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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Status-Inevitable925 on 2024-06-05 12:12:30+00:00.

Just got back from 2 weeks in Japan and thought I’d write a trip report because I found them really useful whilst organising. I (F28) went with my boyfriend (M30) and we had an amazing time. We definitely packed more into the first half of the trip and could have made more of our last 5 days and time in Tokyo but we didn’t want to end the holiday exhausted.

Some things it may be useful to know-

Travel

The only travel we prebooked was the Shinkansen to Tokyo so we could definitely get seats on the Fuji side (always D&E). We picked up ICOCA cards at Miyajimaguchi with no issue and they work all over - if you arrive in Tokyo you’ll need a different card and I think there’s issues getting them. IC cards work on all trains but for Shinkansens and Limited Express trains you need to buy a ticket - we did it at the machines in the station with no issues.

We just used googlemaps to figure out how to get around and it worked fine - it tells you what sort of train it’s suggesting so you know if you’ll need tickets. One thing though - my googlemaps would often act as though it was offline even though I had data but if you save it for offline, you shouldn’t have an issue.

Food

We mainly ate at Izakayas in the evenings which are essentially small plates restaurants. We’d ordered drinks and a few dishes and then order some more with a second round of drinks. There’s usually rice on the menu that you’re meant to order at the end of the meal to soak up the alcohol but we filled ourselves up without it.

At most ramen restaurants and some others there’s a machine which you put cash into and select what you want (usually pictures to help). The machine prints out tickets and you give these to a member of staff who’ll then show you where to sit.

We generally just walked around and looked for a place that looked busy and was mainly filled with Japanese people - all the food we ate was really good so it worked. Apparently, Japanese people tend to rate things lower than you’d expect so places with 3.5 on google would still be really good (and possibly better than places rated higher because it probably means that it’s a more local place).

Souvenirs

I collected stamps as we travelled and I’m really pleased I did. All train stations are supposed to have one and then a lot of tourist attractions do to - they’re generally near the ticket office / barriers but you often needed to ask a member of staff (especially at the smaller places). Staff all seemed to be prepared for the question and happy to help. I didn’t buy my notebook until we were in Japan which means I missed out on the one in the airport.

You can also collect Goshuin in temples where they’ll stamp and do calligraphy unique to that temple. You can buy special books at the temples which unfold so you can see all them all at once. I got one but the second one I saw was 800 yen and I panicked that it would end up being expensive so didn’t bother - in reality I think most were under 500 yen. I think it would have been a really unique souvenir to have.

Onto the report -

Day 1 - Hiroshima > Miyajima

We landed in Hiroshima at around 10:30am from Seoul so no jetlag. We got the bus into the city (bought tickets from a machine with cash) and left our bags in a locked in the bus station. We grabbed a couple bits in Uniqlo then went to Okonomimura for Okonomiyaki - we just went up the lift to a random floor and chose a random spot - it was really good!

Then we went to the Peace Park and museum - it was a Saturday and the museum was really busy so we didn’t spend as much time there as we probably would have liked but it was a really good museum and the park is nice to wander round. We walked up to the Atomic Bomb dome. This probably took a couple of hours but we could have taken longer.

Then went to the Pokemon centre (essentially just a Pokemon shop) and for some reason picked up our bags. We walked to Osaka castle and looked at it from the outside - probably not necessary but was nice to see our first castle.

We caught the ferry to Miyajima from near the atomic bomb dome at around 4:30pm - it’s more expensive than doing it via public transport but more convenient.

We got to Miyajima and checked into our Ryokan. I didn’t realise that you needed to book dinner a day in advance so we had to go out and find a restaurant that stayed open after 5pm - a lot harder than you’d expect! But we found somewhere and the food was really nice so we were happy. If I was doing it again though I’d make sure to get dinner at the Ryokan because it seemed to do good food.

