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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/And_hi on 2024-09-14 18:22:59+00:00.
Hi, I would like to share a trip report on my family’s second time to Japan. I (25M) travelled with my mum (58F), my brother (23M), in June 2024 for 17 days. As none of us drive, we relied only on public transport. I would like to share some tips as well as lessons learnt! :)
Abbreviations used: pp (per person), JPY (Japanese Yen), SGD (Singapore Dollar), Ltd Ex (Limited express JR train), FOC (free of charge)
Flight: We flew using Scoot LCC to and from KIX. ~500 SGD/54000 JPY pp
Transport: We got the JR West All Area Pass for the first 7 days of our trip (~26000 JPY pp). We also got the Kansai Area pass for the last 4 days of our trip (~7000 JPY pp). For more information on these regional passes, visit this url: . We also relied on public buses, chartered buses and subways but only when JR was not a viable option. Lastly, we also relied a lot on walking (and clocked at least 10km-13km on average daily pp)
Accommodation: We stayed in 3 star/business hotels in Nagoya and Kobe, and Airbnbs in Kyoto and Takayama. The main consideration was location, within ~1km of the main JR station (in this case Nagoya JR, Kobe JR, Kyoto JR and Takayama JR), as well as affordability. Total cost spent on accommodation for 17 days was ~ 180000 JPY, or 60000 JPY pp.
Focus of the trip: Nature, sightseeing and hidden gems. Some highlights include Wazuka, Takayama, Ine/Amanohashidate, Fukui, Shirakawago, Sekigahara and Shimonoseki. Ine and Wazuka are also in the official list of the most beautiful villages of Japan ().
Total Cost: ~2700 SGD/293000 JPY pp in total, including plane tickets, JR regional passes/tickets and accommodation
Intention behind this report: I hope this report will be useful, especially if you are relying on public transport. For easier readability, I’ve chosen not to get too detailed. That being said, if you have any questions, please fire away :) and I will do my best to answer them! Also, I have placed asterisks at places which I recommend going (from * to ***, with *** being the most recommended).
(Days 1-6: Stayed at Kyoto)
Day 1: Arrival in Kyoto
Description: Touched down at KIX and took the Haruka Ltd Ex to Kyoto JR. Explored Kyoto Skyway and had dinner at Kyoto JR before heading back to our Airbnb.
Tips: There is a staircase in Kyoto JR with light illuminations every night. There is also a place with many ramen restaurants located at the floor 10, that’s where we had our dinner. If you are a “Hello Kitty” fan, do consider taking the Haruka Ltd Ex as it is “Hello Kitty” themed.
Day 2: Day trip to Hiroshima
Travel: ~2.5 hours one way (Kyoto JR --> Shin-Osaka JR via local train, Shin-Osaka JR --> Hiroshima JR via shinkansen)
Places visited: Peace Memorial Museum**, A bomb Dome*, Ground zero, Okonomimura*, Hondori Street
Description: We reached Hiroshima about 1100hrs. Took an “old-school” electric tram to the A bomb dome. The dome was haunting in some way, albeit with some semblance of its magnificence left. Went to the museum and surrounding memorial area, which I would remember for a long time. The suffering of the civilians was truly great. We saw many school children paying their respects and singing commemorative songs. We then walked to the hypocenter, which was next to a clinic. Standing there while reflecting on what we saw in the museum was truly profound. We went to Okonomimura, for Hiroshima-styled Okonomiyaki, which I really enjoyed. We wandered around Hondori street, Don Quijote and got bento sets for dinner to eat on the shinkansen trip back to Kyoto. We left Hiroshima at around 2000hrs, and reached our accommodation at 1100hrs.
Vibe: I really loved the vibe of Hiroshima, how it is bustling despite its challenging past. I also liked how they preserved traces of its past even in the midst of rebuilding, for example, I saw some architecture preserved from WW2 in Hondori Street itself with signboards explaining what they were.
Tips: Do not skip the Peace Memorial Museum, it is a very well-thought out museum with many artifacts preserved such as the famed “Human shadow etched in stone”. Do consider to prebook your tickets online, so as to skip queues entirely. It would be good to dedicate at least a full day to Hiroshima.
Day 3: Day trip to Ine/Amanohashidate
Travel: ~3.5 hours to Ine (Kyoto JR --> Fukuchiyama JR via Ltd Ex, Fukuchiyama JR --> Amanohashidate JR via Kyoto Tango Railway (non JR), Amanohashidate --> Ine via bus)
Places visited: Ine bay/funaya***, Ine café*, Amanohashidate Kasamatsu Park*, Amanohashidate sandbar, Kaisen Bridge.
