Chasing Cherry Blossoms: A Two-Week Odyssey Through Japan's Tourist Trail from Hiroshima to Osaka, Kyoto, and Back to Tokyo
In April 2023, Jen and I embarked on a journey to witness the enchanting cherry blossoms, starting our adventure in Hiroshima and winding our way through small towns before reaching major cities like Osaka and Kyoto, ultimately returning to Tokyo.
Here's my attempt on the travel journal, just about a year late.
Day 1 - Tokyo Arrival (Late Night)
Flying with MAS from Melbourne, we had a layover in Malaysia. Initially planned for a brief transit, our flight to Japan got delayed, allowing us to leave the airport, grab breakfast, drop off excess luggage at home, and return to the airport. Finally, after 24 hours, we landed in Tokyo, tired but thrilled to be back in Japan.
Despite the late hour, our excitement led us to the konbini for that first delightful taste of onigiri.
Day 2 - En Route to Hiroshima
Having purchased our Shinkansen tickets from Tokyo to Hiroshima the night before, we avoided morning rushes but added the stress of ensuring we didn't oversleep. Of course, a Shinkansen ride demanded Shinkansen bento sets, a culinary treat we had missed.
Arriving in Hiroshima around 1 pm, we dropped our luggage and headed straight to the Atomic Bomb Dome and the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. Jen, being a history enthusiast, immersed himself in the exhibits for over two hours, though I couldn't help but feel the museum presented a somewhat one-sided perspective.
Oh and! Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, by Motoyasu River, turned out to be a beautiful spot for cherry blossoms.
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| Left: innards okonomiyaki. Right: spring onion |
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| Oyster-yaki |
Unable to resist, we ventured to a small corner shop for supper, where the lack of an English menu added to the charm. The owner, despite the language barrier, friendly explained the dishes to us.
Shop was so tiny we went back the next day just to take a photo of it!
Day 3 - Miyajima Island Day Trip
An early wake-up at 6 am helped us beat the crowd as we caught the ferry to Miyajima Island by 8 am.
and embarking on a two-hour hike up Mount Misen made for a memorable day. Despite not packing snacks for a picnic, we enjoyed the breathtaking views at the summit.
Returning to Hiroshima, we picked up food from a department store, enjoying tea time in front of Hiroshima Castle before Jen's museum exploration.
Day 4 - cycling 70km across the Shimanami Kaido
Today's agenda is not for the faint of heart. From Hiroshima, we made our way to Onomichi, about an hour away by public transport.
Today, we are embarking on a cycling adventure through the Shimanami Kaido, a 70km ride from Onomichi all the way through to Imabari, passing through 6 small islands.
Here are a couple of things you should know if you're considering this activity.
1. Bike rental: There are a couple of bike companies around the area, and we ended up choosing https://shimanami-cycle.or.jp. We opted for electric bikes because, after all, we are on holiday, and that's our pass for a cheat. However, the electric bike, while helpful on inclines, posed a challenge when running low on battery. About halfway into the journey, I realized I only had about 20% of the battery left. Thankfully, I was with Jen, and we swapped bikes since his had 50% battery left. The electric bike, without battery support, isn't the easiest to cycle due to its weight and bulkiness.
2. Pick-up/drop-off of bike: With Shimanami Cycle, you can choose to pick up and return at different spots, with a small fee for that service. That's what we did. We picked up the bike in Onomichi and returned it in Imabari. Their terminals are right next to where the cycling trail starts and ends. Some people choose to cycle one way and then take the bus back to their starting point or even choose not to do the entire route.
3. Luggage: Shimanami Cycle provides luggage transport services, making it convenient for us to pick up and drop off our luggage at the same place we collected and returned the bike. We did not consider takuhaibin since the location we were in couldn't offer same-day delivery (from Hiroshima to our next accommodation).
...until we realized we were running out of time. We absolutely had to make it back to Imabari by a certain time (I think it was 5 pm) before the terminal closed. The tail end of the cycling journey became a nightmare as we had to keep going with no breaks.
Our accommodation was right in the middle of a shopping street — a super convenient location. After freshening up, we made our way to a nearby izakaya and enjoyed some chicken delicacies, including liver sashimi, chicken sashimi, and some standard skewers.
Day 5 - driving from Matsuyama to Takamatsu
Before departing from Matsuyama, we spent the morning exploring the offerings of the city.
Treating ourselves to freshly squeezed orange juice on Dogo Onsen Shopping Street, we then strolled by Dogo Onsen, recognized as one of Japan's oldest bathhouses and often likened to the bathhouse in Spirited Away.
