Something I’ll miss about Japan is Golden Week. Purely because I like getting a week off from work. This year, I went to Hiroshima and Singapore for Golden Week. I wasn’t exactly the smartest when making these travel plans, but constantly being on the go was very much worth it.
I spent only a weekend in Hiroshima and that was not long enough. I started off with a night bus ride from Tokyo to Osaka and transfered to a bullet train from Osaka to Hiroshima. In total, it was 10 hours of traveling but since it was overnight, I was only awake for getting on the bus, transferring to the bullet train, and arriving in Hiroshima. If you can sleep anywhere and are looking to save a lot of money, take the night bus. You have a seat a little bigger than a premium economy seat on an airplane, it reclines to the point you’re almost horizontal (still leaving leg space for the person behind you), and you have a ton of leg room. They provide slippers and a blanket for the ride. The only thing I would change would be noice cancelling headphones or ear plugs to cover up the snoring people on the bus.
Hiroshima is a beautiful city. A perfect blend of a new thriving city and still historic. There are plaques around the city of things that survived the atomic bomb. From the government building we all know from pictures, there are other things such as water pumps and a brick wall. I saw everything from the floating tori gates (miyajima) to the peace memorial and museum. The tori gates were pretty cool and when I went to the island, it was low tide so I was able to get close for a picture. The island also has a lot of deer like the city of Nara. Except these deer are a lot friendlier.
The Peace Museum and Memorial park is a reminder of what happened to the city during WWII and a memorial to those who perished from the bomb. There were a lot of written testimonies of survivors and their experience of the bomb. From losing a loved one to getting to safety. WWII sounds like it was a long time ago, but in reality, it really wasn’t. This museum was raw, sad, and depressing, however I think it’s important for people to go and see what happened.
Hiroshima is also famous for their sake. Take a 40 minute train ride from the city to Saijo and you won’t be disappointed. Some of the breweries have been around since the early Edo period. If they’re still around today, they’re doing something right.
Unfortunately (or not), I went on a holiday and the breweries aren’t open for touring which just leaves you with tasting all of them and buying which ones you like best. I usually don’t like sake, but I found all the ones I tried to be very good.
Along with great sites was great food. Fresh seafood for a decent price. Oystars, clams, scallops, things that would cost hundreds of dollars in the states, I got for a little under $10 in one meal.
There’s also Hiroshima style Okonomiyaki (Japanese egg pancake). I can’t eat it because there’s gluten in it and the Hiroshima style is made with a crepe like bottom. It looked delicious, smelled delicious, and my friends said it was delicious. It’s mostly egg with cabbage and you can throw whatever else you want in it (fish, meat, other vegetables, etc). So if you’re going to Hiroshima, get seafood, and Hiroshima style okonomiyaki.
I didn’t get to do/see everything I wanted so I guess I’ll just have to go back. 😁
