#1. Hiroshima
Hiroshima, a modern city on Japan’s Honshu Island, was largely destroyed by an atomic bomb during World War II. Today, Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park commemorates the 1945 event. In the park are the ruins of Genbaku Dome, one of the few buildings that was left standing near ground zero. Other prominent sites include Shukkei-en, a formal Japanese garden, and Hiroshima Castle, a fortress surrounded by a moat and a park.
The Hiroshima Museum of Art presents paintings by European and Japanese artists, including Monet, Van Gogh, Fujishima and Asai. The city’s professional baseball team, the Toyo Carp, plays its home games at Mazda Zoom-Zoom Stadium. Hiroshima is a popular jumping-off point for exploring the many small islands of the Inland Sea, such as Miyajima, with the Itsukushima Shrine and its bright-orange torii gate that sits on stilts in the water. On Ikuchijima island, Kosan-ji Temple features re-creations of famous historic buildings from throughout Japan.