Kakiya (Miyajima Oyster House)

Kakiya is Miyajima's best-known dedicated oyster restaurant, a polished counter-and-table spot on the island's bustling Omotesando Shopping Street that turns Hiroshima's most famous shellfish into a proper sit-down meal. While the street outside is full of stalls grilling oysters to eat on the move, Kakiya offers the calmer, more considered version: fresh Seto Inland Sea oysters prepared several ways and served with local wine and sake pairings in a stylish wood-and-stone interior.

Hiroshima is Japan's oyster capital, producing a huge share of the country's cultivated oysters in the sheltered, nutrient-rich waters of the Seto Inland Sea around Miyajima. Kakiya builds its whole menu around that bounty. The signature is a tasting set that lets you compare the same oyster prepared in different styles side by side - raw on the half-shell with lemon, charcoal-grilled until the edges caramelise, deep-fried as crisp kaki-fry, and gently steamed or baked - so you can taste how each method draws out a different side of the shellfish's briny sweetness. There are also oyster rice dishes, oyster in olive oil, and seasonal preparations.

The experience is a notch above the street stalls, and deliberately so. Where the outdoor grills are about a quick, smoky, hands-on snack, Kakiya is where you sit down, take your time, and treat the oyster as the centrepiece of a small feast. The restaurant keeps a wide selection of wine by the glass chosen to pair with oysters, along with Hiroshima sake, and the staff are happy to suggest matches - an unusually wine-forward approach for a Japanese seafood house that reflects how well the local oysters take to a crisp white. Prices are fair for the quality, with sets generally landing between roughly 1,200 and 3,000 yen.

Season matters more here than at almost any other stop on the island. Oysters are at their finest in the colder months, roughly late autumn through winter, when they grow plump, creamy and sweet; this is also when Hiroshima celebrates them with oyster festivals. Kakiya serves oysters year-round, but a winter visit rewards you with the shellfish at their peak. Because it is popular and portions of the day's catch are finite, the restaurant can fill up at lunch and occasionally sells out of certain dishes, so arriving early is wise.

Set on Omotesando between the ferry pier and Itsukushima Shrine, Kakiya slots perfectly into a Miyajima day. You might wander the food street sampling momiji manju and grilled snacks, sit down here for a proper oyster lunch, then continue to the floating torii, the shrine, and the maples of Momijidani Park or the ropeway up Mount Misen. To reach it, take the JR ferry from Miyajimaguchi (Japan Rail Pass covered) to the island and walk a few minutes up the shopping street; look for the smart oyster-house frontage amid the stalls. For anyone who wants to understand why Hiroshima and oysters are inseparable, an unhurried meal here is the place to learn.