Hiroshima, Day 7: Memorial Peace Museum

Hiroshima had been recommended to us by our Japanese friends as a place we had to visit.

Genbaku Dome, Hiroshima

 

1- Hotel

 

From Kyoto, getting to Hiroshima is easy and fast with the Shinkansen. We chose to stay at the Hotel Granvia Hiroshima.

It took us a couple of minutes to get off the train station,the indications were not very clear, but once we made it to the right exit, the hotel was only few steps away.

We chose it because it was well located and reasonably priced.

The room was not too small, very clean and the bed was comfy. The hotel staff was extremely nice and the view from our room was a good point.

Granvia Hiroshima was a perfect option for our one-night stay in Hiroshima!

Our room at the Hotel Granvia Hiroshima

 

2- Restaurants

 

Hiroshima is the hometown of okonomiyaki,Japanese pancakes. One of my friends introduced me to this delish specialty in Paris (restaurant Aki, Rue Saint Anne) but they are prepared a different way here. There is much more cabbage and noodles in the pancake. These ingredients make it much bigger and fulfilling.

We tried two different places:

– Okonominura: this place is huge! Imagine a building filled exclusively with okonomiyaki places!!!! We had no recommendation so we just stopped at one that looked busy with locals. There was an extensive English menu: you can have veggie, with poultry or seafood. You can also choose various toppings. The ladies cook your dish  in front of you: we loved watching them while sipping our Asahi!

Okonomimura

Okonomimura

Okonomimura

Okonomimura

- Nagataya: this restaurant has a great ranking on tripadvisor which is well deserved! We went there for lunch after visiting the memorial museum. It is very close. There were many people on the line as we got there by noon. We had to wait approximatively 20 minutes and had a sit at the bar.

We really loved it! The dressing they put on the top is sooo good! I hope you get to try okonomiyaki when you go there.

As you can see on the picture below, you eat directly on the heating table, so your okonomiyaki stays warm during all your meal!

 

Nagataya, Hiroshima

 

3- Activities

 

I didn’t know what to expect from Hiroshima, I think I never saw a picture of the city. So as we got there and did our first night walk, we were blown away by the architecture. To me, Hiroshima is a perfect illustration of the phoenix rising from its ashes.

Hiroshima actually reminded me of Midtown neighborhood in New York: I really enjoyed wandering the streets of this incredible city.

Besides the skyscrapers, we also walked until the Genbaku Dome and the Castle.

Genbaku Dome

Hiroshima Castle

Genbaku Dome

We also visited the Memorial Peace Museum. Usually there are guided tours but from what we understood, the guide was sick the day we went there. So we rented and audio-guide which explains step by step all the main points of the museum.

Visiting this place enabled me to analyse a situation from two points of view. In France, we are taught about the nuclear bomb at school but we do not get information on how and why this happened.

I will not start a debate here since it’s not the point of this blog 🙂 I just want to share with you that everything I saw made me reconsider things about power and manipulation.

If I had to replan my trip, I would spend extra time in this city. My advise would definitely be to go there.

Memorial Peace Museum, Hiroshima

 

 

Our next stop is Miyajima! You can read our article here!

To check our trip at a glance, go here.