Description: Departed for Fukuchiyama JR at 0700hrs, and reached Amanohashidate JR around 0930hrs. Then, we took a local bus from right outside Amanohashidate JR to Ine and reached Ine before 1100hrs. We had a sashimi set lunch at Kajiya Ine, which was amazingly fresh (Ine is a fishing town). We had some spare time after to walk around the town, taking many photos, enjoying the nature and also had drinks at Ine café. At 1430hrs, we took the bus heading towards Amanohashidate, but dropped off halfway at Amanohashidate cable shita station, to take the ropeway up Kasamatsu Park. From there, we could enjoy views of the sandbar, but we did not spend long there as there was nothing much else to do. We took the ropeway down, rushed a quick dinner, and then started walking across the sandbar back to Amanohashidate JR (about 3.5km). The sandbar walk was fun but not especially spectacular, it has many pine trees though and nice sandy beaches. At a bridge nearing the end of our walk, we managed to spot a wild cormorant and multiple jellyfishes. We managed to see the Kaisen Bridge (rotating bridge) in action too. We left Amanohashidate JR at about 1900hrs and reached our accommodation at 2200hrs.
Vibe: Really loved the vibe of Ine. Literally a town between the mountains and the sea, on the outskirts of Kyoto. There was only a one lane street running through the town hence cars had to reverse when they met in the middle. There was no internet access and only emergency services were available, and there was only one store selling local produce. But all these added to the old-school, untouched charm. Staring at the Funaya which have been preserved for hundreds of years, while enjoying the fresh sea breeze and calls of kites and gulls, was really magical. Hence, although Ine is not very accessible, I cannot emphasize enough how worth it is to still travel there. Amanohashidate also had a very nice natural scenery, with the sandbar being one of the famed 3 views of Japan. This was my favorite day of the entire trip.
Tips: Having the JR West All Area Pass really made travelling easier especially with regard to as the Kyoto Tango Railway (which the pass automatically covers). Other regional passes like the JR Kansai Wide Area Pass also covers this. I would strongly recommend that you head to the nearest JR office to reserve seats for the journey to Amanohashidate especially if you are transferring at Fukuchiyama JR to the Tango railway as it requires mandatory reserved seating. Alternatively, the Hashidate Ltd Ex provides direct JR trips from Kyoto and Osaka JR to Amanohashidate JR (but the downside is that the trains leave later and you will have less time to spend in Ine/Amanohashidate). There are sea taxis giving you tours of Ine bay in Ine itself for 1000 JPY pp, which I highly recommend. Unfortunately, I had to give it a miss due to time constraints. On hindsight, I would have skipped walking on the Amanohashidate sandbar just to have more time in Ine. Lastly, Ine is in the official list of the most beautiful villages in Japan.
Day 4: Day trip to Shimonoseki and Kokura
Travel: ~3 hours one way (Kyoto JR --> Shin-Osaka JR via local train, Shin-Osaka JR --> Kokura JR via shinkansen, Kokura JR --> Shimonoseki JR via local train)
Places visited: Karato market/Iki Iki Bankangai*, Kanmon Tunnel, Battle of Dannoura sculpture, Mojiko Retro, Tanga market
Description: Our furthest day trip yet, hitting Kyushu from Kyoto. We reached Shimonoseki at about 1030hrs. We wanted to experience Iki Iki Bankangai, which turned out to be quite fun. However, prices were not as low as what we expected from reading online reviews. It’s not overrated but it’s also not the most spectacular. The sashimi servings are generous though and the deep fried fugu and miso soup were hits too. We then made our way to Kanmon Tunnel, an underground tunnel connecting Honshu to Kyushu. When we crossed over to the Kyushu side, we happened to spot wild dolphins swimming in the Kanmon Strait, which we believe to be a rare occurrence. We were really grateful for this experience! We then took a bus down to Mojiko Retro (which we did not spend much time at), and then a JR train from Mojiko back to Kokura JR. From there we walked to Tanga Market and reached an hour before closing time. It was an interesting market with significant history but once again, it’s not any different from any other local Japanese market. We headed back to a mall near Kokura JR, and had our dinner there before heading back to Kyoto.
Vibe: What was most memorable was perhaps eating sashimi with a sea/bridge view as well as dolphin spotting. That was really relaxing. Otherwise, with all due respect, Shimonoseki is quite “industrial or bare” in my opinion …
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