Ah, My first visit to the Hiroshima region.

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Previously…second part of Kyoto

Kyoto

This thing was supposed to wake me up but it ran out of battery.
Even though it was just sitting there overnight. Great.

I’m just laying here in total darkness because I can’t turn on the lights without it.
Reminder that this thing is supposed to be your room key too.
F U T U R E

Though without the alarm, I finally got a decent night’s sleep so oh well.

I would finish what I had planned for yesterday evening but it’s raining so…
There’s always next time 😜

Lobby area has a shared kitchen and a coffee machine.
I don’t recommend paying extra for breakfast. It’s just a sandwich.

Hotel also has an open-access roof for smokers.
I should have gone up to take some photos.

Work-area with fancy ergonomic chairs~
Only in Japan do people leave their valuables out in public.

Sound-proof phone booths too.

I give The Millennials Kyoto capsule hotel a 👍/10.
One of the nicest places I’ve stayed at and for less than £25 a night too.
They need to ditch that ipod though.

Absolute unit.

Good morning, Kyoto.

I give Kyoto a too-many-buses/10.
Everything is too spread out and the public transport is lacking.

I was looking at a street-sign map and an elderly man asked if I needed help.
Of course, he didn’t know where my station was because I got the name wrong 😅
It’s ok, I was only checking the board out of curiosity since I already have Google Maps.

>taking an escalator down into the station
>suitcase topples over while I was sorting out my umbrella
Good thing there wasn’t anybody below me h-haha…

This is one premium-looking bento.

Cute.

The thing I like about Shinkansen stations is that there are still souvenir and food shops past the ticket gates for you to browse while you wait for the train.

S H I N K A N S E N

Goodbye, Kyoto.

Went for a katsu sandwich instead of a bento this time and IT WAS SO GOOD.
It’s simple but the meat had the perfect tenderness, juiciness and oishiiness.
A refrigerated sandwich has no right being this good.

Had to change Shinkansen lines at Osaka.

Got this skewer in a konbini outside Fushimi Inari yesterday.
I just kinda forgot it was in my bag this whole time.

Oh hey, a flip phone.

Naisu timing.

Hiroshima

wtf I love Hiroshima now

I’m here. First time in Hiroshima…um, now what?

That’s an interesting-looking gradient.

That’s a butt.

I was checking out the schedules when a local guide asked if I knew where to go.
She told me to join this queue for a buses. I didn’t want to ride anymore buses…
You can tell they’re local guides by the funny hats.

Do I need to boop my SUICA? …no response. O-Ok then.
Sitting here, frantically googling if SUICA works in Hiroshima.
I only have a 10000 yen note on me and I’m not sure if they’re accepted on buses…

>first result
>"Page does not contain the word Hiroshima"
Then why are you showing it to me? Google’s algorithm gets worse every day.

Oh shit oh fuck it’s my stop. H-Here goes…it works! Almost…
Driver told me I should have booped my card before the doors had closed.
S-Sumimasen…

This is what greeted me when I stepped off the bus.

Wow, neat. A simulation game cafe. If only I knew Japanese.

Hotel Sunroute

Just a couple minutes walk away from the main road. I’m liking Hiroshima already.
Compared to Tokyo, Hiroshima simultaneously feels scaled down and more open at the same time.

2022 Update: It’s a Hotel MYSTAYS here now. Another national chain.

Wow. My first proper hotel by myself. I feel like an adult.

They upgraded my room for free. Guess it’s not a busy time of the year.
Um, what’s actually different compared to the room I booked? Maybe the bed is bigger?

Japanese bathrooms are nice. Poop-anxiety free.

Nice view. I didn’t realise how close the Peace Park was.

Quick corn soup break.

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park

There’s my hotel on the right. It’s right next to the park.

The Memorial Monument to the Victims of the Atomic Bomb Hiroshima Municipal Girls High School

This monument was built when Japan was still occupied by the allied forces.
They were forced to use the phrase E=MC² instead of directly mentioning the atomic bomb.

O-Oh…Museum’s closed…
The side building is still open at least.

