Back on a Shinkansen the next day towards Hiroshima. We arrived at lunchtime and made use again of the amazing facilities at the station. Most of the stations we’ve been to have large shopping malls/department stores attached to them with food courts and restaurants. I ended up having dessert for lunch. A strawberry sandwich cake with delicious fresh strawberries and strawberry sorbet. Absolutely no regrets.

In the afternoon we hopped on a local train to Saijo, which is famous for its sake brewing. There are several sake breweries (distilleries?) in this town, and most are open for tastings. As I mentioned in my Kyoto post, I’m not entirely sure I like sake, but I’m continuing to try it!!

Back to Hiroshima and to check in to the hotel before dinner. Hiroshima is famous for its okonomiyaki – the cabbage pancakes which I had at the home stay in Kawane. We went to what seemed to be an okonomiyaki centre where lots of separate vendors were serving okonomiyaki which is cooked right in front of you. It’s a great spectacle to watch your dinner being cooked. I was a bit worried about the large size of the okonomiyaki but I managed to polish it all off with a couple of beers.

After dinner we walked back to the hotel via the peace park and the A-Dome, which is lit up at night. The atomic bomb went off directly above the building now known as the A-Dome, which ended up preserving the structure of this building when everything else in the vicinity was destroyed.

We started the next day with a visit to the Peace Memorial Museum, a must-do in Hiroshima. We learned about the devastating impacts of the bomb on Hiroshima, and on the people who survived the initial blast who subsequently became ill, in some cases years afterwards. It was a very sobering visit.

We then took a train and a ferry to the nearby island of Miyajima, which had a ‘floating’ torii gate (certainly when the tide is in). The sun was out and it looked idyllic. Deer roam around the town and were stealing food so we opted for an indoor lunch – deep-fried oysters which were really good.

After some time wandering around the town and the souvenir shops in the afternoon, we got back on the ferry and train back to Hiroshima. A few drinks in a pub definitely catering to tourist groups, and then a delicious bowl of ramen to round off the day.

Another day, another Shinkansen. This time to Osaka. Again we arrived before lunchtime, and after dropping our bags at the hotel, we headed out in the rain to the Dotombori area. This area has restaurants and bars with slightly outlandish facades, it reminded me a bit of downtown Las Vegas. Gyosa for lunch out of the rain, and then a walk through Kuromon Market which has loads of street food stalls. Japanese street food etiquette is a little different to elsewhere as you don’t eat and walk at the same time, you buy your food and stand by the vendor to eat it and then dispose of any waste in their bin.

We also went into a gaming arcade and had a quick go at Mario Kart which was a lot of fun!

This evening in Osaka was the final night of the first part of my Japan trip. We had a lovely group dinner at a small restaurant and had a Japanese tasting menu – a kaiseki. So much food!! And it was all delicious.

We rounded off the night with karaoke – has to be done in Japan!

Next is was back to Tokyo to meet the much smaller group for the second part of my Japan adventure.