This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/jivan-mukta on 2025-10-02 02:19:18+00:00.

My trip was broken up into the 3 sections as mentioned in the title. I give general ratings asto what I liked/did not like during my time. Naturally its all my opinion and YMMV

Tokyo Trip

Hotel Sunroute Shinjuku - B, no frills, slightly expensive for what it is, but close to shinjuku station so effective for reducing commit time. Still for a next trip to Tokyo, I’d probably find a cheaper/nicer place in Ueno since the Yamanote line is good enough for getting around

Shibuya shopping - C, it was neat seeing the stores but ultimately I just don’t care that much about the shopping experience Akihabara stores - B, more interesting than Shibuya, but still not really my speed Eorzea Cafe Final Fantasy collab - C, a letdown to be honest, the theming was wear and the food was mid teamLab Planets - A, definitely worth doing at least once, especially the water exhibit. I wouldn’t go again though unless it was with new people to share the experience

Hakone Itoh Dining by Nobu in Gora - S, amazing food at great prices. One of the best meals we had in japan Owakudani - D, unfortunately the view was terrible on our trip, so I couldn’t enjoy any of the views, outside of the views its a very passable experience Yunnessun - C, I enjoyed that it had more domestic guests than tourists. They also have some hot spring baths that have an amazing view of the valley. We spent most of the time there, with intermittent light rain, very nice. This is ultimately for families and kids though.

Bus from Gora to Hakone - D, very bumpy despite being technically faster than the train. I highly recommend the switchback Tozan railway for going between the base station and the Gora area.

Romanecar - C, it’s efficient for getting from shinjuku to hakone, but otherwise the views were nothing memorable. If I went to Hakone again, I’d likely plan to spend a night there and use it as a transition to kyoto instead of a day-trip.

Open Air Architecture museum https://www.tatemonoen.jp/english/ - S, totally a hidden gem in Tokyo! Tickets are cheap, there is signage in English and the museum is huge with some 30 buildings that you can walk through. The only downside is that it’s about an hour from the central tokyo loop by train/bus. I’d definitely take family there again as seeing the buildings from different eras was really nice.

Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building - A, free and easy way to take in the view of the city. We went at night since we stayed in Shinjuku and it was worth the 30mins - 1hr commitment.

Kyoto/Osaka Trip

nol kyoto sanjo hotel - A, pricy but nice vibe with a wooden bathtub in the room and a laundry machine. The laundry machine was incredibly slow though, taking 7hrs to complete a load. Handy for us since we packed enough clothes for a midway refresh. Also free sake/drinks in the lobby is a nice add.

gion corner show - B, worth doing once and a nice way to see a geisha and take in some traditional japanese culture. Pretty optional overall though. I paid for premium tickets but the regular tickets are just as good since the pamphlet they give you has all the relevant notes

Muse in Osaka - S, naturally this is a special case but I’ll say simply that if you get a chance to see a band you love during your Japan trip, do it. My only regret is not getting the best tickets available.

Shinsaibashi - C, I was only here for a hot minute, but I wasn’t particularly impressed. I didn’t even plan to visit Osaka originally and the little time I spent here confirmed that Osaka is not quite right for me.

Don Quixote ferris wheel - B, honestly better views than I expected and a nice way to kill some time. I wouldn’t do it again, but it was a nice part of the area.

Kinkaku-ji - C, spent a night at this airbnb, small but really elegant rooms. Kinda noisy due to the nearby tourist traffic. Frankly optional in my book. Also having read about the muromachi period and the story behind its construction gives some trump tower vibes. I know I’m being a hater here, but it’s just my opinion that there are better things to do in Kyoto.

Renting a bike and biking from the imperial palace area to Kinkaku-ji - A, Kyoto’s bike infrastructure is great and it’s fairly flat so I loved getting lost biking. I biked through the palace courtyards, which is cool but also the courtyard is tiny rocks which isn’t pleasant. On a subsequent trip I’d gladly rent a bike and spend the whole day getting lost in Kyoto.

