Big in Japan continues: HIROSHIMA

There was a lot of debate prior to our trip as to whether Hiroshima should be included in the itinerary, and I’m glad that the outcome was yes. It was one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen and had some of the best food I’ve ever had in a long long time.

Miyajima island

We first headed for the ferry terminal to catch a ferry to Miyajima island. I had no idea what to expect but it is a gorgeous island just off Hiroshima that boasts temples, shrines, the best oysters ever, and as many deer as there are people.

 Seriously the deer are residents of Miyajima as well, walking around eating paper and whatnot. A must-do for every animal lover, as the deer are very friendly and tame. Just make sure to keep paper bags, receipts, or anything out of paper really, out of their sight. They will eat it.

Our new friend Fred. Isn't he cute?

Miyajima is also mainly an island for walking since most of their roads are located further towards the back of the island and not really where the temples and shrines are. First stop is the shopping street of the island where you can find Kakiya restaurant, which has some of the best oysters I’ve had ever. It’s also a really small place but we managed to walk in without a reservation. It’s really affordable as well – a little cheaper than the unagi restaurant the night before and oh my oh my the money is so worth it.

Shopping street of Miyajima island

The chef at work in Kakiya restaurant. See the splatter on the glass? It's because when he grills the oysters they can EXPLODE.

Definitely try the grilled oysters! I had one grilled oyster on the side with my main being boiled oysters on rice. Sounds simple but it is delish. Also FYI I really hate taking pictures of food. It makes me feel like I am giving in to the Asian stereotype and that makes me very sad BUT I just had to on this trip.

I got the boiled oyster set with a grilled oyster on the side. So freaking YUM.

I've developed a lame habit of food picture-taking in Japan. This is a grilled oyster. Om nom nom.

After stuffing ourselves silly we walked through the Shinto temple and shrine and took some more posey pictures with the Sakura in full bloom. Ain’t it purdy?

The 5-storey Pagoda

Shinto Shrine

After strolling around for a few hours we made our way back to Hiroshima to visit the Hypocentre of where the A-Bomb hit and take a look at the Peace Memorial Park. This was a darker and sadder part of the journey but serves as a reminder of the type of destruction we are capable of.

To end the day we randomly ended up in this small teppanyaki place for dinner. I think it was called Hachiya Dining and is somewhere near the Peace Memorial Park area. If you find it, or can be bothered to look for it, I strongly suggest you eat there. I'll try and find the address or further details and edit this post later.

They don’t really speak English, nor do they have any English menus but they can understand ‘fish’, ‘chicken’, and ‘beef’ so they can easily point you to what you might like. Plus since it’s a teppanyaki place you can kind of see what the chef is cooking and just point and ask for it. The head chef is a really friendly young guy as well who tells you what the things are in Japanese. Definitely comes in useful.

Hiroshima is nothing shy of incredible and I was kind of disappointed to not have been able to spend more time in the Peace Memorial Park, but I guess it's just another reason to go back to Japan right? :)