Hiroshima Prefecture

Rest over tea at a cafe inside temple grounds

Some temples run small cafes on their own grounds, in old halls or on verandas that look onto the main hall or garden. After visiting the temple, sit down with matcha or coffee and a sweet and enjoy the quiet of the grounds. These cafes are spread across Japan and many open only a few days a week, so check before you go.

See Japan's three views prized for 400 years

Since the 1600s, Japan has named three places its Three Views: a bay scattered with pine-covered islands, a long sandbar of pines across a bay, and a red torii gate standing in the sea. In each, you take in the view from a boat and from a lookout above. They are far apart, so pick the one on your route: Matsushima from Sendai, Amanohashidate from Kyoto, or Miyajima from Hiroshima.

A hillside port town of ramen and sea views

Onomichi is a port town on the Seto Inland Sea, about an hour by shinkansen from Shin-Osaka to Fukuyama, then 20 minutes on a local train. Its ramen, a soy-sauce soup made with stock from small local fish and dotted with bits of pork back fat, spread from food stalls by the harbor. Ride the ropeway up the hill to look down on the narrow sea channel and tiled roofs, then walk down the slopes for a bowl near the shopping street.

Drink fresh beer next to the tanks it came from

All over Japan, small craft breweries pour their beer in taprooms set right beside the brewing tanks, so what you drink was made a few steps away. Order a few small glasses to compare styles, often with food made to go with them. The places in and around Tokyo make an easy evening out, while those farther away fit into a longer trip through the region.

Look down on the town from a hilltop cafe

In Japan's hillside port towns, some cafes and viewing rooms sit high above the streets, and from their windows the rooftops, harbor and sea spread out below you. Order a drink or a sweet, sit back and let the view be the main event. All of these are in western Japan, between Hiroshima and Nagasaki, so they fit best into a trip to that region.

See a torii standing out in the sea

Torii are the gates that mark the way into a shrine, and a few stand out in the sea, facing shrines on the shore. At high tide the water rises around their pillars; at low tide you can sometimes walk right up to them. Check the tide tables before you go.

Walk at night among glowing bamboo lanterns

On a few autumn evenings, some towns cut bamboo into lanterns, set a candle or small light inside, and line their bamboo groves, old lanes and temple steps with them. You stroll slowly along the glowing paths, through scenes that look nothing like they do by day. Each festival lasts only one to three days a year, so check the dates before you plan a trip around one.

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