Hiroshima, Japan
You know what happened here before you arrive, and the Peace Memorial Museum does not soften it. Give that morning the space it needs, and do not plan anything demanding for the afternoon.
What surprises people is the rest. Hiroshima is relaxed, green and low-slung, with wide rivers running through it, and it eats better than cities several times its size.
The Dome
The building was almost directly below the detonation, which is why it is still standing. The blast came from nearly overhead, so the walls were pushed down rather than sideways, and the dome frame held.
It was left as it was on purpose, after an argument that went on for years about whether to clear it. It is now a UNESCO site.
Go in the evening as well as the day. The park is quiet, the dome is lit, and it is a different place without the coaches.
Okonomiyaki, done the Hiroshima way
Osaka mixes everything into a batter. Hiroshima builds it in layers, and the difference is not subtle.
A thin crepe goes down first, then a mound of cabbage, then pork, then a nest of fried noodles, then an egg, and the whole thing is flipped and sauced. You eat it off the hot plate with a small metal spatula rather than chopsticks.
Okonomimura is a building near the centre with floor after floor of stalls all making it, each with a counter of about ten seats. Pick one where the cook looks busy.
Squeeze Lemosco on it. It is a local sauce of Setouchi lemon, green chilli and seaweed salt, it sits on the counter of most okonomiyaki places, and it is the single best thing we brought home from Japan.
Also worth your time
- The streetcars. Hiroshima kept its trams when most Japanese cities tore theirs out, and a few of the carriages running today survived the bomb.
- Shukkeien, a garden laid out in 1620 around a pond, with a path that makes a small space feel much bigger.
- Designer resale shops. The best prices we found anywhere in Japan, and most stay open until eight.
- Oysters. Hiroshima Bay produces most of Japan’s oysters. Grilled at a stall beats fried in a restaurant.
Hiroshima was meant to be one night before the Miyajima ferry and turned into the city we most want to go back to.
