Japan
Kyoto • Hiroshima
November 2024 • A tale of two cities ... Kyoto was spared by Allied bombers during WWII because of its cultural significance, and now the ancient shrines and narrow byways are being targeted by a different kind of attacker: package-tour groups, geisha cosplayers, and relentless selfie takers. Local residents are fed up with this year’s swarms—they're looking through visitors rather than at them. A few tranquil zones remain: two side-by-side art museums and a massive hillside cemetery overlooking the city. Four hours away via shinkansen, the bullseye of the most infamous aerial attack in history is buzzing with shops, restaurants, public parks, and at least one dazzling Christmas tree. Tourists in Hiroshima don’t flash the peace sign while grinning moronically near the Dome, and locals seem genuinely content to host the world—my hotel even had a whiteboard with flags representing the nations of all current guests. Visiting Hiroshima began as a moral obligation, but the city revealed itself as a respite from mindless selfie-taking and a showcase of head-spinning irony.
