Baltan Co., Ltd. (headquartered in Hiroshima City; representative director: Naoya Ohata) opened a new restaurant called "Hinokoku" (ひのこく) in the area near Hiroshima Station's north exit on July 7, 2026.
Since its founding in 2014, Baltan has directly operated izakayas centered around Hiroshima Station, and Hinokoku is a new izakaya born from pouring in 12 years of that experience.
At the heart of Hinokoku is fire.
Straw-grilling, charcoal-grilling, and kamameshi (rice cooked in individual clay pots).
Around a hearth set at the center of the restaurant, the space was designed so guests can enjoy the chef's handiwork and the rising flames as part of the izakaya experience.
20-seat theater-style counter surrounding the hearth at the center of Hinokoku
Flames rising right in front of guests during Hinokoku's straw-grilling
Twelve Years of Izakaya-Making in Hiroshima, Culminating in One Restaurant
Baltan Co., Ltd. was founded in Hiroshima in 2014.
Starting with Baltan Honten, the company directly operates restaurants with their own distinct personalities, including Enkobashi and Hakkoku, mainly around the area near Hiroshima Station.
Rather than focusing on increasing the number of locations, Baltan has focused on building restaurants that could only exist in that particular place, made by its own hands.
Guided by that idea, the company has spent 12 years building izakayas in Hiroshima.
Hinokoku is a new restaurant that brings that experience together in one place.
With 75 seats, it is Baltan's largest restaurant to date.
Over 50 million yen was invested in the space.
The cuisine, hospitality, and space design that Baltan had built up across its restaurants were reassembled again from zero.
The goal was neither a high-end restaurant nor an everyday mass-market izakaya.
It was to recreate, for today, the heat that izakayas originally carried: people gathering around fire, waiting for food, and drinking together.
The Space's Origin: The Ruins of Mitakayama Fort in Etajima
Hinokoku's space design has a single point of origin.
It is the ruins of Mitakayama Fort, which remain in Etajima City, Hiroshima Prefecture.
During a company trip, representative director Ohata visited the site by chance and was struck by a powerful impression.
The fort, built in the Meiji era, has been covered in greenery over a long span of time.
Fallen leaves are scattered across the ground, and plants grow up through the gaps between stones and bricks.
What people carved into the land in a distant era is being slowly covered over by time and nature.
It felt like a space where time itself had stopped.
Mitakayama Fort is said to have finished its role without ever firing a single shot in actual combat.
A place once built in preparation for war now sits quietly, wrapped in nature.
In that, Ohata sensed a symbol of peace.
Hinokoku's space draws its inspiration from that memory.
Aged bricks.
Walls that appear to have accumulated time.
Plants that seem to push up through the ground.
Well-worn antique furniture.
Even though it is a newly built restaurant, the space feels as if it has been there for a very long time.
Through Hinokoku, Baltan set out to express, as an izakaya, the "traces of people, nature, and time" felt at the ruins of Mitakayama Fort.
The ruins of Mitakayama Fort in Etajima, the origin point of the space design
The brick and stone structures of Mitakayama Fort, covered by nature over a long span of time
The striking arched exterior, inspired by the ruins of Mitakayama Fort
The second-floor ceiling, with the beams of the original old house left intact
Fire at the Center of the Restaurant
At the center of Hinokoku's first floor is a large hearth.
Surrounding that hearth is a 20-seat theater-style counter.
Right in front of guests, straw catches fire and flames rise up.
Ingredients are grilled over charcoal, and smoke rises.
The lid of the clay pot opens, and steam rises.
The seats are designed not only for enjoying the finished dishes, but for enjoying the very process of the food being made.
Just tens of centimeters from the fire.
Just tens of centimeters from the chef.
It is the seat closest to the fire anywhere in Hinokoku.
The theater-style counter, where guests can enjoy the fire and the chef up close
Flames of the straw-grilling rising right in front of the counter
Straw-Grilling, Charcoal-Grilling, and Kamameshi: Tasting Three Kinds of Fire
The pillars of Hinokoku's cuisine are three: straw, charcoal, and clay pot.
For straw-grilling, the restaurant sears ingredients at high heat in an instant, offering dishes such as straw-grilled bonito along with wagyu kone.
For charcoal-grilling, ingredients including Choshu chicken, Iwami pork, conger eel, large prawns, and oysters are each grilled with the heat adjusted to suit the ingredient.
And bringing the meal to a close is kamameshi, rice cooked one pot at a time.
Local Hiroshima ingredients such as conger eel and oysters are also used in the kamameshi.
