Okayama vs Hiroshima: Which for a First Trip?

The short answer

In Okayama, Okayama Korakuen, one of Japan's three great gardens, sits close to the black-walled Okayama Castle, and the old merchant town of Kurashiki is about 30 minutes west. If you want garden and castle strolls and slow walks along old white-walled streets, Okayama is a good fit.

Hiroshima is a city where the Peace Memorial Park and the Atomic Bomb Dome invite reflection, with Miyajima's famous torii in the sea an easy day trip away. If you want to face history and also visit a World Heritage island, Hiroshima is a good fit.

Best for: Okayama suits a short trip focused on a garden, a castle and old streets, and fruit lovers (peaches and grapes). Hiroshima suits travelers who want both the Peace Memorial Park and Miyajima, and anyone keen to try okonomiyaki and oysters.

• Full Okayama travel guide →
• Full Hiroshima travel guide →

From the airport, and getting around

From Okayama Momotaro Airport, the airport limousine bus takes about 30 minutes to the West Exit of Okayama Station for JPY 1,000 (children JPY 500). An airport bus also runs via the expressway to Kurashiki Station North Exit without intermediate stops (about 35 minutes, JPY 1,400). Extra buses timed to international arrivals are not on the timetable and leave a set time after arrival, so head straight to the bus stop.

Hiroshima Airport (HIJ) sits on hills well east of the city. The limousine bus takes about 45-55 minutes to Hiroshima Station for about 1,400-1,500 JPY. With a rail pass, you can also take the airport bus to Shiraichi Station and change to JR (roughly 1 hour to 1 hour 20 minutes including the transfer). The airport is far from the city, so check the limousine schedule in advance on departure day.

In both cities streetcars run and transit IC cards work. In Okayama the streetcar is a flat JPY 160 for adults with a one-day pass at JPY 400, and Korakuen is about 25 minutes on foot from Okayama Station. For Kurashiki, take the JR Sanyo Line. In Hiroshima the streetcar links Hiroshima Station, the Atomic Bomb Dome, Hatchobori and Miyajimaguchi; for Miyajima, JR takes about 30 minutes to Miyajimaguchi, then the ferry about 10 minutes.

How many days, and what budget

The guides suggest 2 to 3 days for Okayama (with Kurashiki) and 3 to 4 days for Hiroshima. The Okayama guide's plan covers Okayama Castle and Korakuen on day one and Kibitsu Shrine and Kurashiki on day two; the Hiroshima guide gives a day each to the Peace Memorial Park, Miyajima, and the Peace Memorial Museum plus a nearby day trip.

For budget, both guides cite the same Japan Tourism Agency survey on the same basis. Here are the guides' own words.

Each guide also lists its own figures. The Okayama guide gives item prices such as JPY 160 per streetcar ride, JPY 500 for Korakuen, JPY 800 for the Korakuen + Okayama Castle combined ticket and JPY 1,250 for the Bizen-yaki workshop. The Hiroshima guide gives daily budgets: about 8,000 JPY per day (business hotel, okonomiyaki, streetcar), about 15,000-20,000 JPY per day (city hotel, restaurants, Miyajima round trip) and about 35,000 JPY+ per day (Miyajima ryokan, set-course dinners).

• Okayama: According to a Japan Tourism Agency survey (2025), foreign leisure travellers visiting Okayama Prefecture spent an average of about ¥47,000 per person per visit (excluding travel between prefectures). Actual costs vary widely with itinerary and accommodation.
• Hiroshima: According to a Japan Tourism Agency survey (2025), foreign leisure travellers visiting Hiroshima Prefecture spent an average of about ¥45,000 per person per visit (excluding travel between prefectures). Actual costs vary widely with itinerary and accommodation.

Okayama: garden, castle and old Kurashiki

Okayama Korakuen was built about 300 years ago by Ikeda Tsunamasa, lord of the Okayama domain. Paths and streams link wide lawns, ponds and an artificial hill, and red-crowned cranes are kept here (JPY 500 for adults). Nearby Okayama Castle is nicknamed U-jo (Crow Castle) for its black walls, and at the Bizen-yaki workshop below the castle you can shape clay in the local pottery style (JPY 1,250, about 60 minutes).

