Hiroshima: The most inspirational city in the world! | Japan Travel Guide

Ep.80 Japan is full of beauty, but when that beauty comes from a desire to make our world a better place, it becomes inspirational. We explore the history of Hiroshima, its delicious okonomiyaki Japanese pancakes, Peace Memorial Park, and we fold our own origami cranes to donate to The Crane Project. We also take a ferry to hang with the wild deer of Miyajima Island.
🇯🇵 FULL JAPAN VIDEO SERIES: • Japan
💥 Go to findingGinaMarie.com/join to join our free travel forum and learn more about our Gelato Levels!
😎 **WANT TO SUPPORT OUR CHANNEL?**
☕️ Buy us a coffee (caffeine helps us bring you more great content)! bmc.link/findGinaMarie
💥 SUBSCRIBE: / findingginamarie
😍 Using our affiliate links below helps us to bring you videos from around the world at no cost to you. Thank you very much if you choose to use them!
🧳 Explore All Our Travel Gear: findingginamarie.com/gear
🧳 Explore Briggs & Riley Collections: link.findingginamarie.com/Bri...
👗 Judy's wool clothes (Wool&): link.findingginamarie.com/Wom...
👕 Kevin's wool clothes (Wool& Prince): link.findingginamarie.com/Men...
📩 Traveling Mailbox (Mail forwarding service to wherever we travel): link.findingginamarie.com/tra...
💳Earn 60,000 bonus points with Chase Sapphire Reserve: link.findingginamarie.com/Sap...
🧾 Our packing list: findingginamarie.com/articles...
✈️ Best deals on plane travel: Skyscanner skyscanner.pxf.io/eKEJv1
🎵 Music from Epidemic Sound: share.epidemicsound.com/747rgk
23andMe: refer.23andme.com/s/judy49
Ancestry: refer.ancestry.com/judy43
🤓 READ JUDY'S JOURNAL
findingginamarie.com/judys-jo...
Chapters:
00:00 - Start
01:03 - Hiroshima Okonomiyaki Japanese Pancakes
01:50 - How to travel to Hiroshima
03:03 - Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum
05:35 - Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park
06:15 - Sadako Sasaki's Story
07:33 - The Crane Project at Orizuru Tower
09:49 - Visiting Miyajima Island
14:56 - What we paid
Finding Gina Marie is where we share our lives as full-time travelers and the connections we make along the way.
✈️ FOLLOW US
* Mastodon: mastodon.social/@KevinHoctor
* Mastodon: mastodon.social/@JudyHoctor
* Twitter: / kevinhoctor
* Twitter: / judyhoctor
✅ FOLLOW FINDING GINA MARIE
* Website: findingGinaMarie.com
* KZbin: / findingginamarie
* Podcast RSS feed: feeds.buzzsprout.com/1967301.rss
* Twitter: / findginamarie
📹 VIDEO EQUIPMENT
* Primary Camera: Sony FX30
* B-Roll Camera: iPhone 14 Pro
* Editing: Final Cut Pro X on a 16" M1 Max MacBook Pro
* Key Light: ZHIYUN MOLUS X100 Bi-Color 100W COB Video Light
* Diffuser: ZHIYUN Quick Release Mini Softbox
* Vocal Microphone: Sony ECM-B10
#findingGinaMarie #worldtraveler #worldtravel #livingthedream #slowtravel #digitalnomad #digitalnomadlife #europetravel #retireearly#retireearlyandtravel

[@annettepeacock967]

Thank you so much for your video, I’m going in May this year and it is on the tour to visit Hiroshima. A most inspiring and wonderful people the Japanese.

[@FindingGinaMarie]

How awesome. We hope you have an amazing trip. Did you see our entire series from our 40+ days in Japan? We were thrilled that our daughter also got to experience Japan for a week. We definitely want to return and explore more! Let us know what you think when you return! -Judy 🎥 Japan travel series: kzbin.info/aero/PLNT98lWfwdF0V4Brx4J0uWJdQENFZKWBT

[@helenvictoria8880]

Brought a tear to my eye, ❤ this vid…thanking you both 🤗🤗

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Thank you so much for watching, Helen! We agree that Hiroshima's response to what happened during WW II is inspirational. We appreciate that you shared this comment with us! -Judy

[@joeovip]

Hiroshima is surprisingly beautiful! 🤩 Me and my wife loved it 🙏🏼🥹 also the views from the ferry! And we did hiking on Miyajima!

