Hi, friends! This week, I’ll take you to see the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, Children’s Peace Monument, eat okonomimura, and of course – visit the fantastic MAC Bar! 🎌🎌🎌
If you like history, Hiroshima is a must-visit city when you travel to Japan. But what to see in this city besides the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum?
A LOT!
From the tear-jerking war museum, food hunting, and beautiful Miyajima Island day trip to a funky hidden Mac bar, Hiroshima is full of surprises! ✨✨✨
In addition, the inter-city transportation in Japan is easy. You can take bullet trains to almost everywhere, including Hiroshima. The bullet train price will be based on the distance.
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and Children’s Peace Monument
Once my group tour and I reached Hiroshima, we put our luggage in the hotel and headed for a walking tour.
Our local tour guide, Keiko, is the daughter of a Hiroshima bombing victim during the WWII, so it was even more interesting to hear how the history unfolded.
During the bombing period, her mother wasn’t aware of what happened in Hiroshima and came to the city. As a result, she was exposed to radioactive and years later developed some cancer.
Luckily, the Japanese government issued a lifetime health certificate to everyone who was affected by the Hiroshima bombing. So, her mother could get treatment for free and survive 🙏 🙏 🙏
Oh, I need to share this with you! Do you see the little girl sculpture above?
Tour guide: “Have you heard of Sadako?”
Me: “Yes! The ghost in the horror movie (The Ring series).” 😆 😆 😆
Thank God she didn’t hear what I said… Because the ‘Sadako’ she was referring to was a role model in Japan! Oops!
Sadako Sasaki was only two years old when the US dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. She was at home (1.6km from where the bomb dropped) and was blown out of the window.
Her mother searched for her and found that she was alright. However, they were caught in the black rain. Fyi, the black rain is a dangerous radioactive water, the colour is black and sticky, hence the name.
When Sadako was 11 years old, there were swellings on her neck and the area behind her ears. Not long after, there were dark spots on her legs (purpura – caused by bleeding underneath the skin).
She was diagnosed with leukemia and had around one year to live.
In the hospital, another patient who shared a room with Sadako told her about the legend of a thousand cranes. The legend said someone who folded 1,000 cranes will have their wish come true.
So, she folded 1,000 cranes using the papers that her classmates brought. When she ran out of paper, she would use medicine wrappings and go to other patients’ rooms, asking for papers.
“Delicious. Thank you,” Sadako thanked her mother for the rice tea dish. It was her last meal.
After her passing, her classmates raised funds to build a memorial for her and all the children who died from the effects of the atomic bomb 🙏🙏🙏
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To be honest, I had mixed feelings during the Hiroshima city tour…
Back then, Indonesians suffered a lot when Japan colonised the country, worse than during the Dutch colonisation period.
The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was an external factor that helped Indonesia, my home country, gain its independence.
The United States dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945. Then, the second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki on 9 August 1945.
On 15 August 1945, Japan finally gave up but tried to cover the news from the countries they invaded, including Indonesia.
But an Indonesian revolutioner, Sutan Sjahrir, managed to get this information. So, he persuaded Soekarno and Hatta to declare the country’s independence, latest by 17 August 1945.
So… I felt sad for the Japanese bombing victims but on the other hand, I was happy for my country’s independence. Gomenasai… I’m sorry that I felt that way…
After examining my thoughts and feelings, I concluded: where there is war, there will be grief.
🕊️🕊️🕊️ May there be no more war 🕊️🕊️🕊️
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Crying at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, Japan
Aah, I just realised that I haven’t uploaded a selfie or any photo of myself! But I didn’t take any… How could I smile and pose in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park?
Even at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, I didn’t feel like taking any photos except for the history-related items or photographs.
As the title says, visitting the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum made me very emotional, I couldn’t hold back my tears.
Warning: this blog section contains painful post-bombing photos and depictions
In the museum, you’ll see many photos of Hiroshima before the bombing, after the bombing, what the victims look like… They are very scary and sad.
Besides the photos, there’s also a simulation video of what the entire city looked like before and after the bombing.
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Many family members of the victims shared their stories and donated stuff that belonged to the victims to the museum.
What made me cry at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum wasn’t just the tragic photographs but also the story shared by the family members.
I wonder how it feels… Imagine one day you wake up, get ready, and are on your way to the office. You have things to accomplish or maybe plan to see someone after work.
Then, suddenly you’re gone – just like that. Worse, you experience excruciating pain before you die.
I still remember a man was searching for his son after the bombing. He kept searching when he heard his son call him, although nobody was around.
“I felt like my child was calling out to me from there.”
His intuition took him to an area and he started to search under the rubble. Underneath, he found the body of his son.