Peace “Watch” Tower

The cogwheel device under the digital displays implicitly warns that human history continues to tick toward its end if nothing is done.
The device consists of 15 cogwheels lined up from top to bottom.
The concept is: the cogwheel at the top rotates 100 times per minute, but it will spin faster if the earth shows signs of being in danger. If it reaches the immovable cogwheel at the bottom, the clock will automatically self-destruct.

In order to stop the cogwheel from spinning, we must work toward abolishing all nuclear weapons and seek for an age of coexistence among humankind without dependence on military force.

The Peace “Watch” Tower reminds us to stop these cogwheels from rotating — reminds us to put our heads together to eliminate nuclear weapons, and reminds us to put an end to our dependence on military force, to live in an age of peaceful coexistence.

It’s only ¥200 to enter.

Cool display of an animated video projected onto a scale model city being annihilated.

Not sure how many exhibits I’m missing out with the main building closed but it was worth visiting.
I learnt a lot about the effect the bomb had on the civilians, something often overlooked.
Don’t bring the kids though. There were some very disturbing images.

Memorial Cenotaph
“Let all the souls here rest in peace for we shall not repeat the evil.”

The arch is positioned to frame the Peace Flame and A-Bomb Dome.
It also represents a shelter for the souls of the victims written underneath.

Peace Flame

The Peace Flame is kept lit until the day there no more nuclear bombs left in the world.

Children’s Peace Monument
“This is our cry. This is our prayer. Peace in the world.”

Dedicated to the child victims of the bomb.

These paper cranes are donated from all around the world.
In Japanese tradition, folding a thousand paper cranes will grant you a wish. Usually, the wishes are hopes of curing an illness. You see this anime quite often.

Sadako Sasaki.

Sadako Sasaki was a girl who died from leukemia after radiation poisoning.
Her story was even made into a novel called “Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes”.

Cenotaph for Korean Victims

There were more than just Japanese living in Hiroshima.

A-Bomb Dome

The only building that was left standing near the bomb explosion.
Now preserved as a reminder to future generations.

Dude, there’s grass growing on this tree.

Cat

Hiroshima Orizuru Tower

Visiting all the memorials really puts you in a heavy mood.
The Orizuru Tower, next to the park, has a more uplifting tone.

OKOMOKO donburi, Namachi chips and iced tea at Akushu Cafe

Okonomiyaki is one of Hiroshima’s regional dishes but this is just a rice bowl. I’ll be trying an actual okonomiyaki tomorrow. I got the Namachi chips because I was curious but it’s just salted crisps. I don’t often feel ripped off in Japan but the tea cost more than the main dish.

There’s a souvenir shop on the ground floor too.

wtf I love Hiroshima now

Turns out Hiroshima produces more lemons than any other region in Japan.

Cute

Going up to the observation deck.

It’s not Christmas but ok.

Foreign tourists get a discount but entry is still kinda pricey at ¥1000.

The way the mountains are layered makes them look like a 2D video game.

Oh hey, I was there.

The Aioi Bridge. The intended target for the bomb.

Photos of the observation deck itself will come later~

I tried

The staff had to step in when I got stuck on a step because I’m a baka gaijin.
Which is extra embarrassing considering I used to make a bunch of these during uni.

Good times - 2011

Write a wish on your crane and drop it into the pit of peace ^{(probably not the actual name).}

Kinda scary being in this narrow corridor with all the wind rushing through.

“Don’t be shy, feel free to take lots of photos! 😊”

They had a staff member supervising the corridor to make sure people don’t die.
I only took this photo because I felt pressured to.

Photo stolen borrowed from Tripadvisor.

My crane is lying in that pile somewhere.
I wonder how many years it’s going to take for it to fill up to the top.

There were more paper crane art pieces inside.

Waiting for sunset before taking photos of the observation deck itself.

Went to get a drink.
The english menu said “Hot Honey Lemon Drink” so I asked for a hachimitsu remon.
Turns out the japanese menu didn’t have the word honey/hachimitsu in it…
but the cold version of the drink does…

comf

The staff came over and gave me a blanket 😊

*zips up coat*
*sips ice cold honey lemonade*

Half an hour later…

Ooh, sugoi!

Pleasantly surprised at how pretty it all looks.

