LVT: Hiroshima and Miyajima.

You’ll be glad to hear that this is a much shorter blog post than the last. Hiroshima was a whistle stop tour that we just about managed to squeeze into our schedule. Just over 24 hours we had to explore the city and Itsukushima (Miyajima) Island and we just about fitted it into that time frame. We left Kyoto early on Thursday morning and boarded the Shinkansen, otherwise known as the bullet train, to Hiroshima which Danny was very excited about. It takes only 1 hour and 40 minutes on the Shinkansen as opposed to just over 7 hours by bus; a little more expensive but a no brainer for those on a tight schedule such as ourselves. The Shinkansen travels at speeds of over 200km an hour but feels just like a normal train - only a lot cleaner, really friendly staff and a hell of a lot more leg room than that of East Midlands Trains.

Straight off of the bullet train, we left our bags in the lockers at Hiroshima station and got on a streetcar (tram) to Miyajimguchi Station to board a ferry over to Miyajima Island. The sunshine of Kyoto unfortunately had not followed us to Hiroshima and it was absolutely pouring by this point, but we were determined to just get on with it and not let it dampen our spirit. We wandered through Omotesando Street which is lined with food vendors and souvenir shops. Oysters are a local delicacy here along with maple shaped cakes filled was various flavours so of course we had to have some of both. Danny had an oyster curry bun which is basically a curry filled doughnut with two oysters stuffed in there for good measure. Curry buns are pretty standard around Japan and as strange as they sound they are absolutely delicious!

We went ahead with our plans to hike up Mt Misen despite the downpour and just powered on through. It is only a 2.5km hike but full on steep steps pretty much the entire way up, so slightly more strenuous than I had anticipated but totally achievable. About two thirds of the way up there is a gorgeous view out to the sea and of the rest of the island below but from the top the weather got one over on us and it was just a complete white wash of clouds, we even had a bit of snow up on top of the Observation deck. The wind picked up pretty quickly so we headed back down, via Daisho-in temple and back down into the main town for a couple more snacks and to see Itsukushima Shrines famous Great Torii gate - the “floating gate”. When we had arrived on the island it was low tide so there were people underneath the gate in the sand and it was absolutely heaving; but closer to 5pm and the tide had come in quite nicely and we could see the gate “floating” in all it’s glory with the gloomy sky overhead. I am really glad that despite the weather being a bit against us we still had a great time on the hike and could get some surprisingly good photos of the day.

We were absolutely sopping by this stage and so decided to hop on the ferry and train back and go to our hotel to check in. We had chosen to stay in a capsule cube as it really is something you should experience in Japan I think, and we really lucked out with this one. It was super cheap and so incredibly clean. Males and females have separate floors and you walk into a hallway lined with these little rooms with a concertina door. Once inside you have a little desk and a wardrobe with a lock and then a boxed off bed with a curtain. It sounds really stange but it was actually really nice. You climb into your bed and there is a light in there, air con, power plugs and even a tv with a headset connection to ensure peace and quiet for everyone else on the corridor. Not only that, but they also provided a basket with pyjamas, slippers, towels and all the toiletries you could need for your nights stay. All of this for around £22. Amazing!

Once we had settled in and dried off we went out for dinner to Hassei, an okonomiyaki restaurant that we had read about in our Lonely Planet Japan guide. Okonomiyaki is really popular in Japan. It is basically a savoury pancake with pork, cabbage, fish flakes and different herbs and spices topped with BBQ sauce and mayonnaise. I’m not a fan but Danny absolutely loves it. Hiroshima have a slightly different take on it. Instead of having everything mixed in together to make one big pancake, they have a thin pancake on the top and underneath and then fill it with cabbage, pork and either udon (thick) or soba (thin) noodles. Danny said it was the best okonomiyaki he has ever had. I had yakisoba which is soba noodles with cabbage and pork and BBQ sauce which was really yummy and super filling. The portions were huge and the prices extremely cheap, we sort of dropped into a food coma after finishing our meals and so headed back for a nice sleep in our capsule.

Friday morning rolled around and we treated ourselves to a lovely lie in. All of this walking; early mornings and late nights is starting to take it’s toll so we definitely needed a good rest and a recharge of our batteries. We jumped on a streetcar back to Hiroshima Station to put our bags in a locker (incredibly handy) and then onto another streetcar to the Atomic Bomb Dome. Japan may have some strange rules but if there is one thing they do fantastically, it is the public transport. Buses/trains/streetcars/ferrys - absolutely everything is always bang on time, super regular and full of friendly and helpful staff, we cannot fault it at all.

It didn’t take long for us to explore the main sights in Hiroshima at all. First was the Atomic Bomb Dome, followed by the Peace Memorial, Hiroshima Castle and Shukkei-en. I obviously knew the situation surrounding the atomic bomb attack but I didn’t know much about the dome itself. It has had 4 restoration projects between 1990 and the current day in order to keep the remains in good condition to remind the people of the destruction that nuclear weapons can cause. When you get to the Peace Memorial you can see the Peace Flame and the Atomic Bomb Dome through it. Everywhere you go in the city there is a reminder of the need of peace in the world through memorials, statues and the Peace bell. We read on one of the plaques that the thought behind the Peace Flame is that it will stay lit until a time when nuclear weapons are no longer something that is used.

We then arrived at Hiroshima Castle and through to Shukkei-en gardens where there were the most cherry blossoms we had seen thus far. They had completely bloomed and just covered theoutside of the castle and lined the canal, it was so so beautiful. I really hoped we get to see them in bloom in Tokyo too, we were just a little bit too early in Kyoto to get the best view of them. And just like that, another place on our travels in Japan is done. As I type this I am sat on the bullet train to Osaka ready for another quick city tour. We are planning on meeting up with a group of our friends from Niseko there so are super excited for that and to get to explore another part of Japan. Until then…