The Kurashiki Bikan Historical Quarter is a riverside street of white-walled storehouse mansions, Western-style buildings and willow trees. Boats show the town from the water, and the Ohara Museum of Art, founded in 1930 as Japan's first private museum of Western art, is here too. After sunset the lit-up white walls are reflected in the river, so some visitors stay a night for an evening stroll. Kibitsu Shrine, linked to the Momotaro legend, has a corridor of about 400 m.

To eat: Okayama barazushi topped with Seto Inland Sea seafood and seasonal vegetables, demi-katsudon (pork cutlet with demi-glace sauce), kibi dango as a souvenir, white peaches from late June through the summer, and seasonal fruit parfaits.

Hiroshima: Peace Memorial Park and Miyajima

The Peace Memorial Park and the Atomic Bomb Dome, a World Heritage site, remember the 1945 atomic bombing and are places of remembrance. The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum's photos and belongings can be heavy going, and it gets crowded, so go early. Visit quietly and avoid playful photos at the memorials.

Itsukushima Shrine on Miyajima is the World Heritage shrine with the famous red torii in the sea. The torii stands in the sea at high tide and can be approached on foot at low tide, so check official tide times. From Mount Misen you can see the Seto Inland Sea islands. A visitor tax applies when entering Miyajima, and do not feed the deer.

In the city are Shukkeien Garden and Hiroshima Castle. The 1958 reconstructed keep closed on March 22, 2026 due to aging, so it can now only be viewed from outside. Day trips include the Kure Maritime Museum (about 40-50 minutes by JR from Hiroshima) and the seaside town of Onomichi. To eat: Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki, oysters in winter, anagomeshi, Hiroshima tsukemen and momiji manju.

Weather month by month

Both guides name spring and the autumn leaf season as good times: March-May and October-November for Okayama, and late March-April (cherry blossoms) and October-November (autumn leaves) for Hiroshima. Cherry blossom and autumn leaf timing changes every year, so check the official forecasts.

The figures below are Japan Meteorological Agency 1991–2020 normals, from Okayama station for Okayama and Hiroshima station for Hiroshima: average high / average low / monthly rainfall.

Hiroshima gets more rain than Okayama in all 12 months. June-July is rainy in both Okayama and Hiroshima, and of those months, July is the wettest month of the year in both cities. October-November gets less rain in both Okayama and Hiroshima.

The Hiroshima guide describes June to early July as the rainy season and July-August as hot and humid, and says typhoons in August-September can stop ferries and flights. The Okayama guide says August is hot with average highs of about 33°C, and December-February is chilly with average lows around 0-2°C.

• January: Okayama 10°C / 0°C / 36 mm · Hiroshima 10°C / 2°C / 46 mm
• April: Okayama 20°C / 9°C / 90 mm · Hiroshima 20°C / 10°C / 141 mm
• June: Okayama 28°C / 19°C / 169 mm · Hiroshima 27°C / 20°C / 227 mm
• July: Okayama 32°C / 23°C / 177 mm · Hiroshima 31°C / 24°C / 280 mm
• August: Okayama 33°C / 25°C / 97 mm · Hiroshima 33°C / 25°C / 131 mm
• October: Okayama 23°C / 13°C / 95 mm · Hiroshima 24°C / 15°C / 109 mm
• November: Okayama 17°C / 7°C / 53 mm · Hiroshima 18°C / 9°C / 69 mm

How to choose, and what to check

For a short trip of slow walks through a garden and old streets, choose Okayama; to see the Peace Memorial Park and a World Heritage island together, choose Hiroshima. Both are in the Chugoku region, but this article does not cover travel between them, so check rail companies' official information for routes and times.

If you are also weighing Hiroshima against Kanazawa, see our separate comparison.

• Entry procedures for Japan: check official Japanese government information before you travel
• Cherry blossom and autumn leaf timing: changes every year, so check the official forecasts
• Miyajima: check tide times and the visitor tax on official information
• Okayama Korakuen: tickets are not sold online; buy at the gate
• Okayama streetcars give no change: use a transit IC card or the coin changer

• Incheon → Okayama route info →
• Incheon → Hiroshima route info →
• Hiroshima vs Kanazawa compared →

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