These are not dishes meant simply to show off fire.
They deliver the aroma, texture, and flavor that can only come from using fire.
Straw-grilled bonito, seared at high heat in an instant
Hinokoku's cuisine, centered on straw-grilling, charcoal-grilling, and kamameshi
Kamameshi, cooked one pot at a time
Hiroshima's Conger Eel, Served in Three Dishes
At Hinokoku, conger eel, one of Hiroshima's representative ingredients, is treated as an important item on the menu.
There is a thin-sliced sashimi.
There is simmered conger eel, slowly stewed and then grilled over charcoal until fragrant.
And there is kamameshi, where the conger eel's flavor is sealed into the rice.
Rather than finishing a single ingredient off in just one signature dish, Hinokoku presents it in three different expressions, using its "fire" and hand-crafted cooking.
Conger eel sashimi
Conger eel kamameshi
Charcoal-grilled simmered conger eel
For a Night for Two Around the Fire, or a Party for a Large Group
Hinokoku is a large izakaya with 75 seats.
But it is not a restaurant built only for large groups.
The first floor includes the 20-seat theater-style counter around the central hearth, loft seating, and private rooms.
There are nights for two people to share a meal while gathered around the fire.
There is time for couples or friends to drink at a relaxed pace.
And on the second floor, the restaurant has sunken-floor tatami seating, private rooms, and a large hall that can be used with the partitions removed.
From meals for a small number of people to banquets for large groups.
Depending on how many people are using it, the restaurant shows a completely different side of itself.
Banquet scene in the second-floor large hall
Banquet scene in the second-floor large hall
View across the counter
Banquet Courses from ¥5,000 with Two Hours of All-You-Can-Drink
Hinokoku offers three banquet course options, each including two hours of all-you-can-drink, priced at ¥5,000, ¥6,000, and ¥7,000 (tax included).
The courses include straw-grilled bonito, today's assorted platter, grilled Choshu chicken, fried dishes, kamameshi, and other Hinokoku dishes all in one sitting.
The courses accommodate anywhere from two guests to large groups, and are designed for a wide range of uses, including company banquets, gatherings with friends, and various dining occasions.
Taking advantage of its location within walking distance of Hiroshima Station, Hinokoku hopes to be used not only for everyday meals but also as a place where people can gather.
Example of a banquet course
What the Name "Hinokoku" Means
Hinokoku.
The name carries the meaning of announcing that a fire has been lit.
Wherever people have gathered, fire has always been there.
Gathering around fire, eating, drinking, and talking.
Baltan believes that, even as the times change, what lies at the root of an izakaya does not.
Time that cannot be created by efficiency and convenience alone.
A place where watching the fire makes people want to stay a little longer.
That is the kind of izakaya Hinokoku aims to be.
Comment from the Representative
"For 12 years, I've kept building izakayas in Hiroshima.
Rather than copying restaurants that are already popular, I kept asking myself what kind of izakaya I would truly want to go to, and Hinokoku is the answer I arrived at.
With 76 seats, it is a restaurant second in scale only to our flagship, Baltan Honten. We also made a large investment.
But what I wanted to create wasn't a 'big restaurant.'
Fire in front of you, a chef there, people gathering, and drinks being poured.
I wanted to build that kind of origin point for an izakaya, here in Hiroshima today.
The space that felt like time had stopped, which I experienced by chance at the ruins of Mitakayama Fort on a company trip. The sight of nature slowly covering something people had built, over a long span of time.
And in a place that finished its role without ever firing a single shot, I sensed a symbol of peace.
Hinokoku was born by layering that memory together with 12 years of building izakayas.
I hope this restaurant becomes a place that lights a new fire in the city of Hiroshima."
Baltan Co., Ltd.
Representative Director Naoya Ohata
Store Information
Name: Hinokoku (ひのこく)
Opening Date: July 7, 2026
Address: 9-10 Wakakusa-cho, Higashi-ku, Hiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture
Access: 8-minute walk from Hiroshima Station north exit
TEL: 082-263-7774
Seats: 76
Hours:
Weekdays: 5:00 PM to 12:00 AM (midnight)
Weekends and holidays: 3:00 PM to 12:00 AM (midnight)
Closed: Tuesdays (irregular holidays)
Signature dishes: Straw-grilling, charcoal-grilling, kamameshi, Seto Inland Sea seafood, Hiroshima ingredients, and more
Banquet courses: From ¥5,000 (tax included), including two hours of all-you-can-drink
Official website: https://hinokoku.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hino_koku/