Image from https://www.orizurutower.jp

It was so barren in the promo images that I had a hard time wrapping my head around what I was even looking at.

Reservation only.
One day, I’ll sit at a kotatsu. Today’s not that day.

Comfy but also cold. Time to go.

“Sampo” SPIRAL SLOPE

They had slides all the way back down but split 1 floor at a time.
It was a pain getting on and off so after a couple of floors I walked the rest.

Wasn’t sure what to do now so I started walking in the direction of the hotel.

Downtown Hiroshima

🔞 NSFW images ahead 🔞

Nowhere is safe from the noise of pachinko.

Hiroshima is pretty compact and turns out the city centre was right next door.
Oh hey, a Yellow Submarine. Let’s check it out.

Miku is a fag now, or a…fmg.

These are your weapons of war for tonight.

All the ATMs here use the chonkiest key switches. I love it.

OHfuck I left my stuff on the konbini counter. 🏃 🏃 🏃 SUMIMASENNN 🙇 🙇 🙇

>If there's a Yellow Submarine, I wonder if they also have an Animate around here
Oh, they do. Guess this is how I’m ending my day.

Endro!~

Kaguya-sama: Love Is War

How do I get a job as a display decorator?

Is the Order a Rabbit?

Usagis alive and well.

One thing I didn’t miss about Japan is all the ear rape.
Trigger warning: vertical video.

This Animate shares their building with Melonbooks, C-Labo and Lashinbang.

Someone made a doujin photographing cats in different countries.

A doujin about vintage camera lenses.
Oh hey, it’s by the guy who commissioned this:

*snap*

There’s a vtuber section now. Akari seems to be the top bitch.

2Butt

Wow, technology.

>If there's a Melonbooks, I wonder if there's a Toranoana
Oh, there is. Better hurry, they close a lot earlier here than in Tokyo.

Hai, domo.

意地悪過ぎる女の子の射精管理遊び by トランスイノベーション

Struggling to figure out the concept for this onahole.
It’s like she pulled out something from the back of the fridge that had mutated.

I looked it up and it comes bundled with an instructional audio CD.
Your little sister forces you to fuck this disgusting blob while she makes mean comments.

Is this the dark souls of porn?

Is that…

…a motherfucking JoJo reference?

Iya na Kao Sare Nagara Opantsu Misete Moraitai

How do you go from this…

…to this?

Kawaikereba Hentai demo Suki ni Natte Kuremasu ka?

Oh hey, it’s that thing that got an anime announced recently.
You can tell by the long name that it’s a light novel.

Well, this seems very interesting.

I don’t know what a Kaguya Luna manga could be about but there it is.

I got excited thinking Anmi was doing porn but they just drew the front cover.

Comfy after-work hours.

Would you like to save your game?
* yes 👈
* no

Cracking open a cold one in the bath.

Woah, the mirror is heated so it stays clear in the middle. Technology~

I like how Google thinks I teleported off the map at some point.
A more chilled out day compared to yesterday.

Lüt

Lemon candy, lemon scent spray, milk jam, paper crane ornament and a Sylphy figure.
I don’t know anything about Desktop Army but this one is designed by BLADE so sure.

Man, I got the most unethusiastic cashier at Melonbooks. Gave me death stares.
Either I did something wrong or he must’ve been in a real bad mood.
Or maybe he just thought my taste was shit.

Toranoana gave me another clear file thing (bottom left).

Full list:

wingheart - Aquarium Girl 4
Mika PikaZo - Okite Book
VVORLD
Ayamy - REMxREMxREM
rurudo - Innocence
Morikura En - Winter Girl
Momoco - Sashimi Necoya 1.4
Harada Takehito - Yuusha Mushoku 1-5
ろうか - CuteGarden
DSmile - Misaka Mikoto Collection
NAMORI - ART BOOK VOL.2
Himura Kiseki - Tawawa 4
Himura Kiseki - Tawawa 5
Himura Kiseki - Tawawa 6
Himura Kiseki - Tawawa 7
40hara - IyaPan 3
40hara - IyaPan 4
40hara - IyaPan 5

Next time…up on a mountain on Itsukushima Island!