Our family stayed at the WFC in November 2007. I emailed the reservation via their website and everything went perfect. Be sure to download the directions. Follow them without interpretation. The Center has Internet access, great food, clean room and beds. What more can you ask for? I would recommend the WFC as a place to stay to anyone.

This cozy ryokan is hosted by Sarah and Kent who serve a great breakfast. But even better than the fresh fruit and homemade granola is the fact that the breakfast room is so small. This makes for friendly conversations and encourages sharing travel tips and making plans for the day.

If you don't mind sharing a bathroom and can carry your luggage up the flight of stairs, you'll feel at home here. Also, here's one place you'll want to splurge onn a taxi from the train station (about $15) and forgo public transport.

The World Friendship Center is a great place to stay if you are visiting Hiroshima.

The WFC is a little far from Hiroshima station, so beware if you have a lot of luggage. You'll need to take a street car plus walk about 10 minutes to get there. The WFC is within walking distance of the Peace Park.

The neighborhood is quiet. There is an excellent okonomiyaki restaurant right next door to the WFC and an SUPERB tempura restaurant just down the street.

Kent and Sarah, the couple that run the center, are very friendly and helpful. They provide a complimentary continental breakfast (which is delicious, by the way) and can supply you with advice and brochures about the city. They arranged for us a private tour of the Peace Park and a meeting with a Hibakusha (A-bomb survivor) without any extra charge. We needed to leave the center early to catch our bullet train and they were more than willing to wake up early to make us breakfast.

We had two rooms, one for four people and one for two (total of six people in our group). Each room had an air conditioner and comfortable futons.

The shared bathroom is kept very clean. Towels are available for use in the bathrooms along with soap.

The commons include a living room with a small library, a television and a piano.

The cost was 3500 yen per person per night. Very inexpensive. You can arrange your stay through e-mail, which is on their website (just google World Friendship Center).

I highly recommend the World Friendship Center for anyone looking for a place to stay in Hiroshima.

Thank you, Kent and Sarah, for the lovely stay!

LOCATION
Many people arriving here will catch the tram from the train station, it is only about 15 minutes trip, then a short walk. The actual location is in walking distance to the Peace Park and Memorials.

If you have about ½ hour you can walk to the city centre and it is quite nice. Be sure to eat some local cuisine, especially the okonomiyaki which is famous in this region.

We were greeted in a friendly manner and checked in. It was very casual and friendly.

ROOMS
There are 3 rooms upstairs and a shared toilet. There is a shared shower downstairs, and it is clean.
The rooms are Japanese style. There is not much security on each room, I think just a latch on the inside of the door, no key.
The rooms were very quiet, no ear plugs required.

BREAKFAST
Included is a breakfast in the morning that the hosts cook, it is western style. Which was pancakes, OJ, coffee, maybe eggs. It changes each day and they tell you the day before what it will be.
As this is cooked for personally for you and you agree on the time, I suggest that as a matter of courtesy you do not be late for breakfast, even if it is your nature/culture to be late.

Atmosphere
While this is a religious leaning place the hosts did not bang on about religion at all. We stayed here for 3 days and did not spend too much time in the house, there is so much to see in a short time. They provided lots of tips on where to go in the town and also gave us maps. They assumed that we would want to go to Miajima Island which was good, because I had thought that was somewhere else in Japan. It was great!
This is like going to stay at someone’s home. If you are in Japan for a long time it can be nice to have English speakers around.

Value
The cost is very cheap compared with hotels. 3,500 yen per person per night. There are no dorm rooms. There is a bigger room that is suitable for a family.