is a good way to travel overnight, especially if you are able to find cheap accomodations, such as a business hotel. Yes, it may be a little hectic, and it might require some research, but this method carries two significant advantages: location and money. You will more than likely find good accomodations very close to a main train station in a smaller city, compared to a big city such as Tokyo, and it will more than likely be cheaper than hotels found in a big city. You could use the money you save to forward some of your luggage to Hiroshima using a luggage delivery service and take an overnight bag with you, which will make the journey easier.
As of March 2012, here is one way you could go about this from Tokyo: at 7 PM, leave for Himeji by taking the Hikari train and changing to a Kodama service at Shin-Osaka station. Once in Himeji (arriving around 11 PM) you can take a rest at Himeji's Toyoko Inn which costs as low as �5230 for a single room or �2990 double occupancy. At 6:54 AM the next morning, board the first bullet train of the day, a Sakura service, and you will be in Hiroshima by 8 AM. This trip takes longer than taking the overnight train and shinkansen connection as described above, but it is cheaper; you only have to pay for the hotel room, complete with your own toilet and shower.
By bus
Long-distance buses arrive and depart from the north exit of JR Hiroshima Station, where there is a JR Bus counter, and the Hiroshima Bus Center in the city center. There is service to and from cities in Kanto, Kansai, Kyushu, Shikoku, and much of the rest of Japan.
The New Breeze overnight bus runs between Tokyo and Hiroshima. There are two nightly departures in each direction: departing from Tokyo at 8PM and 9PM, with both buses arriving in Hiroshima at 8AM the next day. The trip costs �11,600 one way, �21,200 round trip.
There are two overnight buses from Osaka � the Sanyo Dream Hiroshima from JR Osaka Station and the
