10 days in Japan - 10/29/2022 to 11/7/2022

Day 8- Ekinishi neighborhood, Hiroshima-11/5/22

Our hotel is about 10 minutes walk from the Hiroshima station and tonight we are headed toward the Ekinishi neighborhood where there are lots of restaurants.

The neighborhood close to Hiroshima is full of high rise buildings.

Hiroshima at night.

Panoramic view of the Ekinishi neighborhood.  Ekinishi neighborhood is about a 3 minutes walk from Hiroshima station.

Sandwiched among the high-rise buildings that are gradually taking over the area around Hiroshima Station, however Ekinishi is like a walk in old Japan.

Ekinishi's tiny maze of streets, shops were shuttered and the resident population dwindled. It escaped the developers and remained largely unchanged, preserved like a post-war time capsule.

Sunny Day beer is a very popular serving craft beer.

Attracted by the retro atmosphere and low rents, young entrepreneurs have been remodeling the tightly packed houses into cozy bistros, bars and boutiques alongside loner-running establishments.  Ekinishi is a must-visit for those looking for a fun night out in Hiroshima.

Ekinishi is all that remains of post war Hiroshima. After the atomic bomb flattened the city, many people who had lost everything moved to the area around Hiroshima Station to rebuild, and over time a maze of narrow streets and shops developed around the station.

Narrow streets with colorful lanterns.

This restaurant just opened recently as you can see a bunch of flowers are sitting outside the main storefront.

Bar 196 looks really cozy.  We wanted to come back the next day but we did not realized that most of the shops and restaurants in this neighborhood close on Sunday.

Ekinishi is best enjoyed by hopping from place to place, having a bite to eat here and a drink or two there.

Colorful store front.

Lots of small alleys...

Restaurants with menu posted in front of the entrance.

A tiny bar

Okonomiyaki restaurant

People sit around the large counter and watching the chef cooking.

Seems like a fun restaurant.

Okonomiyaki is know as Hiroshima's soul food. Oknomiyaki in Osaka and Hiroshima are not the same.  Here the ingredients are no mixed but meticulously arranged in layers, then fried and finally served with different sauces and mayonnaise.

A chef preparing to cook Okonomiyaki

On the left is the end of the alley and on the right is a mini car parked nearby.

We saw this restaurant and decided to check it out.

We saw a bunch of people grilling meat and it looks so enticing so we decided to stop here for dinner.

There is no sign in English so I used Google to translate and it said Wild boar, charcoal grilled meat

NEXT.... Day 8-Dinner at wild boar, in Hiroshima