Etajima island is home to Japan's Naval Academy officially called the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force First Service School (海上自衛隊第1術科学校), akin to Annapolis in the US. It originally opened as the Imperial Naval Academy in 1888. The Naval Academy conducts free guided tours of the school 3 or 4 times a day. The main attraction for me was the display of a midget submarine used in the Pearl Harbor attack. For more info see the academy's Web site here.

97 files, last one added on Jan 14, 2013
Album viewed 1567 times

Built in 1622 by Lord Mizuno Katsunari. This is one castle you can see from the bullet train. The castle tower was rebuilt in 1966. A turret and a gate are Important Cultural Assets.

8 files, last one added on Jan 24, 2006
Album viewed 251 times

Scenic Tomonoura is a part of the Seto Inland Sea National Park.

8 files, last one added on Jan 24, 2006
Album viewed 237 times

Itsukushima Shrine on Miyajima island is one of Japan's most famous sights and one of Japan's Scenic Trio (Nihon Sankei) and World Heritage Site. Short train ride from Hiroshima Station to Miyajima-guchi and a short ferry ride to the island.

135 files, last one added on Dec 02, 2015
Album viewed 700 times

Hiroshima's No. 1 tourist attraction. The park has the iconic Atomic Bomb Dome, Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, Memorial Cenotaph, Peace Flame, and numerous other memorials. Hordes of school kids on class trips visit here.

128 files, last one added on Jan 14, 2013
Album viewed 1821 times

Obviously destroyed during the war, the castle was reconstructed after World War II.

31 files, last one added on Feb 28, 2016
Album viewed 250 times

The Yamato Museum's main attraction is a 1/10th scale model of battleship Yamato, Japan's most famous and legendary battleship in World War II. The museum is adjacent to Kure Port.

71 files, last one added on Jan 20, 2013
Album viewed 3294 times

The JMSDF (Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force) Kure Museum is mainly a submarine museum whose main attraction is the decommissioned sub called Akishio. The museum is conveniently right across the street from the Yamato Museum.

40 files, last one added on Jan 20, 2013
Album viewed 261 times

Only stone walls and a moat remains.

2 files, last one added on Jan 24, 2006
Album viewed 220 times

This Onomichi Castle never existed. It was built in 1964 solely as a tourist attraction. Sadly, the company that owned the castle went bankrupt and the castle is now an abandoned building.

4 files, last one added on Jan 24, 2006
Album viewed 263 times