Being on the island at night was really nice and peaceful - we sat looking at the Torii gate at the sunset and it got dark. We both agreed that if we’d just come to Miyajima on a day trip and experienced all the crowds we probably wouldn’t have enjoyed it that much but it was one of the highlights of the trip.

Day 2 - Miyajima > Onomichi

We had breakfast at the Ryokan - it was a traditional Japanese breakfast and there were so many different components it was great! We climbed Mount Misen and the views were incredible. If you go up the cable car, make sure to walk to the other look out point because it’s higher and I assume gets a much better view. The walk took us about 2 hours. After the walk, we stopped at Daishoin temple.

We picked up our bags from the Ryokan, grabbed some street food for lunch and said goodbye to Miyajima. We got the ferry to Miyajimaguchi, picked up ICOCA cards and got trains to Onomichi - I think they’re actually on the same line but we hadn’t figured out the trains yet (and I wanted a stamp) so we went to Hiroshima station first.

We were staying in a hostel just under Senkoji temple so we walked up the hill, dumped our bags and went up to look at the temple. It seems like a lot of places in Onomichi also closed early (although it was a Sunday) but we managed to find a ramen place that was open and it was amazing.

Day 3-4 - Shimanami Kaido

We decided to do the cycle across two days because I was worried about how I’d get on. In the end we did 60km on the first day and 40 on the second - I was pretty tired by the end of each day but not enough for it to not be enjoyable. All the hills on the actual route were very manageable - to get onto the bridges you normally needed to do just under 1km of very steady incline. We did some detours which had some harder hills - I got off to walk twice but never for very long. I’d say I’d definitely be at the lower end of fitness in terms of people who decide to do a 2 day cycle on holiday.

We got our bikes through Shimanami bike rental - I reserved them in advance on their website. I’ve seen some people complain about the quality of the bikes but I think they were decent. My boyfriend’s gears weren’t working at first so he went back and the were very apologetic and gave him a new bike when they couldn’t fix it easily. The saddles were uncomfortable but everything else was fine.

We used the map we were given for navigation and it was super easy. We randomly chose the detours without thinking too much so we missed most of the things people usually say you should detour for but we had an amazing time and I think doing it over 2 days so we could detour was definitely worth it.

Can’t find a version of the map we used to give proper details but we did the recommended route and a sections marked as orange. I really recommend stopping at Kousanji which has a temple and sculptures. We grabbed lunch nearby (there were a lot less restaurants / cafes on route than I was expecting) and then went round Takaneshima Island which wasn’t marked as a route but we thought we’d explore. We saw barely anyone and it was nice to cycle round - some tougher hills but not too bad.

We stayed just over the bridge on Ikata island - if I’d been more organised, I’d have booked somewhere on Oshima but there was nowhere convenient when I booked and we didn’t end up exploring that island at all because I was too tired by the end of the first day and didn’t want to commit to too much at the beginning of the second day. There was only one place open for dinner but we had some great Okonomiyaki.

We started the second day by going to Hirakiyama park which I’d definitely recommend - although this was definitely the toughest climb it was still manageable with only a few minutes walking from me. We had the whole place to ourselves and the views were amazing.

We went off the main recommended route to go to Yoshiumi rose park because they were still blooming - it was really nice to wander round and the cycle there was really good as well. There was one steep hill but it was mostly fine. We stopped just before the last bridge for a seafood bbq where you selected what you wanted and then bbqed it yourself - it was a nice experience and we managed not to make ourselves ill. Then it was over the last long bridge and then a longish cycle on the roads into Imabari to return the bikes.

We thought we’d grab some more food in Imabari but nothing seemed to open until at least 17:30 so we got the bus to Fukuyama (we bought tickets in advanced at the counter but you could pay the driver in cash when you got off) then the train to Himeji. We were pretty tired so we just got some ramen and went to sleep but Himeji seemed like a nice city.

Day 5 - Himeji > Kyoto

We left our bags in lockers at the station and went to the castle. It was ni…

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