Korakuen Garden and the striking black Okayama Castle; which is a modern reconstruction. The popular Japanese folktale of Momotaro may have originated there.

Sogenji is a very large zen monastery belonging to the Rinzai sect in the centre of the city. It has produced several of the abbots of the major monasteries in Kyoto and is now a training centre for foreign paractitioners.

Okayama is one of few Japanese cities to have kept an operational tram system. It is a major rail interchange as trains from Shikoku connect with the Sanyō main line here.

So, if you are at Okayama for the day, do visit the garden and the black castle. It’s probably the only thing that’s worth visiting if you’re around the area. I really like the name of the castle and how it’s dark. It’s probably the most gothic monument in Japan :)

Miyajima (宮島町, Miyajima-chō) was a town located on the island of Itsukushima (often referred to, incorrectly, as Miyajima Island in English—’jima’ and ’shima’ both mean ‘island’) in Saeki District, Hiroshima, Japan. On November 3, 2005, it was amalgamated into the city of Hatsukaichi.

The name Miyajima literally translates to Shrine Island, which is exactly what the place is known for. With a red torii standing alone in the waters during the high tides belonging to Itsukushima Shrine, Miyajima is one of Japan’s 3 most scenic spots.

The island is a beautiful as it is natural. You will find deers strolling about the island’s parks and as well as monkeys roaming around freely. It is a perfect place for couples in the evening because the place oozes romanticism. The glow of the temple and shrines and the stroll on the beach, what can be more perfect than that? :)

Or you can take a hiking trip up Misen, Miyajima’s highest peak if you’re feeling a little adventurous.

How to get to Miyajima?
Click on this link: How to get around Miyaima

A good place to stay in for the night in Miyajima is at Benten No Yado. You can enjoy their onsens as well as have the perfect view of the Torii. Price ranges from 27,000 Yen to 71, 400 yen per night depending on the season.

Japanese Gardens are pretty well known around the world. They are sought after by people for its beauty and serenity that it emits so you can actually see imitations of a Japanese Garden everywhere and anywhere. Japanese gardens (日本庭園, nihon teien), can be found at private homes, in neighborhood or city parks, at Buddhist temples or Shinto shrines, and at historical landmarks such as old castles. Many of the Japanese gardens most famous in the West, and within Japan as well, are dry gardens or rock gardens, karesansui. The tradition of the Tea masters has produced highly refined Japanese gardens of quite another style, evoking rural simplicity. Japanese gardens have also been imitated in Western gardening.

Typical Japanese gardens contain several of these elements, real or symbolic:

* Water
* An island
* A bridge to the island
* A lantern, typically of stone
* A teahouse or pavilion

Japanese gardens might fall into one of these styles:

* Pond gardens, for viewing from a boat.
* Sitting gardens, for viewing from inside a building or on a veranda.
* Tea gardens, for viewing from a path which leads to a tea ceremony hut.
* Strolling gardens, for viewing from a path which circumnavigates the garden.

In Japan the most beautiful and famous Japanese Gardens are Koraku-en Japanese Garden and Kairaku-en Japanese Garden.

The Koraku-en garden was built in the 1700s and it is about 28 acres of sakura trees, plum trees, Japanese maple trees and ponds. There is also a teahouse and a Noh stage there for visitors to enjoy the scenery with. During the autumn season, the Koraku-en attracts thousands of tourists every day because of its beautiful autumn foliage.

The Kairaku-en was built in the 1800s and has over 3000 plum trees, thus making it the perfect spot for the annual plum flower festival. Throngs of visitors visits the garden during this time to savor the beautiful cascades of the plum flower blooms.

Source: Wikipedia; About.com

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Perfecture, the largest city of Chugoku region. This is the place where the Peace Memorial Park is – a park dedicated to the legacy of Hiroshima as the first city in the world to be nuclear bombed. There are a variety of monuments around the park that commemorates the events that evolved since the black day of the bombings.

This historical site is a must visit for anyone, of any age, for it is an educational site for the understanding of devastation that wars cause. Something which i think everyone in the world should understand and feel strongly about. The innocent lives of those who perished are remembered by the monuments built around the park – they are symbols that reminds us to be peaceful.

Statue of the A-bomb Children is also erected on the Park to commemorate a little girl who suffered from radiation after the bomb dropped. She believed that if she folded 1000 cranes, she would healed, therefore the statue is of a little folding a crane ontop of a dome like architecture. Many people who visit the park, replenish the paper cranes and leave it around the statue to represent peace and world fellowship.

Near the center of the park is a concrete, saddle-shaped monument that covers a Cenotaph holding the names of all of the people killed by the bomb. The Cenotaph carries the epitaph, “Repose ye in Peace, for the error shall not be repeated.” Through the monument you can see the Peace Flame and the A-Bomb Dome.

Hiroshima’s Peace Park including the memorial museum and the island of Miyajima (literally translated to shrine island) is located 40 minutes away from the city center by train and ferry. The park and museum are among Japan’s most interesting tourist attractions.

Source: Wikipedia, Hiroshima Travel Guide

Chūgoku (中国) is the westernmost part of the main Japanese island Honshu.

Cities

• Hiroshima — site of the infamous nuclear bomb attack
• Okayama — featuring one of Japan’s Top 3 Parks and a brooding black castle
• Onomichi — hillside town with pleasant paths connecting dozens of small temples

Other Destinations

• Bizen — home to Japan’s oldest and most respected style of pottery
• Miyajima — one of the most beautiful islands in all Japan

Getting there

• By plane

  Hiroshima has a fairly large airport, with domestic and some international connections.

• By train

  The San’yo Shinkansen line links Hiroshima, Okayama and other major towns to Kyushu in the southwest and Kansai (Osaka) to the east.

(Source: Wikitravel)