We woke up naturally early today, around 5:30 am, however Caitlyn was not feeling her best after several izakaya stops the night before. We decided to get our bags packed early while listening to one of David’s podcasts. We said one last goodbye to our Osaka view from our room and made our way out.
We walked to the rail station and took the train to the shinkansen (bullet train) station to hop on the train leaving towards Hiroshima at 10:41. We got there nice and early as these trains are notorious for always being timely, and we have noted insanely fast turnover with only 2 or 3 minutes to get on or off at each stop. We arrived and Caitlyn decided that she wanted to grab something to eat for the ride, but David wasn’t hungry. Caitlyn grabbed a pork cutlet sandwich (carefully ensuring it was cooked this time), before our train arrived. In no time, we found our seats and were off. The ride was pretty uneventful, with sporadic views of passing towns and mountains interspersed between tunnels. The ride ended up getting David feeling decently sick, requiring an emergency Zofran.
We got off in Hiroshima, and started the process we know all too well of familiarizing ourselves with a new rail system. Only, the little Google icon we were seeing on our planned transportation was unfamiliar to us. We followed signs through the winding underground pathway until we found out that our transportation was actually via street car. We found our stop and waited a few minutes before our car #2 arrived. The street car stop was slammed, and when we saw that the next car didn’t arrive for 10 more minutes, made it our mission to get on this one. We were lucky to not only get on, but also were able to get seats. It was a short ride to our stop, followed by an even shorter 4 block walk to hotel Vista.
We arrived around 12:40 and found the lobby on the second floor. This was by far the most luxurious, pristine, beautiful place we have stayed so far in the trip. The lovely front desk staff helped us check in (early, too!! This is a first at any of our hotels so far), and sent us up to the 10th floor to our room. We were immediately surprised to walk into our room to see that we had entered a short hallway with 3 closed sliding doors. The first door to our left was a large shower room with a large bath tub and standing shower. The door to the right was a room with a toilet (with plently of room for long legs). The last door straight in front entered to a large room with a comfy bed (and 4 fluffy pillows!), a large desk, a sink, and a small corner couch chair with a side table. While in reality, this is a good bit smaller than a standard American hotel room, it felt like a palace to us compared to the compact rooms we had been staying at (and for a cheaper price, somehow). We opened the blinds to find a beautiful view that looked out onto part of the city. We decided to freshen up a little, and while very excited for our big day, we found it so hard to leave the “giant” comfy room. We eventually went downstairs, and on the way out, checked out the free amenities which was absolutely stocked with free toothbrushes, hairbrushes, loofah towels, and so much more. The front desk also had plentiful packets of lotions and face washes that they happily gave out for free.
After getting refreshed for the day, we took to the streets. Now without the physical and mental weight of our full bags giving us tunnel vision towards our hotel, we took in the sights of the city. Hiroshima has very similar vibes somewhere between Osaka and Tokyo. It had quite a few large buildings, pretty western in style, but lacked the bright lights and party vibes that Osaka had plenty of. Honestly, it kind of felt like you could have been dropped down into any western city. To be fair, most of the city is less than 80 years old, so there is a good reason for this individual charm that other cities have. We walked for a little before deciding we should grab a small lunch.
We stopped by a family Mart and David got a hot chicken cutlet and Caitlyn a hot habanero chicken. We ate these quickly at a table (good, but 7/11 does the convenience store food better).
We walked for maybe 20 more minutes through the blistering heat (thankfully not humid, though). While walking in a small side street, almost to our destination, we noted a small plaque to our left:
We were absolutely floored. This was the most nonchalant placement of such an enormous sentiment. We took a minute to look around and absorb where we were before continuing our walk. We eventually crossed a bridge taking us over to the Hiroshima Peace Park, which is where the majority of our activities today were located. As we were crossing the bridge, we looked to our right to see the remnants of an obliterated building with a tall skeleton of a dome, with support structure relatively in tact but no roof. We recognized this as the Atomic Bomb Dome, but tried to pay minimal attention to it now as it was on our list to visit up close later. Just over the bridge on the left was a large sign/plaque, so we went to check it out. It had a few pictures of Hiroshima before and after the bomb, and we quickly realized that the bridge we had just crossed over was decimated back when the atomic bomb was dropped, noticing that some of the support structure that the bridge sat in appeared the be the same (only part of the bridge to not be completely obliterated). The building the plaque was in front of was placed on the site of another building that also was completely destroyed. We already had goosebumps from standing at the hypocenter, but this kept the hairs in our arms standing straight up (this pretty much did not stop for the rest of the afternoon).
We kept walking towards our next destination, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, however we found signs for the Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims.
