A longer hello.
Most people call me Ari. I grew up in Tokyo and moved to Hiroshima about three years ago. I told myself it would be temporary; somewhere along the way it stopped feeling that way. The city keeps getting more interesting the closer I look at it, which is how this site started.
I have spent most of my adult life working in restaurants — long shifts, busy nights, and the occasional one that does not go to plan. After enough of those years, I have come to believe that the best places to eat are usually the ones where the people working there look genuinely happy to be there. That belief shapes a lot of what I notice when I walk into a room, and a lot of what I write about here.
Many of the guests I host at work come from overseas, and watching colleagues talk easily with them in English pushed me to start learning seriously. I wanted to stop relying on someone else to translate and to be able to talk to visitors directly. This blog is, in part, an extension of that — a way of opening a longer conversation with people who only have a few days in Hiroshima but want to see the city the way someone who lives here sees it.
When I am not at work, I am usually walking the city, drinking more coffee than I probably should, or sitting in a sauna in Hatchobori. I have a soft spot for natural wine, I have recently been getting into photography and video, and on most days off you will find me either in front of a coffee counter or under a tree on the riverside.
If you are visiting Hiroshima and our paths happen to cross, at a counter, on a tram, or in a queue for okonomiyaki, please feel free to say hello. I always enjoy meeting people passing through.
What I write about
- Food and Dining. Counters, stalls, and the small places I keep going back to.
- History and Memory. The Peace Park and the city's quieter histories.
- Practical Tips. What to skip, and how to actually move around.
- Activities. Day trips and the pace of a smaller city.
How to reach me
You can email me at hello@explorehiroshima.jp. I read everything; I reply to most things.