Furutaka Mountain is located on Etajima Island which is 8km from the Hiroshima Ujina Port. Seventeen years ago this mountain was devastated by a sweeping fire, but a 1,000-hectare damaged area has been restored by reforestation projects among which130,000 cherry trees were planted by local people. Now Furutakayama has been developed into a beautiful forest park.

Etajima is also famous for its old Naval Academy. The students of the school used to run up Mt.Furutaka for training. This academy was opened in 1888 and closed at the end of World War II, but now it is used as the First Service School and the Officer Candidate School of the Maritime Self-Defense Force. The old buildings, made of granite and brick, have remained and are used as they were. Inside the Educational Museum, about 14,000 items are on display, including the letters to relatives and articles left by the young Kamikaze pilots.

◆Getting there

Take a ferry to Kirikushi port, Etajima, and walk up to the Furutakayama Forest Park on the paved road.

◆Suggested Schedule

Hiroshima Port(9:20)===(Ferry)===Kirikushi Port(9:45)----

---Furutakayama Forest Park(10:45)----Mt.Furutaka(11:45-13:30)---

---JMSDF Academy(14:30-16:00)===(Bus)===Koyo Port(17:00)===

===(Passenger boat)===Hiroshima Ujina Port(17:40)