Marked indelibly by the first atomic bombing in history, Hiroshima today is anything but the nuclear crater it became on Aug. 6, 1945. After decades of thoughtful reconstruction and a series of “green” projects, this port on southwest Japan’s scenic Inner Sea has resurrected itself as the “City of Peace and Culture.” Hiroshima’s resurgence has also been accompanied by a new prosperity.

A few statistics underline Hiroshima’s rebirth from the ashes of World War II, when the bomb burned to the ground all the buildings and trees within a two-mile radius of the hypocenter. The city surpassed the 1 million population mark in 1985 and now reports 1,164,550 residents, with a per capita income of about $29,000. Foreign trade at Hiroshima Port tops $100 million, with more than 80 percent of that going to exports. North America is the leading destination of those shipments. The economy is currently growing at 4.4 percent annually. Heavy and light industry — from the production of ships and automobiles to the manufacture of athletic equipment and strongboxes — leads the way, although Hiroshima is equally renowned for its saké and mandarin oranges.

Today Hiroshima is the economic heart of the Shikoku and Chugoku regions of Japan. It is the global headquarters of Mazda and a leader in advanced technology enterprises, signified by the recent development of Seifu-Shinto, a research and business park with residences and offices. Hiroshima has resisted the brain drain to Tokyo while opening itself to foreign residents, most of them students and businesspeople. The city’s mild climate and picturesque setting — surrounded on three sides by mountain ranges with half a dozen rivers running into the nearby Seto Inland Sea — provide plenty of opportunity to sail, swim, hike and ski. There is an array of fashionable shops in the Kamiya-cho underground shopping center and the Hondori covered arcade near the Peace Park. International restaurants abound, as do fine regional spots serving the city’s trademark Japanese pancakes (okonomiyaki) and sensational oysters from the Inland Sea. The Hiroshima area harvests nearly 70 percent of the nation’s oysters, and the local chefs know hundreds of ways to prepare them, especially in winter when oysters are at their tastiest.

Some 10 million tourists visit Hiroshima yearly, including 300,000 foreigners, and Hiroshima’s famed streetcars carry 100,000 passengers a day. The primary draw is the Peace Memorial Park, with its memorials related to the atomic bombing. The Peace Memorial Museum receives well over a million visitors annually. Despite its grim circumstances, the park is a must-see, an emblem not only of war but of what peace can bring in its wake.

This former castle town is easy to survey on foot or by streetcar. Hiroshima’s collection of streetcars, new and old, stops at all the major sites, with announcements in English as well as Japanese. Shinkansen bullet trains blow in and out of Hiroshima daily, putting Osaka and Tokyo within a few hours’ reach. Newcomers will be put at ease by the English-speaking staff at the tourist information offices in Hiroshima Station South and the Hiroshima Rest House in Peace Memorial Park. For those who have come to Hiroshima to get some work done, the International Exchange Lounge beside the Peace Memorial Museum is the prime gathering point with plenty of international newspapers, magazines, a library and a quiet study room.

Hiroshima has been redesigned to lure international business and travel to its pleasant environs. Its wide, modern avenues are lined with trees and riverside parks. For oyster lovers, it’s sheer paradise; for tourists, Peace Memorial Park is a world-class heritage site. For all travelers, Hiroshima is the gateway to Miyajima, the fabled island in the Inland Sea where an imposing camphor wood torii gate (Otorii) rises from the sea like a phoenix — a fitting symbol not only of modern Japan, but of the ascendancy of a ne w Hiroshima.

LODGING

ANA CROWNE PLAZA HIROSHIMA

Just a five-minute stroll from Peace Memorial Park, this international-caliber hotel rivals the Rihga Royal and the Grand Prince in its range of services and facilities, which include its own shopping arcade, travel agency, beauty shop, spa and business center. The 409 guestrooms situated on 22 floors are among the city’s most upscale, each teeming with amenities.
The Crowne Plaza offers superb Western, Chinese and Japanese dining, especially at the highly regarded Atago, a modern teppanyaki steak and seafood emporium with an open kitchen.$$$–$$$$
ANA CROWNE PLAZA HIROSHIMA
7-20 Naka-machi
tel 81 82 241 1111
http://www.anacrowneplaza-hiroshima.jp/en

GRAND PRINCE HOTEL HIROSHIMA

Perched on the tip of Motoujina Park with a clear view of the Inland Sea, the 23-floor, 534-room Grand Prince has its own pier and jet cruiser with 30-minute service to scenic Miyajima Island. Its accommodations include business doubles, nonsmoking rooms, rooms for ladies only and two executive floors. With a business center, hot springs spa, bowling alley, travel desk and seven restaurants (serving everything from okonomiyaki dishes on the first floor to American steaks on the 22nd floor), the Prince treats its international travelers like royalty.$$$$
GRAND PRINCE HOTEL HIROSHIMA
23-1 Motoujina-machi, Minami-ku
tel 81 82 256 1111
http://www.princejapan.com/GrandPrinceHotelHiroshima/index.asp

