After visiting the typical first time in Japan cities Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo, we decided to make our way to another part of Japan, one we’ve never been to before, and that was Hiroshima. I wish we had spent more time here because it’s a fascinating city with a lot of history. I am fascinated with WWII history. I recently discovered my grandfather’s uncle Sidney escaped the Holocaust via Russia and Japan, taking the boat to the US from Yokohama. He was one of the thousands of Jews who were granted visas for Japan at the consulate in Lithuania.
Unfortunately one of the downsides of travelling during springtime is rain. And we only had one half day where it was sunny and beautiful and then the day we left, which we left early that morning, the weather was nice. You can’t predict these things though and you gotta make the best of it. There’s a saying out there about how there’s no bad weather, just bad clothing. As much as I hate the rain, I won’t let it stop me from enjoying the day and seeing new things. I didn’t fly thousands of miles just to hide away in a hotel room or cafe.
This will be a short but sweet blog post since we were only here for a day and a half. Definitely want to come back and see more of the hinterland as well. I also wish I could have spent a whole day on Miyajima Island.
Miyajima Island: Deer and the famous Torii 🦌⛩️
Since it’s a long way from Tokyo to Hiroshima, we didn’t get there until late enough in the afternoon. I took a look at the forecast and it was going to be raining all day the following day. I wanted to see Miyajima Island, since that’s one of the most famous places in Hiroshima. You know that torii gate in the water? I wasn’t going to come to Hiroshima and not see that, it’s like going to New York City and not seeing the Statue of Liberty!
To get to Miyajima Island you take the tram from Hiroshima to Miyajimaguchi station to get the ferry to the island. Cost is really not that much considering the distance you need to travel. The ferry ride is beautiful when it’s a sunny day. Make sure you get there early enough if you want to go to the shops there since those close quite early, before sunset. So it’s not like Tokyo or Osaka where shops and stuff are open late. Wish we could have spent the whole day here, but I don’t think there were many options for vegans.
Like in Nara, there are deer here and they’re adorable, but they will try to eat your food so keep it safe from them! I had some snacks in my bag and I made sure to keep them away from the deer.
Of course, we had to see the torii gate in the water, Itsukushima Shrine Otorii Gate. Well, whether or not it will appear as it does in the famous photos depends on the tide. If the tide is high, it will appear as if it’s floating in the water. If the tide is low, you’ll be able to walk up to the torii gate, which is also a really cool experience!
Here’s a little video I put together. Of course I had to pick We’ll Meet Again as the background song because it’s the theme song of WWII, the first war to take place during a time when recorded music was common.
We made our way back to town. We decided to stop and visit the Atomic Bomb Dome, the remains of the Industrial Promotion Hall, destroyed when the Enola Gay (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark would make an anti-war song of the same name about it) dropped the Little Boy atomic bomb on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945. The US picked Hiroshima because it was an important logistics base for the Japanese military, communications, and as a port. Now, Hiroshima is known as the City of Peace. Near the Atomic Bomb Dome is Peace Memorial Park.
For dinner we went to a fully vegetarian Chinese restaurant called Keiai Vegan and Vegetarian Chinese Food. When I get Chinese food I always like to order family style and Eoin and I ordered a bunch of dishes, both mock meat and tofu with some fried rice and egg rolls. Prices were really good and we got a lot of food. Most dishes can be made vegan. Only thing you might need to watch out for is egg.
Hiroshima Castle and The Peace Monument
For our full day in Hiroshima, we decided to walk around the city. We went to Hiroshima Castle and saw the Peace Monument during the daytime.
For both lunch and dinner, we went to a highly rated vegan restaurant called JoGeSaYu. We wanted to go there the previous day, but it was too busy, which is a sign of how good the food is. I loved the dan dan noodles and tofu.
For dessert/snack, we went to the Orizuru Tower and on the ground floor there’s an organic cafe that serves really amazing rice milk ice cream. A local special cookie is this maple leaf shaped cookie, which is usually not vegan. The one served at this cafe isn’t vegan, but only because it contains honey, so if that doesn’t bother you, try it!
Until next time! Next instalment of this blog series will be about Kyushu: Fukuoka and Kumamoto.
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