After lunch, we headed to pick up our rental car. Renting a car in Japan turned out to be a straightforward process; the key requirement is to have an international driving license.
With the car arrangements settled, we embarked on a road trip! At this point, Jen took on the roles of designated bag carrier, photographer, and driver.
Two hours later, we arrived in Takamatsu. Our first destination was Ritsurin Garden (1 Michelin garden), keeping our trip objective in mind—chasing cherry blossoms.
Despite the drizzle, we sought refuge in a tea house, enjoying hot tea, a bowl of sanuki udon, sweet red bean mocha with savory soup, stewed pork, and, of course, beer. Any excuse for more food, really.
Finally, for dinner, we indulged in Honetsuki dori—a whole bone chicken leg baked in salt, pepper, and garlic. Accompanied by various side dishes, we thoroughly enjoyed and devoured the entire dinner spread.
Day 6 - the drive continues through to Kurashiki and Okayama
The journey continues with a drive from Takamatsu to Kurashiki, spanning about 2 hours. During the journey, we took a break at Yoshima, capturing a few photos and stretching our legs while enjoying a decent view overlooking the bridge.
Upon reaching Kurashiki, often hailed as Japan's Venice, our expectations were shaped by online photos depicting it as an ancient town with distinctive water canals. However, the reality was a bit underwhelming—it's essentially just one stretch, but in hindsight, what more could I have expected?
We meandered through the town, engaged in some people-watching, and explored the denim street before concluding our visit.
Continuing our drive from Kurashiki to Okayama, which is around 30 minutes away, we grabbed ramen from a random shop
... before proceeding to our next destination, Korakuen Garden. Another day, another garden. If it wasn't clear enough, I'm starting to feel a bit worn out from the garden visits, haha. At Korakuen Garden, it became evident that our sakura hunting days were over.
Moving on, Okayama Castle awaited. Yet again, it was a day of waiting for Jen to immerse himself in every artifact. I even nodded off during one of the screenings—indicating my growing boredom.
However, the day took a turn for the better, thanks to dinner. Dinner #1 featured yakiniku—remarkably good.
Dinner #2, at an izakaya, was equally delightful. So good that I find myself at a loss for words.
Day 7 - Making our way to Osaka, but first, let's have some Kobe beef
Departing from Okayama, we opted to drive and explore Himeji Castle, a distinguished UNESCO World Heritage Site. Coincidentally, Koko-en Garden was situated adjacent to it, so why not visit, right?
Wrong. By this point, I was utterly fatigued with gardens – even the mere mention of the word 'garden' felt overwhelming. How did we find ourselves on a quest to visit so many castles and gardens, and who devised this plan?
Regardless, after the castle and garden excursion, we headed to Kobe for lunch. Anticipating walk-ins, we faced rejection from a couple of restaurants. Fortunately, one of the places we tried was able to accommodate us.
Lunch proved to be incredibly satisfying; Japan consistently delivers exceptional beef. *chef's kiss.*
Following the drop-off of our luggage at the hotel, we proceeded to return our rental car. While the past few days with the car were enjoyable, it was time to transition back to the realm of public transport.
Our first destination in Osaka was Amerikamura, renowned as one of the hip places where unique and unconventional fashion thrives. But what happened that night, stays in Osaka.
Day 8 - Day trip to Nara
According to my mom, breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and let me tell you, we had an amazing breakfast. Our first stop was the Kuromon Market, where we indulged in oysters the size of my palm, chirashi-don, grilled scallops, fresh soy, Miyazaki beef skewers, daifuku, and more.
After a hearty meal, energized and ready, we set off for Nara, famous for its polite (more like aggressive) deer population. Nara turned out to be bustling with way too many people for my small soul to handle. There were queues for roasted sweet potatoes and even to visit the Todaiji temple (as we nibbled on snacks bought earlier at Kuromon Market).
Navigating through the crowd was a bit draining, so we took a break to enjoy some Japanese sweets, attempting to sneak in a katsu sandwich in a quieter part of the park.
For lunch, we opted for fried rice, noodles, and dumplings, receiving many nods of approval from Jen for the delicious fried rice.
Since the katsu sandwich in the park was a bit disappointing, we bought a steak sandwich for supper as compensation.
Jen still wanted more, but my stomach had reached its limit. That night, I admitted defeat and chose to stay in while Jen embarked on his own little food adventure.
Day 9 - Koyasan adventure
Koyasan is about 3 hours away.
Quite a journey to get there but I must say, well worth the travel. Especially well needed after being drained by the crowd, Koyasan was the perfect serene escape. And I supposed its worth mentioning that Koyasan is yet another Unesco world heritage site.
