Hiroshima has the most unpleasant of reasons for being a remarkably pleasant city. We arrived in early twilight, the last of the suns rays turning the atomic dome a rosy pink, and in the morning the sun was bright and cheery on the strings of paper cranes festooning the Peace Park.

For dinner in Hiroshima, we had tsukemen, a ramen variation where the noodles are served separate from the broth, and dipped before eating. The broth is necessarily thicker and saltier, to cling to and flavor the noodles. I often find it a little too salty, but this version replaced some of the salt with intense spiciness, which I much preferred.

Miyajima, the island home of the famous "floating" tori, is just a quick jaunt from Hiroshima, and provides some of the most beautiful scenery we experienced in Japan. Yes, the tori and the shrine, perched on stilts over the shore, are spectacular, but I didn't expect the cherry trees in full bloom avalanching down the hillside, or the twisted pines on the sandy beach-side promenades that lead to the temple.

(Nor did I expect the world's largest rice paddle, but it turns out that is in Miyajima as well.)

Miyajima's culinary specialty is a maple-leaf-shaped bun, called momiji manju, made with a cakey batter in a mold, and featuring a variety of fillings, most often red bean. We sampled one with cheese, which made a tasty sweet-savory combo, but which would have been better if it had still been hot from the griddle..

While on Miyajima, I also sampled a sweetened mugwort-flavored grilled rice dumpling slathered with thick soy glaze, another sweet-savory combo. While I enjoyed the mild herbal mugwort flavor, the larger size of these dumplings made their chewy texture a little overwhelming.