4 more days in Kyoto / Osaka / Hiroshima, told via Google Maps reviews (part 4/5, 23 reviews)
I recently went to Japan for an unbelievably excellent 3-week holiday! Here’s the second half of the third location visited, Kyoto (plus Osaka / Hiroshima), told via 23 Google Maps reviews.
Note: This is a series of posts, with Tokyo Part 1, Takayama Part 2, Kyoto Part 3 and Part 4 (this article), and finally Tokyo again Part 5.
Day 5 (3rd September): Osaka
A day trip to Osaka, this was mostly vintage clothing stores for my partner and aimless wandering by me! A total of 18,561 steps (8.45 miles).
Umeda Sky Building ★★★★✰
This initially unassuming building has a quite good free area, with a shop and great views, but it’s worth paying to go all the way up! No prebooking was needed when we came during a weekday morning.
The open-air top has good views of the surrounding area, although the ideal south view is blocked by other skyscrapers, unfortunately. There’s a very small museum with the history of the building, containing an excellent time-lapse video of the unbelievable central area raising process.
There’s a fairly good food & drink shop inside, worth a rest here if you can get a good window seat.
Glico Sign Dotonbori ★★★✰✰
Iconic, but ultimately just a large sign visible from a crowded bridge. More of a checklist item than actually good!
Shinsekai Market ★★★✰✰
A slightly run down shopping avenue with various small shops selling food and souvenirs. Most were closed or half-open on a normal weekday afternoon, so I suspect this only exists to catch visitors at the weekend!
Shinsekai ★★★★✰
A busy few streets centred on the distinctive Tsutenkaku tower, with lots of over the top decorations! There are plenty of food options here, along with all the typical Don Quijote and convenience stores. Worth a visit for a meal, but perhaps not more than a couple of hours.
Naniwa Kushikatsu Shichifuku ★★★★★
We accidentally came here looking for somewhere else, but we’re glad we did! Excellent kushikatsu is ordered via a multilingual ipad, along with drinks and other snacks, and the chef was helpful in describing what the variety of fried food actually was.
It was fairly quiet when we visited during a weekday afternoon, with only a few locals chatting at another table, and food and drinks were prepared quickly.
Shinsaibashi-Suji ★★★✰✰
A fairly typical, albeit larger than usual, shopping street. Lots of brands and chain stores instead of the usual unique stores, and many vintage clothing stores. As busy as you’d expect for central Osaka.
Day 6 (4th September): Misc
A rare peaceful and unplanned day, with only a few spontaneous events plus plenty of shopping! A relatively small 13,334 steps (5.88 miles).
Gion Kagai Art Museum ★★★★★
We came here after a recommendation during a Gion walking tour, and it definitely deserves to be more popular! Upon entry, you’ll need to remove your shoes and your ticket will be checked. Next, you’ll spend some time in the museum before your performance, followed by a tea room and pretty garden. Overall you should expect to spend around 60-90 minutes here.
The museum consists of 5-6 rooms with historical information on Geiko (Geisha) and Japanese culture, with Japanese text but a QR code to read it in English on your phone. These were very interesting, and we could have spent far longer here before being informed our booked performance time was about to start. I’d recommend coming 30 minutes before your performance time to allow enough time for the museum beforehand.
Surprisingly, we had a genuine geiko (geisha) for our performance, who was introduced by museum staff and did not say a word / display any expression throughout her 15 minute performance, clearly a professional. Whilst I can’t pretend to fully understand the dance’s culture at all, she was obviously confident in her abilities, and it was powerful. No photos or talking are allowed during the performance, with a page of information provided beforehand.
After the performance, you can pay extra to get a photo with her, or progress to the shop / tea room. We had a green tea here, which was surprisingly slow but came with small snacks so balanced out! The shop has magnets / photos of all the performers and other similar merchandise, with today’s highlighted so you can easily identify them.
the Art Cafe ★★★★★
A small tea room / cafe, accessible within the Gion Kagai Art Museum after watching a performance and next to the museum shop.
We ordered a green tea here, and it took a surprisingly long time to prepare, but that’s probably due to being made from scratch just for us (there were no other visitors), and came with small mochi snacks.
There’s an excellent view over a well maintained garden whilst resting here.
Nandattei ★★★★★
Unbelievably excellent tomato curry ramen. Hot temperature, hot spiciness, lively yet quiet atmosphere as everyone is busy eating apart from the chefs!
The entrance can be a little hard to find, hidden down a side street opposite a burger shop, inside a sliding door. The inside is reminiscent of an izakaya, with the chefs working away in front of you inside the L-shaped eating counter. There can be a short wait, but people get through their meals pretty fast so it’s acceptable.
Pictured is the Number 21 (Tomato Curry Tsukemen), a very affordable (¥1150) and filling dinner.
Day 7 (5th September): Hiroshima
A day trip to Hiroshima, with the long travel time (2.5-3 hours each way, made worse by typhoon flooding) resulting in only 10,039 steps (4.31 miles).
Atomic Bomb Dome ★★★★★
The iconic landmark of Hiroshima, the bombed out remains of the Industrial Promotion Hall stand in stark contrast to the high rises behind it, showing Hiroshima (and Japan’s) strong recovery since.
A must-see whilst in the area, an information board nearby has excellent images of the building’s original state, and immediately after the bombing. There is a pleasant green area surrounding the dome, plus the larger memorial park across the river with a good vantage point.
