Sayonara Kyoto!

After five days in Kyoto, it was time to pack our belongings and take the train to Hiroshima. We spent the morning packing our clothes and our new treasures before taking a taxi to Kyoto Station. At the station, we bought bento boxes for the train ride.

Our train arrived promptly at 12:25 and we boarded quickly. We enjoyed our bentos on the train and before we knew it, we had arrived. We navigated out of the station and found the taxi stand where we were confronted with a lengthy queue. Japanese people love a line and I’m here for how orderly everything is! It actually didn’t take too long to get a taxi and we arrived at our hotel about 15 minutes later.

We unpacked our things and got our bearings before going to the Hiroshima Memorial Peace Museum. The exhibit began with a wall mural of Hiroshima a few years before the atomic bomb was dropped. In the next room, the walls were covered with a view of the “city” after the bomb. There was almost nothing left. Then, you moved into room after room of personal stories and found objects after the bombing. The story of children being killed or losing their families were devastating and I could only stay and read so many. It reminded me of being confronted with the human stories of the Vietnam War in Saigon and how graphic the imagery they showed was. This was similar as you were subject to photographs of horribly, horribly burned people. It was truly awful, but I believe that’s the point. You should feel awful.

One of the remarkable things was how quickly Hiroshima rebuilt itself after the A-bomb. In just a few years, they had created a new city, but, that being said, so many people suffered grave consequences of being exposed to radiation including horrific injuries, ailments, and leukaemia. The exhibit was comprehensive and emotional, and I’m glad to have experienced it.

After the museum, we went to the cenotaph and burial mound close by. We also went to the building that “survived” the A-bomb and has been left standing as a reminder. A bit of a heavy afternoon, but an important reflection on how history is viewed in the West versus the East.

Feeling like we needed to get out of the heat, we went to a local brewery, Hiroshima Neighbourly Brewing, and tried some of their beers while eating fried oysters (with orange tartare sauce - citrus is very big here!) and edamame. We looked through some supper options online and decided to try to get into a place nearby but the line outside looked way too long, so we opted for a cute place two doors down.

We were glad we did! We had some of the best pan-sautéed oysters in the most beautiful sauce - they were epic! We also tried tempura octopus (a winner) and tempura corn (delightful!) as well as teriyaki eel on rice. It was a great dinner and, once again, the staff was so nice!

We walked back to our hotel along the river, which was really nice, and then went for our free rooftop cocktail before calling it a day.Read more