Alternative town

After the Shimanami Kaido I deserved a little break. I choosed to spend 2 nights in Onomichi. I have been curious about this town since a long time.
It’s often the least popular places that are the most interesting. Somehow thoses places remains untouched by mass tourism and capitalism. Onomichi is definitely one of thoses places.

Strolling around the streets of Onomichi to get the first impressions.

Onomichi is a small vertical town. You’ll come across thoses “slope streets” that goes up and down in a maze fashion. It’s a very unusual place with a lot of charisma.

Onomichi is not a place where tourists will think about going ,unless they planned to bike the Shimanami Kaido. This little town is known to have inspired many artists and therefore has this artistic reputation since a long time. Onomichi isn’t a wealthy town but over recent years many new generations choosed to come and live here. The rent being so cheap in Onomichi. This town reminded me of Koenji and Shimokitazawa districts in Tokyo. You’ll come across alternative ways of living. This places feels like a hub for artistic and hearty people. But unlike Tokyo , Onomichi remains a human scale town and surrounded by nature. Therefore this make it an ideal place to live.

In Onomichi you wont see many “chains store” but rather many indie stores. Each of them is full of stories to tell.

Pick up organic veggies from a local farm in that store. Dont expect to see any seller because there isn’t. Just put your money in the box. It’s all about trust.

My airbnb host told me more about this place. The guy behind that little store is apparently a well known figure in Onomichi. He is responsible of organising many musical events here.

This is an Izakaya (pub) with a retro vibe.
Onomichi has the reputation of being “retro” and “old school” , therefore the shops will try to stay with that vibe. It’s actually nice to see a places like that in Japan. The hyper modernisation didn’t touched Onomichi and this feels great. Onomichi is unique. How good it’s to see places that have more personality in them. Just like the people that lives here.

The Café 56 is a big complex of stores , cafés and restaurants. It’s also a community space with ping pong room , library … I’m already in love with this little town.

Onomichi used to be rich long time ago therefore there is many temples and cool architectures.

There is even a castle on the top of the hill.

Scenic castle protecting the town.

Onomichi have countless cool indie cafés , restaurants and craft stores. It didn’t took me long time to find a place with veggie options.

“Cafe Coyote” located in the main shopping street.

I had a super tasty beans curry with a hot lemon drink. The people here feels more open than anywhere else I have been in Japan. The owner moved away from Tokyo to come and live here. It seems like more and more young people are coming here. But the people that lives here doesnt want Onomichi to become “Hype” or “Trendy” because this also mean more expensive rents.

For dessert let’s try the most famous Ice cream spot in Onomichi. Karasawa shop.

This is the place. You’ll find one flavor which is vanilla but there is sometimes seasonal flavors too.

I had a vanilla biscuit ice cream. I never eaten Ice cream in that way but this was nice. The flavor was fantastic. Rich and sweet !

The shop next door was selling homemade doughnuts , I wanted to try it too.

Heart shaped chocolate doughnut. Yummy !
I’m not reasonable when it comes to sweet food (I’m sure your noticed ^^). When I feel tired I always crave sweets. Not easy to find a good balance.

After all that sugar I felt like going higher and explore some of thoses “slope streets”. Onomichi is the funniest town to explore because the streets are so unusual. Time to get lost in thoses streets.

I had so much fun just exploring theses streets. Every house looks different. You can feels the personality of that little town just by looking at the houses and the streets. I love the funky vibe here.

To find my house on the way down I had to go through a small forest.

On the way down.

Onimichi is without a doubt a cool town. The nature around it and the people that live in it makes that place special. There is a strong sense of community living here. People helps each other with little things. This is definitely not the Japan I have been used to. The young people of Onomichi dont want to work. They dont want to be part of a capitalist system. They want to enjoy life , enjoying their passions while connecting with others. This place is already revelation to me.

There is much more to say about it so I’ll write 1 or 2 more articles. I actually just cancelled my first night in Hiroshima to stay one more night here. There is something that is magnetizing here. You have to listen to that inner voices and make the decisions that sounds true to you.

See you for the next episode in Onomichi , the alternative face of Japan.