These are our suggestions for anyone who is planning the travel to Hiroshima and likes “culture.”
After visiting the “royal road” of Hiroshima culture, such as the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, Itsukushima Shrine, etc., why don’t you go to some deep “culture spots”?
So that let’s make your sightseeing in Hiroshima more tasty and cultural.

It is about a 7-minute walk from the Atomic Bomb Dome and Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.
“READAN DEAT,” a store with both books and tableware, is on the second floor of a building along a street in Honkawa-cho where the tram runs.

The books and tableware you find at this extraordinary space will make for good memories of your trip.

>You can find a book to remember your trip by and also beautiful tableware at this bookstore, ”READAN DEAT”/Naka-ku, Hiroshima-shi, Hiroshima

“nice nonsense books” is located in Dohashi-cho, next to Honkawa-cho, and it is about a10-minute-walk from “READAN DEAT.”

There are not only the second hand books, but also old records,a collection which includes many of the owner’s favorite ones.

You can see that there are various genres of books – such as foreign books, photo-books, and picture books – filling up the shelves of this room.
Moreover, you can find some curios and cute miscellaneous goods in the store, so it is the good place to go for anyone who loves antiques.

nice nonsense books
Address／5-22, Dohashi-cho, Naka-ku, Hiroshima-shi, Hiroshima
Phone／080-4556-9987
Open／12:00〜16:30（13:00〜18:00 on Saturday）
https://nnbs.exblog.jp/
*Closing days are not fixed, so please check the blog or Instagram before you visit the store.
※blog→https://nnbs.exblog.jp
※Instagram→https://www.instagram.com/nicenonsensebooks/

Then for the next store, take a streetcar from Dohashi-cho.
After 9-minute-ride on the streetcar, you will arrive at the secondhand bookstore “Hon-to-Jiyu (Books and Liberty)” on the Yokogawa Shopping Street, which has the atmosphere of a traditional working-class neighborhood and an underground touch.

The gallery space inside of the store holds some exhibition by artists, live music shows, and so on.
Also, you can have a drink at a bar counter there.

Hon-to-Jiyu
Address／3-4-14, Yokogawa-cho, Nishi-ku, Hiroshima-shi, Hiroshima
Phone／082-233-9239
Open／14:00～23:00
*The opening time differs from day to day, so please check it on Facebook.
Closed／Mondays
Facebook page

Walk 6 minutes from “Hon-to-Jiyu,” and you will find “gallery + café Kamome-no-Baabaa” (Baabaa, the Seagull) on the Yokogawa Main Street.

This lady is the owner of the store, Yuriko Funamoto.
She left the office where she had been working as a designer when she was 53 years old.
She then went to the U.K. to study, and opened this store in 2008, the year after she came back to Japan.

This handmade cheesecake is fantastic with its fluffy and creamy texture!
The cup and saucer in the photo were designed by Isamu Noguchi.

There is a gallery called “Yokogawa Soen” very close to “Kamome-no-Baabaa,” so this is a special area where you can experience and feel art without hesitation.

gallery＋café Kamome-no-Baabaa
Address／1-5-23, Yokogawa-cho, Nishi-ku, Hiroshima-shi, Hiroshima
Phone／082-232-5074
Open／10:30～20:00
Closed／Tuesdays
http://kamomenobaabaa.web.fc2.com

Yokogawa Soen
Address／3-11-12, Yokogawa-cho, Nishi-ku, Hiroshima-shi, Hiroshima
Open／11:00～19:00
Closed／Wednesday
*Closing days are not fixed if there are NOT any exhibitions or events
http://souensouso.com/

Now, let’s go back to Tokaichi-machi by train and have a good dinner to close out our trip.
The last store we introduce is “Ongaku-kissa (Music Coffee shop) Organ-za.”

The walls near the staircase are filled up with many posters, and so full of “culture.”

And this coffee shop serves many foods which will fill you up, such as curry and rice, pho noodles, and so on…

On the stage in this shop, artists do performances or play live music at night.
So enjoy them with having good tasting supper there!

Izumi Goto, the owner of this shop is also an artist who plays accordion and sings, or does the performance of a “cabaret style” tour all over Japan.
Please check the schedule of the stage on the website or Facebook before you visit here.

Ongaku-kissa Organ-za
Address／1-4-32-2F, Tokaichi-machi, Naka-ku, Hiroshima-shi, Hiroshima
Phone／082-295-1553
Open／17:30〜26:00（opens at 11:30 on Saturday and Sunday, closed at 24:00 on Sunday）
Closed／Mondays
http://www.organ-za.com/
Facebook page

Photographs and text by Akiko Isonaga