The day started bright and early as we rode the bullet train to Hiroshima. A trip that would be 5 hours by car is cut right through by an hour and a half on the train! I certainly appreciated the extra Z’s that I caught on that thing. This whole week has just been so tiring.

After disembarking, we were quite hungry, so our first stop was a small building with a few restaurants nestled in the Hiroshima Gate Park. I and a few others decided to go with Shimauma Burger. Their main burger boasting Awaji beef topped with a deep-fried ring of Awaji onions was calling my name (Well, calling around 6 of ours’ names. We were all curious!) It was such a hard burger to handle in terms of cleanliness, but in my opinion, the mess was totally worth it. And don’t get me started on their DIY soda system – you dispense a soda extract and then add the carbonated water yourself. Never had a fresher, fizzier soda before! I gotta say peach soda is one of my favorite flavors that I can’t seem to find anywhere else!

After calming down and readying ourselves, we took a walk around the A-bomb dome, where the horrors of history and impressive display of historic preservation left us in quiet contemplation. It’s needless to say that we all felt quite unsettled. (Oddly enough, we were the ones that had to shoot down the instructor’s idea of a group photo. Read the room, man!)

We also found certain monuments such as the Children’s Peace Monument and the Hiroshima Victims Memorial Cenotaph. They were beautifully constructed monuments, and the backstory behind them was even more heartbreaking.

Our next stop was the Hiroshima Peace Museum. Walking through the museum, seeing the photographs and remnants, and learning about the grim event, was a truly impactful experience. It’s hard to put into words the sadness you feel in your heart, but it’s an important part of understanding the history and the resilience of the city. I already didn’t support these bombings, but seeing the raw, unfiltered trauma that occurred that day just made me resentful of the times in high school history class where we had to debate that these were “necessary.”

Coming out of the museum, we all ended up wanting to discuss the experience and some way to beat the heat, so we went inside to a small counter selling shaved ice. It was on the more expensive side for the treat (still only around 5 dollars), bit it was absolutely worth it. No cheap syrups, but instead pure delicious strawberry goodness.

As we continued our exploration, we stumbled upon a group of Japanese students. (Well, more like they stumbled upon us!) They were so friendly and excited to chat with us, which really warmed my heart. For it to happen right outside the museum, I think it shows how far American-Japanese relations have come and the mutual interest in understanding each other’s cultures. Peace perseveres.

Roaming around the streets of Hiroshima, we found a vibrant plaza and an amazing colorful mural. The street art here was something I found really beautiful. It was amazing to see the city thriving and full of life.

We then made a slight detour to Hiroshima castle. It was quite the sight with hundreds of yellow lanterns lining the paths and around the torii. There was something so tranquil about the whole place, and the giant koi swimming in the pond added to the experience!

The evening was rounded off with an Okonomiyaki dinner. Nothing says Hiroshima like its famous layered pancake! Mine was filled with noodles, cabbage, pork, topped with a delicious sauce, while I was also able to try some with cheese and mochi. It was unexpectedly quite good!

After dinner, some of us broke off to visit the Pokemon Center Hiroshima. As a major Gengar fan, I was a bit bummed that they didn’t have any plushies of him (Second try and still nothing!? I thought this guy was supposed to be popular!) In the end, I wound up buying a bunch of other goodies to gift my friends back home, and some cute little socks and accessories for myself.

Our return journey to Kyoto was quite the adventure. We got a bit lost, thanks to public transit, and ended up sprinting 30 minutes back to Osaka station. My legs are still giving me grief, but it was a mad dash we all found hilarious in the heat of the moment.

At the station were a station bento place, and a whole mini 7-11! Something I found interesting was how the sign on the left was spelt almost entirely in kyūjitai, old forms of Japanese characters. There’s no old form of the second character, but everything else was changed. Gives it a more traditionalist feel!

広島駅弁当　→　廣島驛辨當

Finally, we were on the Shinkansen, heading back home to Kyoto. Though it was a long and tiring day (nothing but the journey the whole day), the memories we made and the experiences we had were totally worth it.