Sayonara Hiroshima!

Just like that we are headed back to Tokyo! Our stay in Hiroshima has been memorable, but we had to pack up and take one last bullet train this morning. The ride from Hiroshima to Tokyo takes about four hours, but we are traveling over 800 kms, so the bullet train is the way to go! Of course we had to grab one last bento box for the train ride!

The ride itself was nothing to note except that our train moved exceptionally fast through the country! We enjoyed our bentos and relaxed until arriving at Tokyo Station. From there we grabbed a taxi and made our way to the Shinbashi prefecture of Tokyo, which is a different neighborhood than we stayed in at the start of the trip. We checked in to our very cute hotel and were pleased to see that it was very spacious - this is not really the case for most of our hotel rooms as space is at a premium. We got settled in and then decided to go to a new lifestyle concept where you can live, eat, and work, but they also have a lot of open public spaces.

First, we went to the food “lab” which is like a big modern food court, but more focused on the science of food. So, for example, there was a fermentation lab which brewed beer, but also made bread and pizzas. A chocolate lab tempered and made fancy chocolates. There was also a coffee lab where you could pick your beans based on different bean characteristics, etc. We got a table and I ordered an iced matcha while Brad had a black IPA. We also got a great little pizza to share. The whole environment was quite a chill vibe!

Next, we ventured to the Museum of Narratives. We paid to see an exhibit about the future and it was crazy. We went down into this subterranean level where we were asked to put on a headset. Then, we entered a room where an android was looking through a photo album, but the “memories” were projected onto a video screen. The android was very human-like and kept having emotional reactions to the memories being played (it would also make eye contact with you - crazy!). A robot led us through various rooms which unfolded a story about a grandmother who discovers (through use of a health-analysis mirror!) she is dying. Then, she has to decide if she is going to die naturally or if she wants her memories implanted into an android so that she can keep living! I won’t ruin the ending… but if you paid attention to the beginning of the narrative, you’ll know the answer. Anyway, it was like living through an episode of Black Mirror! It was intended to make us think about what makes a life and the future possibilities of continuing life. It all ended with a three-android performance and those androids were very lifelike as well!

Wild.

Anyway, you can also go to these “spaces” at the Museum where you can just chill. There’s a room filled with tatami mats; a room with bean bags; a room with a garden; outside you can go to a solar heated moat and put your feet in while looking at the Tokyo skyline. We’ve never seen anything like it! This futuristic vision of a micro-city was truly like peeking into the future.

Feeling the need to get back to the present, we took the subway back to our area and stopped into a very lively brewpub that used to be a print shop. We had a beer and shared edamame, chili fries, and shrimp and octopus in garlic oil. This may have been our least “Japanese” food day, but everything really hit the spot. It was a weird and wacky afternoon and evening in Tokyo!Read more