Shukkeien: The Garden That Became a Refuge in 1945

Shukkeien was laid out in 1620 for the lord of the Hiroshima domain, and it is a *kaiyu-shiki* — a circuit or strolling garden, designed to be walked rather than viewed from one point.

The name means roughly 'shrunken scenery garden', and the concept is that the whole thing is a landscape in miniature: a central pond standing in for a sea, islets for islands, a valley, a rocky stream, tea houses positioned so that each turn of the path reveals a composed view.

The famous element is the Kokokyo bridge, a steeply arched span over the pond that appears in most photographs of the place. Walking the circuit takes about an hour at an unhurried pace, and the design rewards being unhurried — the views are staged for a walking speed.

Shukkeien is roughly 1.3 kilometres from the hypocentre. The garden was devastated, and in the hours after the bomb large numbers of injured people made their way here looking for water and shelter under the trees.

Many died in the garden. There is a memorial on the grounds and, during later excavation, human remains were recovered from the site. This is not signposted aggressively and it is easy to walk the circuit without registering it.

Some of the trees survived and are designated hibakujumoku, like those at the castle. The garden was restored and reopened in 1951.

It is worth knowing before you go, because it changes what a very beautiful place is. Shukkeien is not a quiet garden that happens to be in Hiroshima; it is part of the same event as everything else in this city.

The garden reads differently by season, which is the intent. Cherry blossom in early April along the pond edge; irises in early summer; maples in November, which is arguably the best of them; and camellias in winter.

It is open year-round and rarely crowded, which is remarkable for a four-hundred-year-old garden in a major city. Even in autumn it does not approach Kyoto's density.

There is a tea house on the grounds serving matcha with a sweet, taken looking over the pond. It costs little and it is the correct way to spend twenty minutes here.

The Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum shares the site and a combined ticket is available — a reasonable pairing on a wet day.

Shukkeien is a short walk from Hiroshima Castle and a tram ride or twenty-minute walk from the Peace Memorial Park, in the same northern pocket of the centre.

The natural afternoon is castle, then garden, then tea. All three are quiet, all three are outdoors or near it, and together they take about three hours.

If you have a single full day in Hiroshima and are also going to Miyajima, this cluster is what gets cut — and it is the part of the city most visitors never see. If you have two days, this is the second morning.