The beginning
After the atomic bombing, Hiroshima faced severe food shortages. People mixed rationed wheat flour with water and cooked it on iron griddles, reviving a simple prewar snack as a meal to sustain themselves.
Over time, cabbage, pork, eggs and noodles made it more filling. As Hiroshima rebuilt, its okonomiyaki grew into the dish people know today.
The guides
Professor Kenichi Hosoi
A professor at Hiroshima University of Economics who has compiled a chronology of Hiroshima’s okonomiyaki. He examines the historical record and the competing stories about its origins: what has been documented, and what has been passed down by word of mouth.
Koji Kitamura
A former journalist and managing director at the Chugoku Shimbun, Hiroshima’s daily newspaper. He is now chairman of RCC Broadcasting.
Naoko Yamane
Editor-in-chief of TJ Hiroshima, the city’s town magazine, and editor of Nikkan Washira, Hiroshima Prefecture’s social media outlet.
Tatchan
Tatsuya Inoue, known as Tatchan, visits new okonomiyaki restaurants almost every day for Maioko, his guide to Hiroshima’s okonomiyaki. He began after losing his memory in 2017.
The old kitchens
Lineages
At Micchan Sohonten, a second-generation successor carries on the work of founder Mitsuo Ise, who died in 2024. At Ganso Hassho, the founders’ daughter has taken over the family restaurant.
Neighborhood griddles
Not the famous names. We want to record the small neighborhood restaurants still run by the grandmothers who have cooked at the same griddle for decades.
The makers
Noodle makers, cabbage farmers and the makers of Hiroshima’s distinctive okonomiyaki sauce.
Okonomiyaki sauce was born in postwar Hiroshima. Otafuku Sauce turned a simple problem, thin sauce running off onto the griddle, into a thick sauce that stays on the food. The company recovered from the bombing and from a fire that burned it down, and its story runs alongside the city’s own recovery.
The new kitchens
Younger owners are trying new ingredients and textures, from soft-cooked eggs to kale. Restaurants such as NIKUTAMA in Yokogawa show how much room for experimentation remains in this familiar food.
The director
“Like every Japanese person, I grew up knowing about the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. I knew Hiroshima’s own style of okonomiyaki, too. What I didn’t know was that it was the tragedy of the bomb that gave birth to this beautiful soul food.”
Mirai Konishi
Mirai Konishi is a Los Angeles–based filmmaker and a graduate of the University of Southern California’s graduate film program. His documentaries include Kampai! For the Love of Sake (2015), which premiered at the San Sebastián International Film Festival, and Kampai! Sake Sisters (2019), which premiered at the Far East Film Festival in Udine.
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