[aaron695]

Why would anyone visiting Japan not go there?

I have not met anyone who went that didn't?

If anything I'd say it's a cliché. There are a lot of bad things that have happened in the world that are ignored by euro centric thinking. This is not one of them.

[jpatokal]

Because it's a good 800 km from Tokyo, and 4 hours one-way even by bullet train. And because, A-bomb sites and Miyajima aside, there's not all that much of interest in the city of nearby.

On the other side of the coin, I also find it a bit odd to describe Hiroshima as a cliché. Quite the opposite, it's near-unique: Hiroshima and Nagasaki are the only cities ever attacked with nuclear bombs, and you can't get the experience of visiting them anywhere else.

[reustle]

Yeah 4 hours by bullet train, and $185 each way. Plenty of people haven't been there.

[dietrichepp]

Tourists would at most spend $267 for the seven-day JR pass.

[duhast]

Just as a reminder for people interested in buying JR pass: 1) not all trains all included (fastest Shinkansen Nozomi is not for example) 2) can't be bought in Japan 3) valid for 7/14/21 days from the first use

More info here: http://www.japanrailpass.net/en/about_jrp.html

[avar]

I went to Japan for 2 weeks and didn't go. I went for the food, the onsen, the city life, nature etc. I wasn't interested enough in their role in WWII to make the trip all the way down to the southern tip.

I think if I had 4 more weeks in Japan I probably still wouldn't go. I'm much more interested in say exploring Hokkaido & The Japanese Alps than going to war museums.