[@FindingGinaMarie]

How wonderful for you both. Thanks so much for watching and for sharing your experience. We wish we would have had more time in Hiroshima. It is definitely worth the time and we are glad you got to experience it! Below is a link to our entire Japan series from the 40+ days we spent there. -Judy 🎥 Japan travel series: kzbin.info/aero/PLNT98lWfwdF0V4Brx4J0uWJdQENFZKWBT

[@annetterobinson3213]

Great video, thank you! We will be there in 2024 one of the places I’ve always wanted to visit.

[@FindingGinaMarie]

How awesome, Annette! Yes, Hiroshima was surprised us so much! We'd love to hear about your trip afterwards! Thanks so much for watching! -Judy

[@hanabishiwithwings]

i will be solo traveling to Kansai region this October and I’ll definitely include this on my itinerary. thanks for a very informative vlog. more travels to come! 🫶🏼

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Thanks for watching, Steffi! We think you will love it, too! Have an amazing trip; Japan is a very safe country. Here's a link to our series from our 40+ days in Japan. -Judy 🎥 Japan travel series: kzbin.info/aero/PLNT98lWfwdF0V4Brx4J0uWJdQENFZKWBT

[@5217tuber]

One of the better aspects of 2023 was finding this KZbin channel of yours. The journey you’ve taken has been enjoyable to watch and although I’m only up to your Poland visit, I just watched this one on Hiroshima. I do plan to visit the city some day, although I won’t have time in April when I go to Japan for a bike tour. The origami cranes in the building’s glass wall was something I’d not hear of before. Again, thank you for sharing your lives as full-time travelers. It’s great food for thought. Happy New Year, Kevin and Judy!

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Thank you so much for following along with us! We are so happy to have you with us on the ride! It means more than you can know! We are incredibly happy with this new life and it's people like you that keep us inspired. Happy New Year to you and yours. And you are singing our song when you mention a bike tour in Japan! Have a fun trip! -Judy

[@brendon408]

I have done 4 trips to Miyajima Island over the past 6 months taking family and friends from Australia. I really recommend going up to the peak on the ropeways if it's a good weather day .For the more adventurous you can walk from the top ropeway around to an adjacent higher peak to a Temple . There is an excellent medium sized aquarium on the island . The ferries from the peace park can't always run due to tides and get booked out on peak days so you can also choose the much cheaper option of taking the train to the Miyajima JR station which is at the ferry wharf for the car ferries that run every few minutes. Total cost less than 20 USD return and not too much longer than the Peace Park ferry.

[@xmcgraw]

What a great series! Thanks for all of the effort that went into it. Best wishes to a great start to 2024, and Happy New Years! 🥳

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Thank you for watching and commenting! It was a privilege to have this much time in Japan where we could document so many places. What a great country. 🇯🇵 Happy New Year! - Kevin

[@user-pe2dl2sw3x]

I love you japan japan earth in Paredese japanis people very good people long live japan world's is nation no war no violence no vepon world all people brother hood ilove huminisam girish kumar iam frome india

[@FindingGinaMarie]

It's a very special country, indeed. Thanks for watching. Here's our full series from our 40+ days in Japan if you're interested. -Judy 🎥 Japan travel series: kzbin.info/aero/PLNT98lWfwdF0V4Brx4J0uWJdQENFZKWBT

[@KennyLamTravel]

Hiroshima, The last place on earth I thought I would ever visit only a few years ago! Boy was I wrong, It was not an easy visit in the Peace Memorial Park area but the rest of the city was AMAZING.

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Hi Kenny, The museum was especially hard, but then when we saw how the Japanese people turned it into something powerful, we were inspired and humbled. I'm so glad to hear you were able to visit. -Judy

[@GlobetrotterGranny]

WOW! I think this was my favorite of your entire Japan series. Hiroshima brought tears to my eyes, but I loved the perspective of the young lady about working for peace moving forward. I think the BIG cities (like Tokyo) are not my thing, but the smaller and more historical places like today’s video are more to my liking.

