We started really early today so we could get a direct Shinkansen from Kyoto to Hiroshima. It's amazing to cover a distance of 380km in 118 minutes but that's what it does. Japan Rail passes exclude us from the fastest (in the sense of fewer stops) Shinkansen but even with stops it's impressive. We could have done the trip in 96 minutes on the fastest Shinkansen.
The peace park and the peace museum at Hiroshima were incredibly moving and really do show in full graphic detail the full horror of nuclear attack. It's a cliché but I do think every world leader should be made to visit and understand this place, particularly if they have nuclear weapons at their disposal.
We got a tram out of central Hiroshima to the Miyajima area of Hiroshima and then a ferry (JR-operated so free with the JR pass) to Miyajima Island where we had a wander through some more old-style streets and visited the Itsukushima Shrine. It includes the famous floating torii (or gate). It was fascinating to see that there are muntjac deer all over the island and that they are extremely tame, being fed by many tourists despite the signs asking them not to.
A similarly efficient Shinkansen got us back to Kyoto around 9pm. We found a fun little Isakaya bar near our hotel where there were not actually any seats but we enjoyed standing around a bar watching a very skilled chef make us little dishes while we had a drink or two.
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