What to do in Hiroshima & Miyajima | 6 Must Try Travel Ideas

to come to Hiroshi no miss this place out would be a crime six years I've traveled Japan far and wide and still been building up to this moment piece of vending machine [Music] good morning guys welcome back to journey across Japan this morning we're in Hiroshima and we've got just one day to check out the city from the scenic beautiful island of miyajima to the most delicious okonomiyaki savory pancakes in the whole country now I've been really lucky to visit Hiroshima three or four times in the six years that I've lived in Japan and as well as being one of my favorite cities in the country to stand is 600 meters below where the point bomb went off and see the atomic bomb dome it's always a very kind of powerful experience for me and in fact if it wasn't for the a-bomb dome if you look around today if you look around at the tall skyscrapers the lucious Memorial Park people just enjoying themselves alongside the river if it wasn't for that dome it'd be hard to comprehend the scale of what happened here and for that reason I think the a-bomb dome is incredibly important to Hiroshima [Music] in another life the atomic bomb dome was known as the Hiroshima industrial promotion Hall built in 1915 to showcase artwork and educational exhibits on the morning of August 6th 1945 despite being just 600 meters beneath the center of the blast it's sturdy brick design was able to resist the downward force of the blast wave and when the dust settled was one of the last standing structures in the city after the war it was initially planned to be demolished however many thought the dome is a symbol of hope and in the years that followed instead the sprawling Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park emerged around it alongside the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and in the center of the park the peace flame which will remain lit until the planet is free of nuclear weapons the Peace Museum in particular is essential viewing visited by over a million people a year with photos and chilling testimonials from citizens that witnessed the devastation firsthand and regardless of your views on the use of the atomic bombs in World War two once he wandered through the museum's exhibits you'll certainly leave hoping the nuclear weapons never used again so guys throughout the last month and a half of this trip I've been joined by a variety of guests usually fellow youtubers and vloggers but today our next guest who's going to be joining me from Hiroshima to Fukuoka on the cycle is actually just a real person a friend from university who's currently travelling around Japan so let's go and meet her now good morning Ellen are you doing Obul handshake for someone I've known for nine years that's all for it so Ella and I lived together at university for two years and she's she's new Japan you're here for one or two weeks why have you met with me to exploit my friendship Oh free tour guide I exploit your friendship well you've got the best goddamn tour guide money combined it's for sure there's no question there so what's the first thing you want to do in Hirschman okay so the local dish in Hiroshima is okonomiyaki okonomiyaki it's a bit of a tongue twister it's a savory pancake dish bloody amazing let's go and get one right now away we go [Music] okonomiyaki quite literally means what you like and cooked a testament to the customizability of the dish something that's surprisingly rare in Japan where the chef always knows best the dish comes in two varieties Osaka and Hiroshima style with a few notable differences unlike Osaka style where all the ingredients are mixed together first you're not sure my style is far more chaotic in appearance I mean it looks like a fucking bag of ingredients just exploded all over the grill but unlike Osaka's premix pancakes here each of the ingredients that gradually layered on top of one another with a layer of fried noodles packed inside as well for me there's no contest I'm a hiroshima okonomiyaki guy through and through not only because the noodles add a welcome variety of flavors the best of all there's a theatrical quality to the dish there's no better way to work up an appetite than sitting before the grill watching layer by layer as the pancake slowly takes shape in front of you my only advice when choosing your base is probably avoid the organ watching are you finding it why is it in the UK I don't know basic I ask myself every day with pretty much most Japanese foods I think it's really popular in the UK so incredibly filling it doesn't look that much when it's right before you but there's so much going on in it and it does fill you up really quickly I'm a quarter of the way through mine I'm already feeling it blow Georgia's you know something's good if it uses a blowtorch it's a pretty cheap meal as well but you get a lot of bang for your buck with okonomiyaki it's about 700 yen this one was 900 yen because I put a load of cheese on it so tomato Hiroshima there's loads of places to get okonomiyaki but this is the best place by far Blue Orchid ami murder literally means okonomiyaki village and it's a little building it's quite hidden away on the third story of an unremarkable looking building but you go in and you feel the heat come at you first and the smell of it okonomiyaki being cooked there's loads of little stools and then there's cooking it people gathered around and I've been here about three or four times now I come every single time I come to Hiroshima and I go to a different one depending on how busy they are basically the quality's the same old them they're all bloody brilliant so to come to her awesome I miss this place that would be a crime I think let's get in the UK somebody if you're watching this in the UK bring this to the UK make it happen maybe you should do it maybe when you return for your trip so what do you think of the okonomiyaki Ellen I love it revelations also indigestion I feel absolutely stuff anyway we are now off to the island of miyajima it's one of the three scenic spots in Japan it's absolutely stunning have you seen any pictures of it now when it's gone about [Music] miyajima meaning shrine island is a 45-minute boat ride out the city and into the inland soon we're off to catch a view of the iconic giant torii game beloved by Japanese tourism pamphlets to world over before the Sun sets in a couple of hours the island is a great little gal wave with hiking trails beaches and perhaps best of all over a thousand friendly wild deer he'll quite happily eat all your worldly possessions [Music] so me on my island is known for two things number one the majestic beautiful its Kashima shrine number two deer deer the e-everything be careful because these deer do not stop they will eat everything you love everything you hold dear to you they will ha pom a deer pom not even intended a case in point they're now eating a hosepipe dear oh dear [Music] there's no better time to see its kusuma shrine than some say it's about 425 right now and the sun's just disappearing behind the mountain and the view is absolutely stunning hey Ellen you can sum up that year in one word what would that word be serenity serenity if you do come to me I'm sorry guys I highly recommend getting if about 2 p.