We left our luggages at Osaka and only packed a backpack each, with enough supply for just a night stay.
We made it to Koyasan at about lunch time. Had udon at a random shop not worth mentioning. Then off we went to Okunoin cemetery. Instead of giving off off some sort of creepy spooky vibe, it was actually quite a nice walk.
To stay at Koyasan, its very common to stay in one of the temples. Ended up at Jimyo-in.
They served us vegetarian dinner in our room which was delicious!
Day 10 - One last stop at Koyasan before returning to bustling Osaka
The following morning, we rose early to attend the 6:30 am morning prayer, which lasted for about 30 minutes.
Afterward, we returned to our room to enjoy a vegetarian breakfast.
Reflecting on the progress in women's rights since then, we headed back to Osaka. Our plan for the day was to visit Umeda Sky Building. However, en route, we got distracted, as usual, by none other than food.
It took us a while, but we finally reached Umeda Sky Building!
Upon reaching the top, the city view felt somewhat familiar, lacking a certain wow factor—maybe a symptom of travel fatigue. Jen, engrossed in every piece of information on display (not the world's fastest reader), extended my wait. Eager to leave, we exited without taking any photos together at the top. Feeling a bit of FOMO, Jen suggested taking a photo with the building instead, which turned out to be a fun moment, lifting the mood.
While walking back, we indulged in more food. The daikon we had was the best I've ever tasted!
I believe this marked another night where I surrendered, with Jen venturing out for more food and me opting to stay in. It's truly a wonder how he can consume so much without gaining weight.
Day 11 - Farewell Osaka, Hello Kyoto.
Any visitor to Osaka almost certainly includes a trip to Kyoto—it's practically a package deal. This is especially true because the journey from Osaka to Kyoto takes only about 1.5 hours by train.
So, off we went to Kyoto.
Honestly, I'm not a huge fan of Kyoto. My previous experience with my family left a sour taste—perhaps due to our large group, being denied entry at eateries wasn't pleasant. Moreover, the constant focus on visiting shrines became monotonous, and there's only so many shrines you can explore before the novelty wears off. However, since Jen hadn't been there before, I didn't really have a choice but to agree.
Our first stop was the renowned Arashiyama bamboo forest, bustling with people.We also visited Tenryu-ji.
Contemplating whether to check out the Arashiyama Monkey Park, I wasn't particularly energized for the extra steps. Instead, we opted for some street snacks before heading back to central Kyoto for lunch.
Next up, tea time at Kagizen Yoshifusa.
Followed by more street food at Nishiki Market. Keeping it to just one skewer, we exercised some restraint.
Upon descending, we decided to explore Ponto-cho—an alley with bars and restaurants right next to the riverbank. We grabbed a drink from the convenience store, chilled by the river, and then headed to a random izakaya for skewers and more drinks!
Day 12 - walking about in Kyoto
Starting day 12 with a doughnut because with today's walking route, we're going to need that calories. We wanted to save on public transport fee. Each bus ride is 230yen. Oh and it was drizzling, so that was going to be extra fun.
We initially wanted to wake up early as well so we can avoid the crowd but by day 12, the adrenaline is starting to wear off. 9.30am was as early as my body can handle. First temple of the day is Kiyomizu temple. Oh damn. The crowd was definitely overbearing. It was shoulder to shoulder almost.
Next, Kodai-ji temple. Then, Chion-in temple. Honestly, this was the hidden jackpot. Quiet, serene and very spacious.
Lunch break
And continue on to the 4th shrine of the day, Heian shrine. Before this, every single shrine and garden that we stumble upon, Jen insist we pay for entrance fee to visit it. This was the first shrine Jen finally caved and agreed visiting the outside will be enough.
5th shrine, Nanzen-ji.
6th shrine, Ginkaku-ji. Is this the final shrine? For the day yes, but for the trip...?
Dinner was supposed to be oyakodon but we walked past a supermarket and we ended up eating/cooking back at the airbnb. I mean look at this marbling!
Last night in Kyoto, should have could have, went out for a night stroll on the Gion area. Who knows we might bump into a Geisha but both of us were just too tired for that.
Day 13 - Returning to Tokyo
Having concluded our visit to the shrines (or so I believed), it was time to make our way back to Tokyo via the Shinkansen. When it comes to Shinkansen rides, and I emphasize this, no one embarks on the journey without stocking up on a plethora of foods and snacks.