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Thank you, Rebecca! We didn't love Tokyo, either. We really liked Kyoto, but Hiroshima surprised us so much! Our guide's perspective wasn't what we were expecting at all, and it brought tears to my eyes to hear such a balanced perspective. Thank you for watching and for always taking a moment to drop us a thoughtful note! -Judy

[@evacalder7386]

Thanks for this very informative and interesting video. Am planning to visit Japan and 9 other Asian countries in 2024. After watching this video, I’ll include Hiroshima in my list of places to visit.

[@FindingGinaMarie]

How exciting, Eva! We are making the rounds through Southeast Asia right now and are having a wonderful time. We'd love to know where you are headed. We've got videos coming out from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand. We are potentially looking at Philippines, but is there some other country in Southeast Asia that you think we should include? Thanks so much for watching! -Judy

[@evacalder7386]

@@FindingGinaMarie Happy New Year! I am planning to visit Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Vietnam, Laos, Taiwan, Hongkong, Korea and Japan. My goal is to visit 100 countries, currently have visited 75. Philippines : I highly recommend that you visit it. There are so many beautiful places to visit, many foods to taste and locals are friendly and helpful., speak English as well.. Rate of exchange between the US$ and Philippine peso is about 58 so it is a cheap country to visit. I still have some family members living there so I visit it once a year. Happy New Year and happy travels!

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Wow, that is quite a goal. Sounds like you are well on your way! Thanks for your insights! -Judy

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Hi @evacalder7386 We are pretty sure we're going to lock in a month in Philippines. Because of the way we travel, we're interested in staying in one place for a month. Do you have recommendations of where to stay (with good, solid WiFi) and a suggestion of must-see things to do? We're looking at arriving in late March. It seems that Cebu City might be the most worthwhile, but we are open to all your suggestions! -Judy

[@objc]

This video makes me regret going to Osaka over Hiroshima. We didn’t really enjoy Osaka and Hiroshima looks like a nicer more contemplative experience. I too struggled with just the idea of going to Hiroshima as an American and being a tourist, I still do but this video gives me more to consider next time I get to Japan. Thanks for the effort putting this together

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Thank you so much for sharing your experience and your encouragement. Our daughter was interested in Osaka and we were worried it would be too rushed. We are glad we went to Hiroshima. I think if you visit you will be inspired and encouraged, too. -Judy

[@Oscarthegreat290]

I enjoy your videos very much. Thank you! We are going to Japan in early April. My original plan was to land in Tokyo, spend 4 days then move to Osaka for 10 days and use it as our base. We’ll be in Japan for 3 weeks and then we’ll board a cruise back to USA from Tokyo. Is using Osaka as a base a good idea? Any suggestions? We’re in our 70s and moving from city to city is too stressful.

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Hi Oscar, thanks so much for watching and for the compliment! Is there a reason you are choosing Osaka as your base? We'd probably suggest Kyoto instead, although it's a little more expensive. Kyoto is more traditional and there are more temples and interesting sights than Osaka. Osaka is more of a modern city with a busy nightlife, but great for foodies and night street food. For us, we didn't do much at night, so we didn't really need that vibe. It's a little more like Tokyo, which we had enough of in four days. There's a lot to see, but it was too hectic/frenetic overall. Our opinion is biased because we did not visit Osaka, but we made a conscious choice to skip it since a modern city wasn't really what we went to Japan to experience. But we're hearing that a lot of people like Osaka because it's cheaper and can be a good base. We didn't do a lot of day trips to other cities. Our only reason to bounce around the way we did was that our daughter decided to join us after our plans were in place so we had to juggle things around and caused us to have to do some backtracking. We think you could have a lovely experience by spending four days in Tokyo, three days in Hiroshima and the rest of your time in Kyoto, especially since some of the sites get crowded early and a train to Kyoto for some of those from Osaka might not be ideal. Have you seen our entire video series from our 42 days in Japan? I'll link it below. If you've made nonrefundable plans for Osaka, or that it's cheaper is the reason it's more favorable, we think that also will be fine. We'd love to hear what you decide and what you think of Japan when you return. It will be a beautiful time of year to visit! -Judy Japan travel series: kzbin.info/aero/PLNT98lWfwdF0V4Brx4J0uWJdQENFZKWBT

[@Oscarthegreat290]

Thanks again for your timely response. So far, we only have plane and cruise reservations I’m still researching options. I picked Osaka for convenience to other places. I hope to buy a train pass and hit nearby cities, including Kyoto. I’m also looking at seaside small towns that are more traditional and without the tourist crowds taking pictures of flowers ( not my thing!)