We went down a flight of stairs and entered and were greeted by a super friendly woman at the front desk, who offered Caitlyn a paper origami crane that she had just finished making. She told us that this is a free hall and pointed us on the correct path. We then made our way through a slow, left descending ramp moving us in a large circle. Along the descent there were plaques describing Japan’s progressive involvement in the pacific war, the dropping of the atomic bomb, the aftermath on Japan, and their strong desire for world peace with the eradication of nuclear weapons.
At the very bottom, there was a plaque describing that the descent was in a progressive counter clockwise circle, to symbolize going back in time to enter the main room, which held etchings of the visual representation destroyed city of Hiroshima, created with the same number of tiles as lives lost that day and since due to radiation and disease. Additionally, the names of all of the destroyed neighborhoods were etched into the wall under the mural. In the center of the room, there was a stone structure in the shape of a clock set to 8:15, the moment the bomb was dropped. Water was running down the sides, which was there symbolizing all of the pleas for water of all of the people who initially survived the explosion but were horrifically burnt and still exposed to such intense heat. We sat in this room for a while, trying to process such a representation of such horrific destruction of life, totally unable to speak.
We eventually moved on to the next room, which had a large mural lining the wall showing a panoramic view of the city ruins after the explosion.
There were numerous touchscreen devices along the walls which allowed you to search for first or last names of victims. From here you could see their birth and death date, age at time of the bomb, where they were when it exploded, and so on. Many victims were tied together such as families, and you were able to see what happened to their other members, along with photos of them individually or with their family. We spent some time typing in Japanese, Korean, and American first and last names (plenty of POW american soldiers and Koreans [many students] who were in Hiroshima at the time) so we could see some of their stories, before realizing we were running low on time before the main museum. We left this hall, awestruck and feeling quite somber.
We walked towards the museum, stopped at a few small monuments as well as the Eternal Flame and Cenotaph for A-bomb Victims monuments.
The sun was unbearably bright and hot on our skin, and while beautiful, the park had almost no shade anywhere, so we practically ran to the museum entrance. We entered the museum, happily paying the small entrance fee, and worked our way upstairs to the exhibits. The museum was designed with rooms along one unidirectional path, full of victims’ possessions, bombed materials such as fused bottles and bent and fused metal and concrete, as well as photographs and art depicting the event and aftermath. There were many stories going alongside all of these exhibits, too tragic to mention. We could have spent hours on end, reading every story, excerpt, item description, and watching all interactive displays, however, the crowds became unmanageable. We soaked in as much as we could, but were unable to do or see it all due to long wait times and poor flow between exhibits and rooms. After about 2 hours, we made our way back to the entrance. Reflecting on the experience, we both had the same sentiment; and incredibly powerful and haunting museum that everyone should experience, but with some changes to room configuration and crowd control, it would allow a better experience.
We walked the park a bit more, seeing some shrines that we were unsure of the significance (some seemed religious, some perhaps more of a memorial), before heading towards the Atomic Bomb Dome.
The building was fenced in with alarms, but still allowed for an impressive view. Literature posted all around the dome explains that initially many people wanted it destroyed as a dangerous structure and a bad memory of the bomb, but it was decided to preserve it. Thankfully, multiple restoration efforts have been made to keep it structurally sound to last an incredibly long time. It was extremely impressive, and a powerful representation of the destructive power of nuclear weapons.
Completing our sightseeing in the Memorial Park, we went to the Hiroshima Castle ruins, an ancient 16th centural castle razed completely in the bombing. At the entrance was a shrine which we popped in to quickly.
The castle was surrounded by a moat (as all good Japanese castles are), and looked just as authentic as Nijo or Osaka Castle. There were some old black and white photographs that showed the integrity (word for doing it the right way) of the restoration. We observed the fish in the moat, walked the grounds, and eventually headed into the multi story pagoda of the castle.
It had a small entrance fee, but the height of the pagoda made it seem like the views would be totally worth it. We were surprised to see tons of floors full of ancient artifacts such as armor, katanas, ancient building materials, and so much more. They had a no photography policy aside from a few fun interactive parts as well as thankfully at the top observation deck. We enjoyed our time working our way up the castle, with a nice break at every floor to see the artifacts.
The view at the top certainly did not disappoint. A 360° view on a stunningly gorgeous day. We took our sweet time looking over Hiroshima and snapping a few photos.
Eventually, with 15 minutes until closing, we headed back down and walked the grounds some while discussing our dinner options.
Wanting to try wagyu beef while in Japan, we did some googling and found a highly rated restaurant with affordable pricing and plenty of open reservations. We had issues with Google Translate navigating their site, so we opted to just head there knowing that they had tons of open slots online. We took our time, stopping by home for a quick refresh before heading to dinner.
We arrive and were quickly seated, picking out a set menu with 15 different items including tons of wagyu, noting that the pricing was much more affordable than the ones near Osaka. Our server was very kind, but when we asked “do you speak English?” She responded with “a little”. We did our best to ask some simple questions over google translate to make sure we understood the pricing and if we could share the meal, but she was confused with our translated Japanese, so she held up the universal “one moment” sign. A minute later, a man came up to us clearly ready to take on our questions and we ask “do you speak English?” To which he chuckled and said “no no no”. Holding in our laughter of the irony of our expectations of who would be replacing her to answer our questions. We worked to ask if we could share one meal, which we eventually got across, and he said was okay.
