When people asked me what I was doing in the Japanese Golden Week holidays (end of April to early May) I told them I was going to Hiroshima to see my parents-in-law. In hindsight I should’ve just said the latter part of the sentence because as soon as I say Hiroshima their minds immediately switch to images of the A-Bomb Dome, Miyajima, okonomiyaki and so on. Although there’s always a chance of experiencing some of those things which the 11th biggest city in Japan is famed for, it’s not really that kind of trip and more just about family time.

Spending time with the family doesn’t make for great blog content but thankfully I usually find time to go out and do a few things I think worthy of inclusion in a post like this. Maybe the best anecdote I have is our dog having a very messy sh*t outside Tokyo station just ten minutes before departure which caused some tense moments as I ran out of toilet paper when wiping his bum! Luckily there was a Japanese guy with a dog nearby (very few people walk their dogs in this part of Tokyo) who I had to ask for some toilet paper. Better than that, he provided me with a couple of wet tissues and I cleaned up the dog, got him into his travel case, went inside and got on the train with seconds to spare.

Thankfully the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Hiroshima was all fine and we arrived at my parents-in-law’s apartment where their dog Cocoa was naturally very excited to see us.

My wife arrived later that night once she’d finished work and the next morning we took the dogs to a local beach-of-sorts which is always nice but it does mean a lot of cleaning afterwards, particularly for Cocoa who loves to burrow into the sand.

It’s not a stretch that anyone really goes to but such a spit does offer some pleasant views given the right angle and an ability to cut out the eye-sore parts in pictures!

The return is usually not easy as Cocoa never wants to go back and lies down in protest refusing to move.

Life inside is easier and it’s always interesting to watch the dogs adapt to the other one being around the whole time.

Looking after them both can take its toll and my wife took a great picture of us three boys all crashed out on the sofa.

Seibuumetate Daigo Park is located next to Hiroshima Sun Plaza Hall (the home of the local basketball teams) and was a new location for us that my father-in-law took us to on the way back from somewhere.

The park’s centre-piece is an interesting Arc de Triomphe-style piece of architecture …

… and a Japanese garden with teahouse, pond and stepping stones which our dog surprisingly navigated more succesfully than anicipated.

That evening I popped along to the Mazda Zoom Zoom Stadium to see Hiroshima Carp against Chunichi Dragons in baseball. Having discovered last August that there was actually a second red Lawson convenience store I decided to pop in en-route to the stadium from Hiroshima station. As expected, it was a fairly substantial mix of Carp goods alonsgide the regular items.

As for the baseball itself, it’s still a sport I don’t really get even though I have been to about half a dozen games now. Still, it’s always nice to just enjoy the atmosphere especially for the so-called lucky seventh innings (seven is widely considered to be a lucky number in Japan) where balloons are inflated and then let off. The guy sat next to me kindly presented me with one. It’s certainly a good marketing ploy for selling such items each game!

In a region that is blessed with so many mountains, Kairoyama has to be one of the shortest at just 50 metres tall. For a morning walk with the dogs it’s a sufficient amount of exercise for all of us.

The views from the top were great with some proper mountains fringing the port and Seto Inland Sea area.

Later that day I went into the city centre by myself and passed by the Astram Line station part of Shin-Hakushima station which is a pretty cool-looking structure.

Hiroshima-jo castle seems to be the sight I see on most trips to Hiroshima but always from afar. Having visited it before I actually think that’s the best way of seeing it!

Just a stone’s throw from there is the recently built Edion Peace Wing Hiroshima. This football-only stadium (quite a rarity in Japan still) opened at the start of last year, and it is incredibly difficult to get tickets for the men’s matches but luckily the female team also had a game there making it far more accessible for the likes of me. More details here.

Down the road from the stadium is the A-Bomb Dome which was swarming with tourists so I didn’t hang about too long.

When in Hiroshima we tend to eat at home the majority of the time but later that night my wife and I had a rare dining out experience, and went to a local okonomiyaki place where we could watch the chef masterly preparing it close by. The taste was great too.

The final place of note we visited was Pikmin Terrace in Miyajima Service Area.

Such places are quite different to their British counterparts (known as service stations) as they are full of food stands and souvenir shops as well as dog runs and this one had a fair bit of open space to walk the dogs. There was also a large red torii gate with nice views of the Seto Inland Sea and Miyajima itself.

My original plan was to head back to Tokyo a day after the national holidays finished but my wife then decided we’d be leaving together a day earlier on the busiest day for travelling. We got non-reserved tickets for the bullet train and hopped on the first train we saw and were surprised to get seats (not together though) before realising the destination was only Shin-Osaka.

From Osaka we then got on a Kodama train as we could actually get seats but I never realised how slow this one is compared to the more modern Nozomi which takes about 2.5 hours and makes very quick and efficient stops at Kyoto, Nagoya and Shin-Yokohama only before reaching Tokyo. Of course Kodama is still really fast but it took four hours, stopped at loads of stations and often had to wait at each one for faster trains to pass. Still, we did get seats together which is far more preferable to standing up on a train you’ve paid good money for.

Click here to read ‘A Great Atmosphere For My 1st Time Inside Japan’s Newest Top Flight Stadium’

Click here to read ‘5 Nights In Hiroshima: A Local Retro Game Centre, Japan’s Newest Top Flight Football Stadium, A Great Value Meal, Live Baseball, A Splendid Waterfall, A Hidden Pop-Culture Cafe & Quality Family Time!’

Click here to read ‘Watching My Baseball Team At Home For The First Time In 9 Years!’

Click here to read ‘8 Days In Hiroshima: A Milk Carton Building, A Star Wars Cafe, Abandoned Stations, Snowy Hot Springs, Japan’s Best Value Meal, Train Trips, Waterfalls, Boat Race, Family Time & More!’