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Makes sense to us. We enjoy seeing as much as we can of a city whenever possible before moving onto someplace else, but we travel full time and need some downtime that seeing too much in a short amount of time doesn't really afford us. Sounds like you've got a great plan then! Our Kyoto temples video will hopefully let you cherry pick which ones look interesting to you. We'd love to hear about your favorite places when you get back. And a cruise on the return seems like that could be a nice way to relax and adjust your body clocks for the return home. -Judy

[@nanapam2702]

Hi, can you share your hotel? I'm planning a visit in april. Thank you!

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Nana Pam, thank you for watching! Of course! We stayed at Hotel Kuretakesou Hiroshima Otemachi (if you book through our link, it helps our channel at no cost to you: www.hotels.com/affiliates/finding_gina_marie/hiroshima). We hope you'll watch our other videos from Japan to get a sense of other things you can see and do while you're visiting. Happy to answer any of your other questions. We'd love to know what you think of Hiroshima when you return! -Judy Japan travel series: kzbin.info/aero/PLNT98lWfwdF0V4Brx4J0uWJdQENFZKWBT

[@nanapam2702]

@FindingGinaMarie thank you so much! I will be watching those videos. Thanks for the link too. Have a great day

[@FindingGinaMarie]

@@nanapam2702 Thank you! We hope you get to enjoy some cherry blossoms while you're there! -Judy

[@enriquesanchez2001]

MY niece was in Japan and went to Hiroshima, she said it was unforgettable !😑

[@FindingGinaMarie]

It really was, Enrique! We were a little disappointed we couldn't stay longer. Thanks so much for watching! -Judy

[@enriquesanchez2001]

♥@@FindingGinaMarie

[@claudiahansen4938]

Happy New Year, Judy and Kevin! We only spent a day in Hiroshima but it surprised us.

[@FindingGinaMarie]

@@claudiahansen4938 Happy New Year, Claudia! I hope 2024 is a fabulous year for you! I'm so glad to hear you felt that way, too. Of course it was sobering, and I had a mix of feelings, but then seeing how Japan has turned it all around into something powerful was so inspiring. Thanks for watching. -Judy

[@5217tuber]

Kevin and Judy, one of my more joyful 2023 discoveries was finding your KZbin channel. Your videos offer a great vicarious experience! I’m watching in sequence and am up to your Poland era, but just watched this episode on Hiroshima. In 3 months, I’ll take a solo trip to central and northern Japan but plan a follow-up trip a few years later with my wife and Hiroshima will be one of the foci. Yes, it has a tragic history, and it was good to hear that the locals voiced their thoughts that there was culpability on both sides (and more sides than the USA and Japan; ask the Chinese about Nanking,1937). Near Hiroshima is Kure City, offering another side of WWII with its IJN Yamato museum - I hope to see that too. Again, thank you for the videos and for sharing your new global travel lives!! Happy New Year from Scott in Minneapolis.

[@user-hb2eq1sk7n]

nah

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Do you have some reason for saying this? If you watched our video, we give a lot of good reasons that Hiroshima is worth seeing. If you disagree, it might make sense to explain why. -Judy

[@user-hb2eq1sk7n]

@@FindingGinaMarie I tried to explain, but you deleted my comments.. so thanks for not letting the truth come out.

[@FindingGinaMarie]

​​⁠We did not delete your comment. Apparently it must have violated one of the guidelines of KZbin and they deleted it. We never saw the comment. You can try again. So long as it’s not offensive or disrespectful, we do not block comments.

[@user-hb2eq1sk7n]

@@FindingGinaMarie ive said three times now IMO, sadly justified by knowing the history...... wonder why it's deleting.

[@user-hb2eq1sk7n]

@@FindingGinaMarie I also said it was a sore subject.