Before the Second World War, Hiroshima boasted the nation’s first concrete train station. Today Hiroshima station is operated by JR (Japan Rail) West, and is a hub for local trains and the Shinkansen, or bullet trains. All Sanyo Shinkansen trains stop in Hiroshima. Local trains carry travelers to va...
Tsukemen is cold ramen-style noodles with a dipping sauce on the side. The version most popular in Hiroshima, typified by shops like Bakudan, uses an angry red, fiery dipping sauce that can be adjusted from relatively mild to idiotic. Many Hiroshima natives claim this as a local dish. Many peopl...
One of the most widely recognized structures in Japan, the brilliant red Otorii gate of Itsukushima Shrine stands in the sea about 200 meters out from the shrine itself. At high tide, the Otorii straddles the waves. When the water recedes, visitors stroll out across the tidal flats to press coins in...
Sake
Sake is one of the great pleasures of Japan, and despite some waning popularity in recent years is still regarded as the hallmark national drink
Sake is also called Nihonshu, which just means Japanese alcohol. The earliest written reference to sake comes from the third century AD, and the b...
Itsukushima Shrine’s Chinkasai Festival is held every December 31st, providing a show visitors are unlikely to forget. The festival is intended to protect both the Shrine and the town from disastrous fires, a real concern where, traditionally, close-set buildings were constructed largely of wood and...
The Peace Memorial Museum’s main purpose is to sustain the memory of the events of August 6th, 1945. In meeting that purpose, it features exhibits educating visitors about the buildup to the war and the development of nuclear weapons, the city both before and in the days following the atomic bombing...
Among other things, Onomichi considers itself a great food town. Given its location on the Inland Sea, the seafood is especially fresh and abundant, and there are a number of excellent sushi shops around town, especially along the harbor. A number of dishes, including tsuboyakizushi, are claimed...
Otorii gate in the sea before the shrine. A large wooden ball is placed on a platform and hung from the scaffold by ropes. As the festival begins young men, mostly from the island, enter the water wearing only loincloths. At a signal, the platform bearing the ball begins to swing, rise and dip crazi...
Fun with the Japanese Language
Most travelers to Japan limit themselves to a few travel oriented Japanese phrases and greetings. However, inevitably some will arrive with a more or less working knowledge of the language, or aspirations thereto, and that’s where the trouble can begin.
In the firs...
The original Mori Terumoto was established in 1589 by Mori Terumoto, with construction carried out throughout the 1590's. Also called the Rijo, or Carp Castle, it was long considered an exceptional example of the flatlands castle, and was guarded by three moats, one of which remains.
Beginning i...
One Coin Wonderland
Think Japan has to be expensive? Think again.
Need a professional wrestler’s mask? How about a new set of ping-pong paddles or a garden trowel? Rachel and Josh have you covered. One store, one coin, one of the best places to save money in Japan. The 100 Yen Shop!
When the...
The original castle was established in 1589 by Mori Terumoto, with construction carried out throughout the 1590’s.
Also called the Rijo, or Carp Castle, it was long considered an exceptional example of the flatlands castle, and was guarded by three moats, one of which remains.
Beginning in the ...
The largest city in the Chugoku region, Hiroshima might nevertheless be largely unknown outside Japan were it not for the events of August 6th, 1945. What is most remarkable about Hiroshima today, however, is the powerful testimony it offers to the strength and resilience of its people.
Most of H...
People in Hiroshima are proud of their streetcars, and will tell you so. The city is the last in Japan to maintain an extensive streetcar system, and many of the trains are old cars purchased when other Japanese cities discontinued or downsized their own streetcar lines.
The streetcar terminal is...
The Kangensai Festival is Itsukushima Shrine’s most important event of the year, with roots going back to Taira no Kiyomori’s reconstruction of the Shrine in the 12th century.
Kangen is instrumental music, as opposed to accompaniment for dances, performed on the wind, string and percussion instr...