Ugh, recollecting the stories that I read at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum to write this blog makes me cry again 🤧🤧🤧
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A Hearty Japanese Lunch, Okonomimura, and Yakiniku in Hiroshima
Alright, I guess you’ve wiped out the tears.
Next, I’ll show you a cozy cafe near the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, where to find okonomimura, and a restaurant that serves yummy yakiniku (BBQ).
I don’t remember the name of the cafe, but it’s beside a souvenir shop. It looks like this:
My sister and I ordered the chicken nanban set meal and fresh orange juice for each, plus fish and chips. The food at this cafe was very hearty and delicious! My sister couldn’t resist to try its crepe 💖
Alright, it’s time for okonomimura hunting! I’m sure some of you have heard of okonomiyaki, but what about okonomimura?
Okonomiyaki is a popular Japanese street food. It’s a pancake dish, usually made of cabbage, meat, seafood + some toppings + some sauce, then topped with egg.
It may not have many carbs but quite filling because the size is big. If you’re a big eater, then okonomimura will fill up your belly!
Okonomimura is Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki. It contains soba or udon noodles hence more filling, if you want to eat as your lunch or dinner.
During my 14-day Japan tour with One Life Adventures, on my first day in Hiroshima, I had a chance to try okonomimura in a special place.
Believe it or not, there’s a building full of stalls that sell okonomimura in Hiroshima! I don’t remember the name of the building, but if you see these signboards, you’ve come to the right place.
You better come early because most of the time, all stalls are fully booked before they open! We were lucky to find this stall, the only one that wasn’t fully booked, so we could walk-in.
Aaand… It was Halloween Day, so we saw many cosplayers on the streets! It was a great coincidence that we were in Japan on Halloween Day 🤩🤩🤩
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The best costume? I saw a girl cosplaying as Sadako, the ghost from the famous The Ring movie! 😆😆😆
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Yakiniku Dinner and MAC Bar, Hiroshima
My 14-day Japan tour ended in Hiroshima. On our last night, my sister, Paula, Ebonnie, Adrienn and I decided to have a last Japanese meal together.
It was quite a last-minute decision, plus we were separated since we had the whole day free to explore the city.
After searching online for some time, my sister found a nice yakiniku (BBQ) restaurant, Niku-no Yama-kin.
“The yakiniku place looks good,” says Ebonnie, my new friend from Australia who works as a beer maker.
Then, Adrienn found MAC Bar to hang out after dinner. She said it had good reviews. All right, the plan was settled!
We met at the hotel lobby at 6:30pm and hailed a taxi to the restaurant. We were excited and couldn’t wait to eat high-quality Wagyu beef on our last day in Japan! 😋😋😋
Since there were five of us, we ordered two sets of mixed meat and its signature rice, cooked in a special pot. We talked a lot and got to know each other more.
Who would have thought that Paula could be so funny? Also, I got to talk more with Ebonnie and Adrienn. The environment, the company, and the dinner… what a great night!
But it was even more memorable once we reached MAC Bar. We walked a little bit, led by Adrienn and Google Maps.
“Alright, this is the place!” she said, stopping in front of an old building.
We saw an old neon sign with “MAC”. As we entered the building, we became even more curious about how great the bar was. According to the online reviews, it was great!
“I like this kind of bar, the hidden gem types,” said my sister as we climbed the stairs.
“Yes, I prefer this kind of bars to rooftop bars,” said Paula.
Once we opened the door, we were enchanted by the interior design, especially the music! This bar feels so different. Just take a look at the MASSIVE music collection behind the bartender’s table!
Even the owner looked funky, like a cool, old Japanese man who’s always smilling but you don’t want to mess with – a character from the movies!
Plus, he played really nice songs that we seldom hear anywhere. Or maybe they were old, nice songs? Anyway, it didn’t matter because the songs + ambiance + company made the day.
We instantly LOVE the place. I mean, how could you not love MAC Bar, Hiroshima? 🤩🤩🤩
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CLARA15
Click “Add Promo Code / Voucher” and enter CLARA15 when you checkout at onelifeadventures.com
Here’s the video tour that I took, so you can see more of the bar. The bar is small but it has a great atmosphere!
Alright guys, I hope you enjoyed our Hiroshima day trip!
We walked around the Hiroshima Memorial Park, saw the Hiroshima Memorial Peace Museum and the Children’s Peace Museum, ate okonomimura + yakiniku, and had fun at the MAC Bar.
Actually, I wanted to take you around Miyajima Island, but this blog post has gone too long and I’m tired, hehe… I hope you enjoyed reading it. Have a great week ahead! ☀️☀️☀️
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