The adventure of acquiring all these provisions was quite exhilarating. As the typical time stickler, I was urging Jen to hasten, but true to Jen's nature, he enjoys taking his sweet time. He innocently assumed the platform was just around the corner from where we purchased our tickets, but we were in for a surprise. We reached the platform at 10:20 am, and the Shinkansen was scheduled to depart at 10:21 am. I might have been furious with Jen if we had missed the train, all because of my 'I TOLD YOU SO' warnings.
Putting the Shinkansen drama aside, here's a tip for the journey from Osaka/Kyoto to Tokyo: always opt for tickets on the left side of the train. If luck is on your side, you might enjoy an unobstructed view of Mount Fuji!
Another Shinkansen tip came to mind. If you have oversized luggage, make sure to reserve a seat with an area designated for larger baggage. Keep in mind that the definition of oversized luggage here differs from airplanes; anything with overall dimensions exceeding 160cm is considered oversized.
For some reason, this time around, we decided to stay in Shimbashi in Tokyo. Along the way to our accommodation, we stumbled upon Karasumori Shrine. One might think Jen would be tired of shrines by now, but even with our luggage in tow, he insisted we pay it a visit.
Before lunch, we tried a milk bun with salt and truffle. Despite the long queue, after tasting it, I concluded that it was overhyped. It was good but not worth the wait.
For lunch, we opted for highball and pasta at Pronto. Not the best, but it would suffice.
Having been to Tokyo multiple times, finding new places to visit became a challenge. We ended up at Tokyo Gaien National Garden, or rather, just the outside since we couldn't be bothered to search for the entrance.
Then, we found ourselves in Hibiya Park before eventually landing at the Muji Ginza Flagship Store.
Dinner consisted of a sushi train experience at SushiRo.
Day 14 - day trip to Otsuki
Legit got so bored of Tokyo, we decided to do a day trip to Otsuki. Definitely not me recommending you to visit Otsuki, there's nothing much here but we just ran out of places to visit and wanted to get out of the hustle and bustle.
For our trip to Otsuki, we ended up in a limited express train (not a Shinkansen) whereby every cart has reserved seats only. But our tickets had no designated seats. So it got damn confusing! They've got this traffic light system, a small little light thing above the seats. Red means its reserved, yellow is someone is getting onboard soon, and green means its reserved. But for us, it just means sit anywhere until you get chased off. So wasn't quite an ideal sitting situation when we had plans to consume our ekiben.
Made it to Otsuki and we decided to walk in a slightly opposite direction from where everyone seems to be headed towards because on their town brochure, there was this one particular 'viewing spot'. Walked 15 mins to a viewing spot which basically was just a bench in the middle of nowhere. But yes, you're able to get a pretty clear view of Mount Fuji.
After that, we ended up going on a mini hike at Mount Iwadonosan. But could only make it to the viewing hut, not the summit, as the hike was closed due to falling rock. This was where we ended up meeting this ojisan, a worker at the viewing hut and damn, Jen felt extremely good when he was able to somewhat have a conversation with this ojisan with the Japanese he has learnt. Turns out he was actually a solution architect of some sort, and being the carer at this viewing hut was just his part time side gig.
For lunch, we stopped at a random shokudo. was one of the most satisfying meal!
Then, we went and checked out Saruhashi yamanashi aka monkey bridge, which apparently is one of the most peculiar bridge in Japan. Google it. I'm definitely not doing it any justice.
And then a garden...
Now with us wandering around so much, we ended up somewhere with no train stations in sight. So we had to take a bus along the expressway that got us back to Shinjuku.
For dinner, we met up with one of Jen's jap friend. We had some Genkhis Khan. Dumplings were amazing!
Day 15 - The Final Chapter
Our last hurrah in Tokyo culminated in some last-minute shopping at Omotesando. Unfortunately, the experience was less than ideal due to heavy drizzling.
Having reached the point of saturation with Japanese cuisine, we opted for Italian fare at Pizzeria Cantera for lunch. The pizza and pasta, infused with Japanese ingredients, were simply divine!
To satisfy our sweet tooth, we indulged in happy pancakes, which, according to Jen, "taste like eating air."
Fed up with the persistent rain, we decided to head to Haneda Airport a bit earlier than initially planned. Looking back, it seems like it wasn't early enough, especially considering the onsen facility. Regrettably, I felt like there wasn't enough time to fully enjoy the facility. At a cost of 4800 Yen per entry, it was undeniably worth it!
Nevertheless, it was an undoubtedly memorable way to conclude our trip.
AND THAT MY FRIENDS, IS OUR TWO WEEKS ADVENTURE IN JAPAN. Thank you for reading towards the end.
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