Getting Around Hiroshima: Trams, Passes, Loop Buses and the Ferries to Miyajima

Hiroshima runs Japan's largest surviving streetcar network, and the Hiroden tram is how you'll do most city travel. The fare system could not be simpler: a flat ¥240 for adults (¥120 for children) anywhere in the city network, including all the central lines, and the same flat fare applies on the Miyajima Line out to Miyajimaguchi. Board by any door, tap an IC card on entry and exit (or pay cash to the driver when leaving), and you're done.

The fleet itself is half the fun — sleek modern Green Mover units share the rails with creaking mid-century cars, including a couple of 1940s survivors that were repaired and returned to service after the atomic bombing. Locals call the system a 'moving museum.'

The lines you'll actually use: Line 2 or 6 from Hiroshima Station to Genbaku Dome-mae (A-Bomb Dome, about 15-20 minutes), Line 1 toward Hondori and the port, and Line 2 all the way to Miyajimaguchi (about 70 minutes — scenic but slow; the JR train does it in 28). Trams run roughly 6am to 11pm at intervals of a few minutes in the center.

Hiroden sells a One-Day Pass for ¥700 (child ¥350) covering unlimited rides on the whole tram network, and a tram + Miyajima ferry pass for ¥1,000 (child ¥550) that adds the Miyajimaguchi-Miyajima crossing on the Hiroden-affiliated ferry. Both are also sold as digital tickets through Hiroden's MOBIRY TRAVEL platform — the digital version runs 24 hours from activation rather than expiring at midnight, which is strictly better if you activate mid-morning.

Do the math before buying, though. At a ¥240 flat fare, the ¥700 day pass needs three tram rides to break even — easy on a packed city day, marginal on a relaxed one. The ¥1,000 tram+ferry version is the sleeper deal for a Miyajima day without a JR Pass: tram to Miyajimaguchi (¥240 value), ferry both ways (¥400 value), tram home (¥240) already beats paying as you go, and every extra hop is free.

One thing that no longer exists as such: the old 'Visit Hiroshima Peace Pass' style paper products have largely been folded into these Mobiry digital tickets, so if an older blog mentions a pass you can't find, this is why. An ordinary ICOCA/Suica IC card with no pass at all remains a perfectly rational choice for most two-day visits.

The meipuru-pu is a tourist loop bus run by JR Bus that circles Hiroshima's sights from the Shinkansen exit of Hiroshima Station: Peace Park, the A-Bomb Dome, the castle area, Shukkeien Garden and the museum district, spread across three color-coded routes (Orange, Green and Lemon) with buses every 15-30 minutes and English announcements.

Fares are ¥240 per ride or ¥600 for a day pass — but the headline feature is that it's completely free with a Japan Rail Pass or eligible JR West regional passes; just show your pass to the driver as you board. If you're on a JR Pass, the meipuru-pu quietly replaces most tram journeys you'd otherwise pay for, and it solves the slightly awkward 2km gap between Hiroshima Station and Peace Park without a transfer.

Its limitation: it's a loop, so some return journeys go the long way round, and it stops running early evening. Treat it as your daytime sightseeing shuttle and fall back on trams (¥240) or a taxi at night.

Miyajima requires a short sea crossing from Miyajimaguchi pier, and you have two near-identical ferry choices: the JR West Miyajima Ferry and the Matsudai (Miyajima Matsudai Kisen) ferry. Both take about 10 minutes, both charge ¥200 one way for adults, both leave every 10-15 minutes from the same terminal building. The differences that matter: the JR ferry is covered by the Japan Rail Pass, and on daytime outbound crossings it swings wide toward the great torii for the classic photo approach; the Matsudai ferry is the one included in Hiroden's ¥1,000 tram+ferry pass. Pick whichever your pass covers; with no pass, take JR outbound for the torii view.

Since autumn 2023, everyone entering the island also pays a ¥100 Miyajima visitor tax, collected separately at the terminal (cash; ¥500 for a one-year pass; small children exempt). Budget for it and don't be surprised by the extra gate.

The third option is Aqua Net's 'World Heritage Sea Route': a direct 45-minute boat from the Motoyasu River pier beside Peace Park straight to Miyajima, roughly every 30 minutes from 8:30am to 5:30pm, at ¥2,400 one way / ¥4,400 return. It's six times the train+ferry price, but it links the A-Bomb Dome and Itsukushima Shrine — two World Heritage Sites — in a single scenic ride with zero transfers, and seats should be reserved rather than counted on at the pier. Worth doing once, in one direction.

Get an IC card if you don't have one — ICOCA is the local JR West card, but Suica and Pasmo from Tokyo work identically here. It taps onto trams, JR trains, city buses, both Miyajima ferries and convenience-store payments, and it removes all fare-fumbling from your trip. Mobile Suica on a phone works too.

Taxis are plentiful, metered and honest, with flagfall around ¥700 — fine for a late-night return or a rain dash, unnecessary otherwise. The city center is genuinely walkable: Peace Park to Hondori to Okonomimura is a 15-minute stroll.

JR Pass holders, here's your Hiroshima cheat sheet: covered — Shinkansen to/from the city, Sanyo Line to Miyajimaguchi, the JR Miyajima ferry, and the meipuru-pu loop bus. Not covered — Hiroden trams, the Matsudai ferry, the ¥100 Miyajima tax, and the Aqua Net direct boat. Structured right, a JR Pass day trip to Miyajima can cost you exactly ¥100 out of pocket.