Arashiyama Bamboo Grove - C, pretty I guess but overrated in my opinion. Also there’s a hike to the north of the grove that is inferior to the Iwatayama monkey park and I don’t recommend it

Tenryu-ji Temple - C, its essentially part of the package with Arashiyama, so you do it. It’s pretty, but not that exciting beyond taking some pictures

Monkey Park Iwatayama - S, if you only went to western Kyoto for this it would be completely worth it. Hanging out with monkeys and just watching them do monkey things was a top 3 highlight for me for the whole trip. The view of Kyoto is also incredible and is just a nice bonus. I can’t even imagine a monkey park like this in the states, where someone would inevitably ruin it by doing some dumb shit and getting the park shut down.

Nijō Castle - B, more interesting than the previously mentioned Kyoto spots due to it being a castle and having a more meaningful history, but not the best castle I visited. We visited this on the way back from the Arashiyama sites so it was fine.

Shimanami Kaido Trip

Onomichi Film History Museum - D, if you haven’t heard of Tokyo Story, don’t go here. And if you have, you probably still won’t benefit from it. I spent a day in Onomichi to prepare for the Shimanami route and my day would’ve been better spent going up their ropeway to the sites on the nearby hill. Beyond that, Onomichi is a bit disappointing as a place to visit as a foreigner. There is a popular icecream place a few minutes north of the hotel I stayed at, so that was nice.

Greenhill Hotel Onomichi - B, nice hotel, perfectly situated for a Onomichi -> Imabari cycle trip. Their breakfast was nice and they handled the luggage transport (Sagawa Expres) gracefully. And the hotel is right next to the bike rentals

Onomichi U2 restaurant - C, good. Nothing special but it’s worth checking out the U2 warehouse here just for fun

Shimanami Kaido Rental System - S, I reserved 2 e-bikes for 2 days months ahead of time. When I got there, biking up the bikes was easy and the guy was super helpful with the bikes. The bikes themselves did the job just fine, kinda heavy since they are e-bikes but the assist was definitely appreciated on the route

Biking the Shimanami Kaido overall - SS, my favorite part of the whole Japan trip. This route is criminally underrated and more people should try it. If you’re not a strong cyclist, the e-bike is more than enough to handle the whole main route without much effort. If you love cycling there were multiple groups out there raw-dogging the whole route and back with road bikes (hashtag dreams). I did the route in 2 days because I wanted to give myself plenty of time to enjoy the experience, but in future trips I would actually aim to do the whole thing in 1 day. I’ll explain a bit with the next sections

There were only a few stops along the route that I ended up hitting and enjoying. Half of them are in Setoda which is roughly a central point on the route.

Setoda Suminoe Ryokan - B, very pricy since I booked last minute and my only ryokan experience. That said it was nice, I had a sunset view of the seto sea from my room, wore a yukata, and showered in a public path. If I had those experiences elsewhere on my trip, I probably would say that this particular ryokan wasn’t worth it for me. They also specialize in fish dishes being on an island and all, and I’m still a bit picky about eating things like conger eel and such, so that part of the experience was wasted on me. In retrospect the I-link hostel, Wakka, or some of the other hotels in the area would’ve been nicer or cheaper for me personally

Kousanji Temple - A, First thing I’ll call out is that the Hill of Hope is attached to this temple and your map apps will lie to you suggesting that you can get to the hill without going through the temple. You can’t. I’ll also call out that this temple is right on the major intersection of all the interesting things in Setoda. So this temple’s history is kinda sketch, but its far more beautiful than the kyoto temples mentioned earlier, the cave of 1000 buddhas was surprisingly interesting, felt like something out of a disney theme park, and the hill of hope is either instagram famous or will be when influencers start taking pictures there. If you only made 1 stop on the shimanami, this would be it. There’s also a lemonade stand right in front of it that can get you that fresh setoda lemon juice. I highly recommend doing that as well. Finally, there’s a little restaurant on that corner that has some decent food options for your lunch break.

Hirayama Ikuo Museum of Art - D, if it wasn’t for getting some AC and shade during the noon sun, I’d say I completely wasted my money going there. It’s all art by 1 rich guy who lived in the area. I don’t want to be a hater, but I do want to simply recommend ignoring this place…

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