Oyster ship Kanawa — Restaurant in Hiroshima

Oyster boat Kanawa is located in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park area' s buffer zone near the World Heritage; Atomic Bomb Dome. Also, there is a memorial statue," Mother of Mobilized Students" nearby. Every year on August 6th, we offer free resting area for the people who attend the peace memorial ceremony and the peace memorial park. We have many guests from all over the world who visit the Cenotaphs, Peace Memorial Museum and the Peace Memorial Park.

We hope our guests feel peace when they taste our delicious Hiroshima oysters too. We pray for eternal peace through this culture of eating oysters and Washoku which is UNESCO World Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Garuka began in the early Edo period when oyster farmers transported Hiroshima oysters by boat to Osaka, moored them on the riverbank, and worked directly there. Later, the workers began offering tastings and preparing dishes to sell, giving rise to the "kakibune" oyster restaurants, where oysters were served on board. By the late Edo period, there were reportedly hundreds of oyster boats, stretching from Wakayama in the north to Shimonoseki in the west. These "oyster boats" became an ideal promotional tool for Hiroshima oysters and played a key role in spreading the name of Hiroshima oysters nationwide. The only remaining oyster boat in Hiroshima, the "Kasane Kanawa," has been moored on the Motoyasu River and has been operating since 1963 with the goal of spreading the deliciousness of Hiroshima oysters not only throughout Japan but around the world. Today, it is a place where people from both within and outside Hiroshima can experience Hiroshima's oyster...

We were looking for a nice lunch spot near the Hiroshima memorials. We spotted this barge from the nearby bridge and decided to check it out. We thought it was closed, but upon further inspection, we found it open (the entrance is a bit uninviting - see photo). Like other reviews here, we were slightly put off by the warning that we each had to order a dish, especially as we were literally the only customers at lunch that day.... which also worried us a bit... who is brave enough to eat oysters at a low-turnover place? But Hiroshima is famous for oysters and produces about 2/3 of the oysters in Japan, so we decided to go for it. It is a good thing we did. The raw oysters were delicious (especially with a glass of champagne), and we also had them several other ways... hot pot, tempura, and baked in an apple (sounds strange but tasty). The service was friendly and almost overly attentive (I knocked one star off for the weird front desk greeting). The views out the windows were great, but the empty dining room and not overly fancy furnishings despite the fancy prices on the menu knocked a couple of points off the 'atmosphere' grade. Overall this is a good spot to check out if you are looking for oysters. We would like to return at night, when I presume...

Reservations are booked online with a menu selection to choose from during the booking process. We booked the oyster course menu for two people, but there are a couple non-oyster menu options if needed.

From the outside, if you look along the waterline, you can see that a boat hull was converted into a floating boat house! It's just the cutest design. The entrance is between bushes that lead to a glass sliding door which takes you to the reception desk upstairs.

We arrived earlier than our reservation, but the table was already set and they were happy to seat us early. Google translate was needed for the food and drink menu. Luckily the menu online is in English so we already knew what would be served. However, several workers spoke English which helped through the rest of the night.

The food came out beautifully plated and each dish was absolutely delicious! Starting with the small raw oysters, which are my favorite, to the deep fried oysters, which I thought I'd hate, we're phenomenal. There wasn't a detail they missed and despite people saying Japanese portions are small, by the end of the courses, we were stuffed! So much so that we took a bento box of rice...