Andrew Zhao

Pedal to the Metal#

Our plan for today was to check out and head down to Hiroshima, where we would leave our bags at the hotel before taking our first day trips out to Kure to try the Japanese curry there, and to get dinner with our reservation in Hiroshima! We weren’t sure if we had time to swing by Miyajima since it was in the opposite direction but figured we’d give it a try. We figured a few hours in each area would probably be enough time to see at least a few things!

We started the day off pretty early, waking up and getting ready so that we could eat breakfast at 7:00 AM. Our shinkansen tickets from Osaka to Hiroshima were booked for 8:00 AM from Shin-Osaka Station, so we need to make sure we had enough time to make it to the station. We weren’t sure if the shuttle existed since it never came the day before, so we decided it would probably make more sense to just take another taxi instead of trying to walk to Osaka Station just to take a train to Shin-Osaka Station (especially since we didn’t have that much time).

We managed to find our train and rode the shinkansen for ~1.5 hours down to Hiroshima, where our next hotel was right next to the station. We dropped off our suitcases at the Sheraton Grand Hiroshima Hotel, and packed just our day travel bags before heading back into the station.

Kure, the Naval Port City#

We took another train down to Kure (~50 minutes), where I realized I left my portable battery in my main bag. To save battery I ended up spending most of the train ride staring out the window and enjoying the sun and the moment. Once we got to Kure Station, we stepped out and realized we now had to try and figure out which of the many bus stops we need to take to get to the right spot. It wasn’t super clear based on Google Maps but using Google Translate we managed to identify the general direction the busses were running in and luckily got on the right one. A 20-minute ride later we arrived outside of our destination, a small cafe on the 2nd floor of a building. My original intention in visiting Kure was because of Haruka Reset, a manga series where the author writes about experiences in Japan in the form of performing ‘resets’ (mentally resetting through taking a break to do something different). One of the chapters talked about going to Kure, which is a naval port that’s home to the JMSDF Museum, and is known for ship building.

The JMSDF or Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force is the official name for the Japanese Navy, formed after the dissolution of the Imperial Navy following World War II. It’s said that while out at sea it’s hard to keep track of the days, especially in submarines where the light of the sun doesn’t reach. As a result, the JMSDF has a tradition where they serve Japanese style curry on Friday evenings, to help sailors not lose their sense of time. Additionally, they put in extra effort to make the curry extra delicious as a reward too, to the point where it’s said to be the best curry in all of Japan. Because the JMSDF and Kure are so closely tied together, they’ve given special permission to a few restaurants in the area to serve ship curry, with each restaurant representing one of the ships. Apparently, it’s very popular to tour these restaurants as not only a Japanese curry enthusiast, but also Kancolle or Azur Lane enthusiasts! Some of the restaurants with ships that have anthropomorphized versions have a cardboard standee standing in the restaurant which I think is a cute touch.

That being said, we were standing outside of one of these restaurants, the one that Haruka in Haruka Reset visited, in order to try it out. Fortunately there wasn’t a line, likely because we were there slightly before lunch time, and so we got seated almost immediately. I noticed they also had a rack of coffee bean bags, so while we were waiting I tried translating them to see if I should buy some for friends. I got the Kuroshio Curry, which was exactly what I came for, and it was very cute cause it came with a little flag as well. I really liked it, I would say it’s the best Japanese style curry I’ve had, but I’m not sure how much of that is because we went out of our way to get it, but I definitely considered taking a day trip back later in the trip to come back! Jim thought it was good but he wasn’t as impressed.

After eating I did end up buying a bag of Columbia city roast beans for my friends, which I stuffed into my travel pouch. We wandered around a little while waiting for the bus back to the main area. While on the bus, we thought about what we wanted to do for the rest of the day, and decided that we could probably hit up one more spot in Kure before going to Miyajima for a couple hours.

My prior research had turned up the JMSDF Museum, as well as a shopping arcade named れんがどおり where we would be able to get Kure delicacies such as Gansu (Fried kamaboko) and Sempuku (sake brewed for the navy that’s very strong). We chose to explore the museum since it was closer to the station, and got to tour through a few floors talking about what the JMSDF has been up to post WWII, such as sweeping out old mines from the waters around Japan’s coast. The museum’s top floor caps out with a tour of a real Japanese submarine, where you can see what it would have been like and even peer through the periscopes. Although we had to use Translate to figure out what the displays were talking about, it was really interesting getting a peek into a fairly specific aspect of Japanese culture!

Afterwards we walked around a bit more nearby, and thought about trying another place nearby called KURE HAIKARA SHOKUDOU, which is a bit more touristy but very popular. It was extremely close the museum, but when we got there the line was still extremely long and we didn’t know if we’d have time so we decided to abort the mission and start heading over the Miyajima.

