05/26/2026
Day 17 – Hiroshima
We stopped in Hiroshima specifically to visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. Unfortunately, our experience was disappointing—not because of the museum itself, but because of how overcrowded it was. We arrived around 1 PM and discovered the audio guides were suspended until 1:30 PM. In hindsight, that probably should have been our clue that the crowds would be significant, but we didn’t think too much of it at the time.
Once inside, the beginning was crowded but manageable. As we moved further through the museum, however, it became a sea of people, including hundreds of school children. It was extremely hot and packed, and at one point a young girl passed out, falling hard enough to split her lip. A few of us nearby helped her up, but she was clearly disoriented. What was most concerning was that staff assistance was nowhere to be found—it took 10–15 minutes for help to arrive, which felt like an eternity in that situation.
By then, we were frustrated and also concerned that if there had been a more serious emergency, people could have been hurt. We ended up leaving. Anyone who suffers from claustrophobia could have trouble.We really wish the museum used timed entry to better control crowd levels.
That said, the museum itself appears to be incredibly well done, and I think we would have gotten a lot out of it had it not been so overcrowded. If you’re planning a visit, I’d highly recommend a 2-night stay (we only did 1) and booking the earliest entry possible. The first tickets of the day can only be purchased online.
Before heading to the museum, we walked Hondori Street and had lunch at Okonomimura, a fun food hall made up of multiple stalls serving Hiroshima’s famous okonomiyaki—savory Japanese pancakes. The Hiroshima style is layered, while the Osaka version mixes everything together. It was a fun experience, and the okonomiyaki were very good! We had tried them on Miyajima Island, but in our opinion, these were much better.
