Hijiyama Park, Hiroshima
last update: September 30, 2022
Hijiyama Park (比治山公園) is a huge hilly park just south of Hiroshima's JR station, largely covered in forest and with panoramic city views.
Things to do and things to see in Hijiyama
At the foot of Hijiyama there is a large
Aeon shopping center, connected to the upper part of Hijiyama (about 70 meters high) via the
Hijiyama Skywalk. In the upper part you will find a very quiet and relaxed atmosphere among the trees of the forest, several panoramic points from which to enjoy the city from above, as well as a
contemporary art museum and the
Hiroshima City Manga Library.
Hijiyama Skywalk
The Hijiyama Skywalk is a long automated path, in total about 200 meters uphill, which connects the lower part of Hijiyama, near the Aeon Mall (formerly named Saty), with the upper part of the hill, near the museum of contemporary art and the manga library. Even elderly and disabled people can thus afford to take a walk in the upper part of Hijiyama Park without having to take a car. The Skywalk is divided into two parts, a first part by treadmill and a second part by steep and long escalators. The latter are also a sort of small attraction because they have a certain effect, a mixture of futuristic atmosphere looking up or down and a mystical atmosphere looking at the trees of the forest around while going up, also thanks to the transparent glass.
Hijiyama Skywalk's moving walkway and escalator (credits)
Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA)
(closed for renovation until spring 2023)
This museum, often abbreviated to MOCA, is located right on top of Hijiyama park and a stone's throw from the arrival point of the Hijiyama Skyline. It was the first public museum entirely dedicated to contemporary art to open in Japan, in 1989. It houses works by emerging Japanese artists but also something from the West, and special exhibitions are organized periodically. In addition to the internal collection, there are other interesting things that we would like to point out. The first is the architectural structure of the museum designed by the famous architect Kisho Kurokawa, father of the metabolist movement. The second is that the outside of the museum, which can be explored for free, is dotted with numerous sculptures of artistic value.
Hiroshima City Manga Library
(free admission, opening hours 10-17, closed on monday)
A stone's throw from the MOCA is the Hiroshima City Manga Library, one of the rare existing libraries entirely dedicated to manga. The library is quite small, but it holds around 150,000 volumes, including some rare and ancient collections. Most of the manga are in Japanese language, but there is also a small international section with something in English, Korean, Chinese and French, and also a small section dedicated to Western comics (mainly American from the Marvel and DC Comics series). On the second floor there is a quiet reading room. If, on the other hand, you want to borrow a manga to read it in the nature of the Hijiyama Park, you must first make a card, but it is reserved only for those who reside in the Hiroshima area (details).
Viewpoints at Hijiyama Park
Different views of the city of Hiroshima from above can be found along the steps leading to the upper part of Hijiyama. At the top of the hill there are also two different panoramic terraces. One is located right in front of the MOCA museum. The view here is limited by the surrounding trees, however during the cherry blossom these trees turn pink and the place becomes enchanting. Another more open viewing terrace, named Fujimidai tenbodai, is located in the southern part of Hijiyama. You can reach this second observatory in 15 minutes on foot from the MOCA, or in ten minutes by climbing the stairs from the river bank.
view from the terrace in front of the MOCA during the hanami period (credits)
night view of Hiroshima from the Fujimidai observation deck
How to get to Hijiyama
Hijiyama Park is located about 1.5 km south of Hiroshima station, while Peace Park is 2.5 km west, always going straight along
Peace Boulevard until you cross the bridge on the Kyobashi River. You can reach the top of the hill by car, taxi, bus, on foot or by escalators.
If you want to walk on a very light trek, there are several stairways that climb up the hill from different sides. The closest tram stops to the Hijiyama base are
Danbara 1-chome,
Hijiyamashita and
Hijiyamabashi, three consecutive stops along the
line 5 of the tram (10 minutes from Hiroshima station).
If you want to use the escalators of the
Hijiyama Skywalk, you will have to go to the east side of the hill, where the large Aeon Mall is located. You can do it on foot, in 20 minutes from Hiroshima station or half an hour from the Peace Park after walking along a tunnel that passes just under the hill to get to the other side where the Aeon Mall is located. Or, from Hiroshima station you can take the
Hiroshima Minato shinsen bus line (広島みなと新線) to the
Dambara Chuo stop.
Finally, you can take the Orange Line of the Hiroshima Sightseeing Loop Bus (Meipuru-pu), which runs through the streets within Hijiyama Park and stops right in front of the MOCA.
Map of Hijiyama, Hiroshima
Guided tours, activities and other things to do
If you are planning a trip to Japan and you want to do something more than just visiting famous places and monuments, we suggest you to use
Rakuten Travel Experiences.
How to use Rakuten Travel Experiences
Rakuten Travel is a very useful website to
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Because of the language barrier (and more), in Japan it is very difficult to interact with the locals and to get off the tourist track.
Thanks to Rakuten Travel you can find a lot of interesting and sometimes unique
guided tours and activities all over Japan (and not only in Japan), that you would otherwise never be able to enjoy.
But there's more: on Rakuten Travel you can also
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Some examples
Take a look at Rakuten Travel Experiences
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view from the terrace in front of the MOCA during the hanami period (credits)
night view of Hiroshima from the Fujimidai observation deck
