For this trip, my son and I used a low-cost airline, a.k.a. LCC (Low-Cost Carrier), for the first time. As a result, we had to depart from Narita Airport (Narita City, Chiba Prefecture) instead of Haneda Airport (Ota Ward, Tokyo), which is much closer to my home. It takes us nearly 2 hours by train to get to Narita Airport, but if you take a flight to Hiroshima opting for the budget carriers, all flights you can choose are the ones departing only from Narita, although the more expensive airlines, such as the “Japan Airlines” and “All Nippon Airways,” offer flights departing from Haneda. (It’s convenient for those who live near Narita Airport, though.)

We used Spring Airlines for this trip, and since they offer only two flights to Hiroshima per day (early morning and evening), we chose the early morning one.

Our departure time was at 7:15 a.m. In the case of LCC, you must complete the check-in at least 30 minutes before departure. This means that you have to arrive at the airport by around 6:30 a.m. at the latest! However, as I mentioned before, it takes us nearly 2 hours by train from home to Narita airport. So, leaving at 4:30 a.m. in the early morning seemed quite challenging. Consequently, we decided to move to Narita Airport the day before. This Airport is open 24 hours, and there are plenty of chairs and sofas inside the terminal and a tatami-floored rest area (free of charge). Additionally, there are many capsule hotels (=a unique Japanese accommodation option that provides capsule-like sleeping spaces with basic beds) and regular hotels within the airport and nearby, so there was no problem for us to stay overnight. Especially for tourists coming to Japan from overseas, capsule hotels might be a unique experience! In the past, capsule hotels were primarily associated with men, but it seems that they have recently been designed to be safe and comfortable for women as well (with separate entrances and accommodation areas for men and women).

For your information:
9 HOURS　→　https://ninehours.co.jp/

Well, after arriving at Narita Airport the day before and safely boarding the flight to Hiroshima departing at 7:15 a.m. in the next morning, we arrived at Hiroshima Airport a little after 9 a.m. It was quite early, though…

Upon arrival, since we had not had breakfast yet, we had a meal at the restaurant “Royal Host Hiroshima Airport.”
Afterward, we spent some time inside the Airport, and around noon, we headed to the bus terminal in the city by limousine bus.
By the way, Hiroshima Airport is not as large as Haneda Airport in Tokyo or Narita Airport in Chiba, and most shops are not open early in the morning, so you do not have many options to kill time. Maybe all you can do is sit at some free charging spots and surf the internet on your smartphone. (Laughs)

The limousine bus bound for “Hiroshima Bus Center” arrived at the bus stop in front of the terminal about 5 minutes before the scheduled departure time. After loading luggage and passengers, the bus departed right on schedule. There were many tourists from overseas on board as well.
It took us just under an hour to reach the Bus Center in the city from the Airport by this limousine bus. As soon as we left the airport, we noticed lush greenery along the road, with plenty of nature. But as we proceeded, gradually we saw more buildings, which indicated the approach to the center of the city.

About an hour after leaving the airport, we safely arrived at the ‘Hiroshima Bus Center’. This bus center is adjacent to the ‘SOGO’ department store which is located in the heart of the city, with the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park nearby. From here, it took us on foot about 10 minutes to ‘CANDEO HOTELS HIROSHIMA HATCHOBORI’, where we would be staying for the next two nights.

Although the hotel’s check-in time starts at 3 p.m., we had the privilege of ‘priority check-in’ since we booked directly through the official website of this hotel. (This means that we can check in before 3 p.m., as long as the room is ready.) Therefore, we visited the hotel earlier (around 2 p.m.) to see if our room was available, and fortunately, it was ready! Wow!!

After completing the check-in process, we headed to our room. This time, we had chosen the room with a king-sized bed called ‘Corner King,” which had windows on two sides, making it bright and cozy although the room was not huge.

The hotel has its reception and breakfast area on the 13th floor, and there is a ‘Sky Spa’ – a large communal/public bath with an open-air bath – on the top floor (14th floor). Since each room has a small bathroom (bathtub and shower), of course, you do not have to go to the Sky Spa, if you do not want to. Also, it seems that there are even spacious rooms with private spas in this hotel.

For more details, please check out the hotel’s website (English version) provided below.

CANDEO HOTELS HIROSHIMA HATCHOBORI
https://www.candeohotels.com/en/hiroshima-hatchobori/

We had a plan to go to Miyajima (Itsukushima Shrine, etc.) by ferry in the morning on the next day. So, on the day we arrived, we took advantage of the free time we had after checking in and went to the Sky Spa early to relax in the spacious bath. For dinner, I picked up two kinds of ‘Nori Bento (Noriben)’ from a seaweed specialty store named “KUROBEN” located very close to the hotel and enjoyed dinner with my son in our room.

Here are “Nori Bento” we had:
(Left) Noriben with teriyaki chicken
(Right) Noriben with grilled shio-koji (salted malt) salmon

They were really delicious!