m.

and going up mountain is same it's a 500 meter mountain on the island and you can go up and get just an incredible panoramic view of the Seto Inland Sea and then climb down through the mountains and then just get here for the sunset there are like 2, 000 people around there right now but it doesn't get in the way of the fact that this is just one of the most beautiful sites in all of Japan given Hiro steamers the biggest producer of oysters in Japan it's not an uncommon sight to see yaki gaki literally grilled oysters sizzling away on street fronts across the island with the mouth-watering scent of the drizzled garlic butter and soy sauce rising from the grill whilst I'm not into raw oysters Maki Gaki are definitely worth a try after all it rhymes so it must be good nothing that rhymed ever harmed anyone they covered in soy sauce butter they smell fantastic duolan right oh I got you a little treat soon as I know you don't like oysters I got you some ramen a basically a soda pop drink from about the 1920s it takes me like lemonade but the real thing about Romney that makes it fun is the mechanism to open it and I'll show you how to do it except I won't because I've got my hands full so open it up we do this with and there it goes since the top of the cap if you're then and then you basically bang it and when you bang it hold it over the top tightly so it doesn't explode and that's how it works he's gonna take out our legs take go over there though so I don't want to get far thank you are you ready for this ready any watch hold it you have to hold it press it in okay this is baby you want something done later gentlemen do it yourself one two three there you go I did it oh shit and that's your toe thank you couldn't be easier the genius of Romney though those gentlemen and Ellen is this little ball bearing here so when you tip the bottle over no liquid comes out observe it's definitely not working as Jeff pours drink all over Mike was a trick that was invented this what prick who invented this he was a British guy living in Kobe in the 1800s of course it was invented by British person doesn't work also I don't think it's worth the fight together it's cool in a theatrical way I would just rather buy can of sprite next time and I'll have a drink explode all over my jeans and wipe my face you enjoy your first day in Japan yeah it's been great apart from the he's supposed to drink that was a little bit scary Oh Oh No good the oysters really good it's covered in sand oh no what is a stir this is Bing Oh my mouth is full of sound right now other than that I've really enjoyed our trip to meow it's been great from well we've seen exotic Islands blow-torched pancakes and hosepipe eating deer there's just one more cultural wonder we need to see up close before the day is out six years I've traveled to plan far and wide it's all been building up to this moment piece of vending machine I'm sorry two gimmicks I'd leave a comment below so you got two flavors margarita and full kind of cheap pizza they're pretty expensive though 980 yen for a margarita piece and that's a restaurant price so every restaurant quality which one do you want Ellen I think it does take few minutes like four or five minutes to cook those so I guess that's reassuring because you know it's not microwave if it does use an oven system waiting we've had a whole load of people come and get the pizza so I'm excited it we've had to key for this this luxury and look here's the countdown from 167 seconds [Music] there is guys and margarita pieces straight out of the vending machine 980 yen but it's a little bit bird unfortunately and it's not cut and we don't have any cutlery and we're in a car park it's not very convenient location for a pizza vending machine the one location they put a piece of any machine all Japan much stuck it in front of a DVD shop you can get your DVD for the night and your pizza only blockbusters still existed it would have been hope for their business yeah all right I'm gonna eat this little bit of crust it's really good is definitely not microwave this is definitely oven cooked it's very fluffy I would say it definitely tastes better than it looks yeah I feel like some sort of shitty King all my pizza for me peasant go the crust is really good I'll give it rust a 7 out of 10 the cheese is a bit feels a bit cheap look at the cheese or 6 I would give it a 5 because from the photo your expectation is so high and then even though it tastes good it's a bit disappointing to look at so is this how you expected your first day in Japan piece of any machines do you know what that's that's the beauty of Japan I didn't know what to expect so yeah why not best tour guide ever but for now guys that's pretty much it I don't know I gotta start cycling tomorrow to Fukuoka but for now no matter where you might be watching from out there in the big wide world we'll see you tomorrow to do it all over again yeah Pizza vending machines it seems everything we told you is alight there's a piece of cut box thing here look at that fuck they come with peace of cars a bit too late now.