Miyajima, Home of Itsukushima Jinja#

From Kure Station to Miyamaguchi Station it took about an hour and 10 minutes by train. Once at Miyamaguchi Station we exited and walked down the street to the ferry terminal, where there were machines where you can buy ferry tickets for a round trip. With the JR Pass we were able to get the ticket for free, but we still had to pay an additional fee that goes toward maintaining the island. The ferry ride itself only takes 10 minutes one way, during which we were standing against the railing peering out across the waters. We could see the Itsukushima torii gate standing in front of the shrine, as well as the massive crowd surrounding it.

Once we exited the ferry terminal on the island, we were immediately greeted with a bustling plaza lined with shops. Tourists wandered every which way, and the first thing we did was get immediately distracted by a big sign advertising Miyajima oysters. So what else could we do but buy some tickets from the nearby vending machine and hand them to the cashier! The oysters were freshly grilled in the shell, and they were both huge and tasty! With our appetites sated we set off down the road to see the floating torii gate that we originally came here for.

There were a lot of deer walking around the island which was unexpected! They were walking around and chilling everywhere - on the beach, under trees, in the middle of the street, etc. It felt like you could come here and still get the experience you’d get at Nara, although without the feeding them crackers part. Hilariously one of the deer went up to one of the shops and pressed the button that opened the door, and walked in. Moments later it got shooed out by the restaurant owner, who lightly berated it while looking exasperated as if this happens all the time.

Further down we reached the front of the shrine, where the torii gate stands. It doesn’t actually float, in fact it’s secured quite well to the ground which we could immediately tell once we made our way through the crowds of tourists taking pictures. We waited our turn to also take some pics before clambering down to the sandy seabed. I think we arrived at the lowest point of low tide since the water had receded fairly far, and we were able to walk up to the torii gate to look around.

After taking pictures and wandering around a bit we walked up to Daishoin, the nearby Buddhist temple to check it out. We took a brief look around at all the carved statues, and admiring the view from the top before heading back down to walk through Miyajima Omotesandō shopping street. This area was really lively with people in every store looking at displays or eating food. We stopped by a few shops on our way through the street.

Miyajima Brewery, where we got a few beers named “Deer Beer”, “More More Lemon”, and “Momiji Lager”.

SAWAWA Miyajima, where we got some matcha warabimochi.

And one of the oyster shops where we got oysters with unagi on top! I wouldn’t say it blended together really well but they were both really good so it was just a decadent bite of food in general.

As golden hour approached we were getting closer and closer to running out of time to get to our dinner reservation in Hiroshima. Even though we were now somewhat full from eating we decided to start heading back to make sure we had enough time to get to our reservation. I personally love golden hour because of the warm glow that the light casts on everything, and the views as we left did not disappoint as the ferry approached from the direction of the setting sun. It was at this point that it really hit me that we were back in Japan just months after our previous trip, and while nervous about all of our carefully laid plans I was excited to see where they would take us!

Back in Hiroshima#

After the ferry it was only about 30 minutes by train back to Hiroshima, where we found the restaurant we had a reservation at. Or so we thought, but it turns out Jim had linked the wrong restaurant in our document, and so we had routed to the wrong restaurant entirely. They told us we didn’t have a restaurant where we realized the mistake we had made and apologized before going to the actual restaurant we intended to go to. At this point we were already pretty late, so they had cancelled our reservation but fortunately had a spot for us about an hour later. In the meantime we decided to walk around the area, where we walked down the street to follow the river to the Atomic Bomb Dome. Maybe because it was pretty late at night, but it felt unnaturally quiet around the dome, as if time had stopped still. The signs described the terrifying image of the atomic bombs falling from directly overhead and exploding, obliterating the surrounding area. The stark contrast between the ruined building and the modern city around us was a sobering experience, and after spending a bit of time reflecting, we continued our walk.

We walked over to Hiroshima Gate Park where a popup market with food stalls was celebrating beef with a large variety of beef dishes. We briefly thought about getting something before rememebering we had a reservation that we needed to hurry back to. At the restaurant we got two different okonomiyaki that were way larger than we expected, both Hiroshima style which is famous both in and out of Japan. We also got a beef tongue dish and a beef tendon in vinegar dish as sides. It was way too much food but all of it was so good we ended up stuffing ourselves, and we left satisfied. We walked back to our hotel where we reviewed the plan for day 3, then passed out.

This was also my second trip after starting to learn Japanese, and it felt like I was starting to get the hang of basic communication a little bit, being able to order food without English and also being able to navigate signs a bit better than before! I knew I had a long way to go still, but I was feeling pretty good about the progress I had made!

JR Pass Value after day 2#

Cost saved: ¥14,030

Time Travelled: ~5.5 hr

Not covered by JR Pass#

Cost: ¥280

Total Transportation Time#

Time Travelled: ~6 hr