RIHGA ROYAL HOTEL HIROSHIMA

You can see across the Inland Sea as far as Miyajima from the top of this 33-story tower, the deluxe digs most favored by foreign business travelers. Situated between Peace Memorial Park and Hiroshima Castle, this European-style hotel connects directly to a massive shopping mall. Rates are based on room size, with most of the 491 units spacious and 148 of them nonsmoking. The amenities are the best the city offers, as are the pool, sauna and health and dental clinics. Rihga’s staff handles the English language exceptionally well.$$$$
RIHGA ROYAL HOTEL HIROSHIMA
6-78 Motomachi, Naka-ku
tel 81 82 502 1121
http://www.rihga.com

DINING

KANAWA

This floating restaurant near the Sunroute Hotel serves heavenly oysters fresh from the Inland Sea. Set oyster lunches can be had for $28–50, while set seafood dinners run $63–136. Fried oyster with fresh lemon and shoyu dipping sauce, grilled oysters in shells and apple oyster gratin (cooked and served in the apple) are top choices. Nonsmokers should reserve one of the private rooms with portholes below deck. Waiters speak mostly Japanese, but there’s an English menu aboard that makes ordering a breeze.$$$$
KANAWA
Motoyasu River at Heiwa-Ohashi Bridge, 3 Otemachi
tel 81 82 241 7416

OKONOMI-MURA

This multi-storied urban village of stalls is where the artists of okonomiyaki, the Japanese pancake, put their creations on the line, and the people of Hiroshima, supreme critics of the pancake, swamp this building like a shrine. Choose one of more than two dozen counters at these tiny cafés, sit down, and the chef springs into action, paving the hot griddle with mix and layering it with cabbage, bacon, noodles, an egg and more. Two of the most praised counters are Sarashina and Chii-chan, both on the second floor. Okonomi-Mura is located on floors 2-4 of Shintenchi Plaza next door to the Parco Department Store. $–$$
OKONOMI-MURA
5-13 Shintenchi, Nakaku
tel 81 82 241 2210

RISTORANTE MARIO

Locals flock to this Italian legend on special occasions. Located opposite the Peace Memorial Museum, Mario’s has good set lunches ranging from $11–22, and a tasty set dinner for $27 that includes appetizer, pasta entrée, bread, dessert and coffee. The second floor features park views from its front windows and more lavish set meals for $45 that offer a selection of appetizers, main dishes of fish or meat and desserts à la carte. Book this one ahead, especially on weekends.$$$–$$$$
RISTORANTE MARIO
4-11 Nakajima-cho, Naka-ku
tel 81 82 248 4956

DIVERSIONS

Hiroshima’s most notab le sights are located downtown within a short walk of one another. From Hiroshima Station, it is a 20-minute stroll to Shukkei-en (2-11 Kaminoboricho, tel 81 82 221 3620), a classical garden in miniature that dates to 1620, and the Prefectural Art Museum (2-22 Kaminobori-cho, tel 81 82 221 6246, http://www1.hpam-unet.ocn.ne.jp), with paintings by regional artists and originals by European masters including Dali and Picasso. Hiroshima Castle (21-1 Moto-machi, tel 81 82 221 7512), faithfully reconstructed in 1958, lies close by with displays of Hiroshima during the samurai era.

Another 20-minute amble takes you to Peace Memorial Park, where the A-Bomb Dome (Genbaku-Domu) — the skeletal remains of the former Industrial Promotion Hall — has become an emblem of the atomic age. Among the memorials are a cenotaph, designed by architect Kenzo Tange, holding the names of all those killed in the bomb blast; the Flames of Peace, which will stay lighted until the last nuclear device is removed from earth and the heartbreaking Children’s Peace Monument with its 1,000 paper cranes symbolizing longevity. The main exhibition halls detailing the bombing and its aftermath are at the Peace Memorial Museum, familiarly known as the A-Bomb Museum (1-2 Nakajima-cho, tel 81 82 241 4004, http://www.pcf.city.hiroshima.jp/index_e2.html). From Peace Memorial Park another short jaunt puts you square in the rush of the Hondori Shopping Arcade and Hiroshima’s downtown shopping district. For a change of pace, drop by the Mazda Museum (3-1 Shinchi, Fuchu-cho, Aki-gun, tel 81 82 252 5050, http://www.mazda.com/mazdaspirit/museum) and meditate on the world’s longest auto assembly line (4.5 miles).

INFO TO GO

Hiroshima International Airport (HIJ) is 25 miles east of city center, with frequent limousine bus service to JR Hiroshima Station (48 minutes, about $12). Hiroshima Station is connected by high-speed Shinkansen rail service to Osaka (90 minutes) and Tokyo (four hours). Taxi fares run about $1.25 in the city, with no tipping necessary. The streetcar system is handy for downtown hops ($1.25, $5 for one-day pass). For more information, visit http://www.hcvb.city.hiroshima.jp/e_navigator/ or http://www.gethiroshima.com.