The first dish was a delicious simple salad with a vinagrette and simple vegetables. Being the first real salad in Japan, Caitlyn enjoyed it.
The next dish was 3 small appetizers: a roast beef in a sauce, a shrimp on toasted bread, and a rare steak sashimi. The roast beef had amazing flavor made even better with a vinegar soy-like sauce. The shrimp was delicious with good crispy toast under it, but hard to top after a bite of the roast beef. The rare steak sashimi was unreal and instantly the best steak we’ve ever had.
Next up, the server came over with a pot of hot coals that he placed in a hole in the table after removing a metal cover. This pot of coals slid into the table and became a grill top! Our next dish arrived, being two large slices of raw cow tongue covered in raw green onion slices, with a few pieces of raw chicken on the other side of the dish as well as a sauce and some wasabi for the chicken. With no instructions other than a brief mention in the menu to fold the beef over and cook one side, and no instruction from our server, we went at it blind. Caitlyn became the grillmaster, expertly folding and placing the tongue on the grill with a beautiful sizzle, followed by the pieces of chicken. We quickly removed the tongue as it was thin and cooked quickly, and later the chicken once it seemed cooked through. The tongue was incredible, and complemented nicely by the onion. The chicken was tender and tasty, but not much more special than cooking regular chicken breast meat at home.
They then brought a few slices of wagyu brisket for our first wagyu portions along side some thinly sliced raw onion. When this was placed down, the server warned us “very fire!” And made a whooshing upwards gesture with his hands. We had seen flames a few booths over and quickly put two and two together. We placed the brisket on the grill as well as the onions in the corner, and after 20 seconds or so, the intensely marbled fat began to melt down into the coals, causing great bursts of fire. We let that sear it slightly, and removed the brisket. Once the onion seemed charred, we removed that as well. The brisket was very tender with a delicious melted fat taste and sensation. It had great, strong, natural flavor even though unseasoned, and with a great chew. It was also delicious with added ponzu sauce.
The wagyu train was rolling, with the next dish being 4 different types of raw wagyu: Sirloin, tenderloin, shortrib, and Some other type of sirloin that we werent able to decipher. They also came with two large strips each, letting us both have a reasonable portion. The meat came with some lettuce to wrap it in as well as a fermented chili-style sauce to put with it. We will try to describe the meats, but it is difficult to put words to differentiate the steaks. The Sirloin was so tender, with tons of fat marbled throughout. It didnt have a strong flavor like the others we’ve had before, but was incredible. The tenderloin was even better with a delicious flavor and good fatty texture. The shortrib was also incredible, but we struggled to put words to this. The fourth was not quite as good, but still blows normal steak out of the water. We struggled to give more detail or to rank them, but 2 and 3 were above the rest and definitely our favorites.
Some unseasoned vegetables (eggplant, zucchini, mushroom, bell pepper, etc.) came out and were as expected.
Next was two shrimp and two pieces of squid. They both cooked remarkably quickly, and the squid was our favorite between the two.
We were then served an oxtail soup with a grilled onigiri (steamed rice pressed together), which had a nice, clean, yet subtle flavor. David enjoyed it more than Caitlyn, and actually thought that the grilled onigiri was the best part of the soup! It had an amazing charred flavor that was still retained even after soaking in a broth.
The waygu nigiri was so delicious and offered for such an inexpensive addition for more pieces, we decided to get one more each, as it was our favorite part of the meal.
Lastly, they brought us out two cute pannacottas in little shot glasses, which was very appreciated as we only paid for one meal and it usually comes with just one. We enjoyed this cap to our meal greatly, and thanked our server for his time and the delicious meal (David holding back the joke “everything was cooked perfectly”).
With our bellies full, and feeling very happy with our incredibly delicious meal, we made our way back to the hotel to work on our blog before heading to bed.
Caitlyns thoughts of the day: It was very interesting to see the approach that Japan took for all of its Pacific war and Atomic Bomb memorials. I wasn’t sure what to expect, coming to this city as an American, but everything was presented in a factual way with focus being on victims and how to move forward, and less around placing blame on any of the participants of the war.
David thoughts of the day: As I mentioned a little earlier, Hiroshima really does feel like any big city. It is strange thinking about this because it is obvious that this is because any historical value or charm was completely vaporized when the bomb was dropped. It is remarkable that aside from the atomic bomb dome, you would not know that anything ever happened to this city, but the vague vibe that it puts off is a strong reflection of this.
Steps walked: 16,823 steps
Miles walked: 8.00 miles
Bluming Travelers 