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      As a trip around the park’s moving and in places harrowing museum reveals, that was just the start. Another 60,000 of Hiroshima’s then 350,000 residents died of injuries in the days and weeks that followed. And some two-thirds of the city’s structures were lost in the blast and ensuing firestorm, so it seems almost inconceivable that the dome, located in the bomb’s hypocenter, could survive. In part that’s why the Gempaku Dome speaks so poignantly to so many. It isn’t just a testament to the horror of nuclear war, its survival against the odds has come to represent hope, perseverance and the indestructibility of the human spirit, the same qualities that saw Hiroshima rebuild from rubble to become a thriving modern city. It’s impossible not to be moved when you stand before it.

      The same can be said for many of the park’s other sights, among which the most heartrending is the Children’s Peace Monument, a 9-meter (30-foot)-high domed pedestal atop which a life-size bronze statue of a child holds aloft a giant paper crane. It is dedicated to 12-year-old Sadoko Sasaki, a leukemia patient in Hiroshima, who hoped she would be cured if she could fold 1,000 origami cranes, traditionally a symbol of health and longevity in Japan. Sadoko never got to 1,000, succumbing to her illness in 1955 before reaching her teenage years. Her classmates, however, continued to fold cranes for her and later successfully petitioned the nation to construct the Peace Monument in honor of Sadoko and the thousands of children whose lives were cut short by the blast. Thousands of schools around Japan contributed donations to fund the monument, and every year some 10 million cranes are sent here from around the world, some of which you’ll see on display in glass cases surrounding it.

      Opening Times Museum open daily from 8.30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Getting There Hiroshima can be reached by rail from Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo. Hiro-shima Airport also has connections to Tokyo, Sapporo and Okinawa. Contact Hiroshima Peace Site: pcf.city.hiroshima.jp Admission Fee Admission to the museum is ¥200 for adults and ¥100 for students.

15 The Holy Mountain of Koya-san

      Monastic life on one of Japan’s most sacred sites

      In 816, the Buddhist monk Kobo Daishi came upon Mount Koya (locally called Koya-san) while wandering the country in search of somewhere suitably meditative to establish a temple. One can only imagine what Koya-san was like then, but something about the densely wooded mountain must have resonated with Daishi because he chose Koya-san as the place to found the Shingon school of Buddhism. Today, some 120 Shingon monasteries cluster around the site of Daishi’s first temple, attracting a steady stream of pilgrims and tourists to what has long been considered one of Japan’s holiest mountains.

      A first stop for many who make the journey south of Osaka, on train lines that gradually become more winding and remote before immersing themselves in thick woodland and verdant valleys, is Okuno-in. This vast wooded cemetery exudes an almost primeval atmosphere with its tall cedars, moss-covered stone stupas and small jizo statues dressed in vivid red bibs. At its eastern end, the cemetery gives way to a richly decorated hall lit by 10,000 constantly burning oil lanterns, the Hall of Lanterns, behind which, almost hidden in a cloud of incense and dense woodland, is Daishi’s understated and off-limits mausoleum. Whether you are religious or not, the incense and droning chants of visiting pilgrims coming through the ancient wood create a powerful, electrifying energy.

      Okuno-in is one of several reasons Koya-san received World Heritage status in 2004. On the other side of Koya-san, the Shingon sect’s main temple, the Kongobu-ji, is another. Although not the most eye-catching of structures, it boasts a must-see collection of 16th-century screen paintings and one of the country’s largest landscaped rock gardens, which, much like the one at Ryoan-ji in Kyoto (page 50), offers visitors a cryptic arrangement of rocks and raked gravel.

      Rounding off the Koya-san experience is the accommodation. Approximately 50 of the monasteries offer shukubo (temple accommodation; see page 83), which typically features a Spartan and tranquil tatami mat guest room, a multicourse vegetarian dinner and the chance to join the monks and pilgrims for early morning prayers. If you are lucky, that will include being able to observe the morning fire ceremonies, during which a lone monk burns 108 small pieces of wood representative of the 108 defilements that must be overcome before reaching enlightenment. Accompanied by pulsating chanting and leaping flames, it’s a spectacular way to start the day.

      Getting There From Namba Station in Osaka, take the Nankai Line to Gokurakubashi Station (70–100 minutes; sometimes requiring a change at Hashimoto Station). From there it’s a 5-minute cable car ride up to Koya-san. Contact Koya-san Tourist Association: eng.shukubo.net

      

16 Yakushima Island, Kyushu

      A richly diverse ecosystem and World Heritage Site

      If you are like the tens of thousands of Tokyoites who reach for face masks and antihistamines every spring, when cedar pollen floods in from the western hills, Yakushima may not be the most suitable of destinations. The small circular island, 30 kilometers (17 miles) in diameter and 1,000 kilometers (almost 600 miles) southwest of Tokyo, is famed for its giant, ancient cedars.

      Dubbed the “Alps on the Ocean” for its 40 or so craggy peaks that reach upward of 1,000 meters (3,280 feet), providing the slopes on which the mighty cedars grow, Yakushima came to international attention when it was granted World Heritage status in 1993 because of its unique flora and fauna. That designation was made primarily because of the several thousand-year-old Yaku-sugi cedars (the eldest of which are claimed by some to be the oldest in the world at an estimated 7,200 years), but also for a rich diversity that includes the Yakushima rhododendron, which speckles the island pink, white and red in June.

      Although it attracts Japanese tourists, Yakushima has so far remained off the beaten path for international travelers, which is remarkable given its stunning primeval beauty. The cedars tower above dense foliage that carpets an undulating sea of granite-rich mountains. Hiking trails cut across Tolkien-like mountain streams in subtropical rainforest that perspires a deep mossy aroma. Away from the interior, the rainforest gives way to a coastline of pristine beaches and offshore diving spots.

      The island is a naturalist’s dream, but it’s not always easy on travelers. The heat and humidity can be oppressive, especially in July and August, while the island attracts so much rain–some 10 meters (33 feet) a year on average in the interior–that the 14,000 inhabitants wryly claim it to be the only place on earth to get 35 days of rain a month. But don’t let that put you off. Yakushima will leave you wet but awestruck too.

      Getting There There are daily flights to Yakushima’s small airport from Kagaoshima and from Itami in Osaka. The island can also be reached from Kagoshima, 60 kilometers (33 miles) away, by hydrofoil (2 hours) and ferry (4 hours). Contact Kagoshima Prefectural Visitors Bureau: kagoshima-kankou.com

      

17 Niseko Ski Resort, Hokkaido

      Japan’s northern island has the world’s best snow

      The small ski resort town of Niseko in southwestern Hokkaido, in Japan’s far north, lays claim to the finest powder snow in the world and volcanic alpine vistas to match; the 1,898-meter (6,227-foot)-high Mount Yotei, often likened to Mount Fuji for its symmetry, stands out among the clouds opposite the main slopes. The name Niseko is derived from the ethnic Ainu language of Hokkaido and is short for Niseko Annupura, which translates as the

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