Hiroshima Prefecture
The place
Six river channels divide the delta into islands, and the Peace Memorial Park fills the northern tip of one of them, facing the A-Bomb Dome across the Motoyasu River. The park is a place of mourning and of daily school visits, and we photograph in it accordingly: walking portraits along the riverside and under the cherry trees, never a posed or playful shot with the Cenotaph or the Dome as a backdrop. For a view of the Dome that is quiet and respectful, the Orizuru Tower’s wooden rooftop deck looks down on it and the park from 50 m.
The rest of the city is more relaxed. Shukkeien, a 17th-century strolling garden around a pond with a small arched bridge, is the best place in Hiroshima for kimono and pre-wedding portraits; Hiroshima Castle’s moat and stone walls are ten minutes’ walk away. Miyajima is an hour by tram and ferry, so the two pair well in one day. The centre is a densely inhabited district and the park bans drones; aerial work is possible only on private land outside the centre, with MLIT approval.
Before you go
Seasonal calendar
Typical peak windows. They move by a week or more from year to year; we check the forecast when you book.
Several rental shops operate around Hiroshima Station and the Hondori shopping arcade. Shukkeien and the castle grounds are the places for kimono in the city; inside the Peace Memorial Park, we keep to plain walking frames whatever you are wearing. A good plan is to dress in Hiroshima in the morning and take the kimono to Miyajima.
In the Peace Memorial Park, no peace signs, jumping shots or smiling poses in front of the Cenotaph, the A-Bomb Dome or the Children’s Peace Monument, and no blocking school groups laying paper cranes. Photography is restricted inside parts of the Peace Memorial Museum. Shukkeien allows personal photos; commercial or wedding shoots need prior permission from the garden.
Hiroshima is about 1 h 25 min from Shin-Osaka and about 4 hours from Tokyo by Nozomi on the Sanyo Shinkansen. From Hiroshima Airport the limousine bus takes about 50 minutes to the station. Trams run from the station to the A-Bomb Dome stop in about 15 minutes.
The spots
Here is where to shoot in Hiroshima, with the hours that work and the venue rules.
Lawns, memorials and a long tree-lined riverside walk facing the A-Bomb Dome. We use the riverside path and the cherry trees for quiet walking portraits and keep the memorials themselves out of posed frames. A family portrait here can carry real weight when it is done simply.
Light through the year
Cherry trees line both banks; the east bank gets morning sun, and the light is softest before 08:30.
Hot and busy with commemorations around 6 August; we schedule elsewhere that week.
A strolling garden built in 1620 around a pond with islands, a stone-arched bridge and teahouses. It suits kimono and pre-wedding portraits: the arched bridge, the maple corner and the pond edge each give a different frame within a few minutes’ walk.
Light through the year
Maples peak and the garden has evening light-ups on some nights.
Rainy days keep the garden quiet and the moss bright; the pond surface stays calm for reflections.
A modern building next to the A-Bomb Dome with an open-sided wooden deck on the roof, looking down on the Dome, the park and the city towards the mountains. It gives the context of the Dome without standing in front of it.
The rebuilt keep stands above a wide moat with cherry trees on the stone walls. The moat bridges give clean frames with the keep behind, and the grounds are rarely crowded outside sakura season.
Shoots here
These are booked from their service page; the photographer meets you here at the same price.
No travel charge
These come under the Hiroshima rate: the photographer travels out at no extra charge, and the shoot is priced exactly as it would be in Hiroshima itself.
Before you book
Yes — it is a living city of 1.2 million people. We simply shoot differently in the Peace Memorial Park: walking frames, no posing at the memorials, and the cheerful sessions at Shukkeien, the castle and Miyajima.
Yes. Shoot Shukkeien at opening, take the train to Miyajimaguchi and the 10-minute ferry, and plan the island around the tide table. We send the tide times for your date when you book.
Not over the Peace Memorial Park or the centre, which is a densely inhabited district. On private land outside the centre, with consent and MLIT approval applied for at least ten business days ahead, it is possible.
Next step
We reply within 2 hours, 9:00–21:00 Japan time. No deposit required to enquire.