Hypocenter Monument ★★★★★
A completely ignored small plaque down a side street near the Atomic Dome landmark marks the actual spot underneath where the bomb exploded. There are no tourists here, and it’s easy to miss the sign if you don’t know it’s there, but it’s an essential visit for the sheer globally unique nature of it.
Children’s Peace Monument ★★★★★
Perhaps the most distinctive memorial in the memorial park, this statue dedicated to the lost children is surrounded by hundreds of thousands of paper cranes representing peace in intricate designs. Whilst still quiet, this area will likely have a few other people around, and contains a few small signs of information.
Bell of Peace ★★★★✰
This (loud!) bell invites visitors to ring it, as a symbolic representation of the intent of global peace. There’s some sort of irony in the presence of a sign asking visitors to not be overly aggressive with the bell, and ring it gently!
Korean Victims Cenotaph ★★★★★
An important recognition of the 10% of Hiroshima citizens that were Korean, a fact that is usually omitted. A plaque at the monument explains why these Koreans were there, and to acknowledge that no funerals or memorial services were given, and to hope that they experience greater recognition in the future.
Whilst small, the distinctive turtle design and important message makes this a key part of the memorial park, and worth visiting.
Memorial Burial Mound ★★★★★
A seemingly ceremonial dirt hill that gains a drastically different meaning after reading the nearby sign, mentioning the tens of thousands of victims’ ashes underneath. I’m not sure of anywhere else on earth you can be so close to the actual remains of so many people at once, a sobering experience.
Victims Memorial Cenotaph ★★★★★
An archway with views of the flame of peace, this cenotaph has frequently replaced flowers and features a tomb containing the names of every victim of the bomb. In the shallow water is a short description of the monument in 7-8 languages.
Clock Tower of Peace ★★★★✰
This distinctive clock tower rings out every morning at the time of the bomb, 8:15am. Similar to the Bell of Peace, this is with the intention of this noise symbolically ringing globally, bringing peace with it.
The structure is unfortunately noticeably rusting in a few places.
Peace Memorial Museum ★★★★★
This fairly large museum features sprawling exhibits on Hiroshima, primarily the experience during and after the bomb was dropped. This includes hundreds of items, horrific stories of how individuals and families were affected, and an entire section dedicated to one family who experienced decades of trouble (likely PTSD) as a result.
The museum can be a little crowded, with the dense information necessarily meaning a slow single-file queue at times. After the main sombre and dark area, there is a palette cleansing long bright walkway with a view of the park, followed by an open area with a wider perspective on both time and location towards the end.
Downstairs is a free area (also accessible after the paid area) that is arguably the most valuable part, featuring hundreds of photos from the day and subsequent periods. Many of these I hadn’t seen before, although I believe this exhibition changes over time.
Komeda’s Coffee ★★★★★
We came here on a whim and it was super tasty! It feels like a family run restaurant, with friendly staff more than happy to navigate a conversation despite not speaking a word of each other’s language, and a small welcome snack provided.
I had a (very large, only half pictured!) pork cutlet sandwich that was excellent, and I kept thinking about it the following few days. My partner had spaghetti and garlic bread, with a shiro-noir dessert. We both had strong black coffees, not particularly notable.
We were surprised to learn afterwards that this is a chain restaurant, and that they are well known for their giant portions. A great discovery at the end of a tiring day!
Day 8 (6th September): Shrines & Temples
What was intended to be a relaxing final Kyoto day resulted in climbing 2 mountains (well, big hills), oops! This resulted in 24,367 steps (10.03 miles), half of them uphill, all of them in very hot weather.
Fushimi Inari-taisha ★★★★✰
One of the defining visuals of Kyoto, this series of hundreds of tori gates all the way up Mount Inari is a unique experience! This is an intense climb, with the relentless stairs and relatively rare rest stops making reaching the top “loop” a genuine achievement.
The hike itself will take around an hour, however it will be more tiring than you expect due to the lack of flat areas, and occasionally having to change pace due to other visitors on the route.
Make sure you bring comfy shoes, and the best photos are typically of the gates themselves rather than the view you’ve walked so hard to earn! The lower levels of the mountain are also one giant queue at parts, keep walking up and the crowds will thin out though.
Sanjūsangendō Temple ★★★★★
The unique contents of this relatively small temple are definitely worth seeing, it’s almost surreal seeing hundreds of statues in perfect order. The temple’s grounds are well maintained, featuring plenty of shaded seating and an aesthetic pond.
Luckily, photos are not allowed within, forcing visitors to actually appreciate the statues, and engage with the temple.
Tendon Makino Teramachi ★★★★✰
If you’re hungry and like tempura, this is for you! Very large portions with plenty of sides, with the set menu offering a very filling (if unhealthy) meal. Soba noodles were tasty and flavourful, with the included mochi dessert being much appreciated.
There’s typically a bit of a queue outside, although the upstairs was not full. Orders are taken whilst waiting outside, meaning your food arrives fairly quickly once you enter.
Kiyomizu-dera ★★★★✰
As one of the distinctive landmarks of Kyoto, this mountaintop temple is unsurprisingly pretty busy at the weekend! Once through the main gates, there is the distinctive ultra-heavy Spear of Benkai.
Next, there is a 15-minute loop walk, with excellent views of Kyoto and other parts of the temple provided throughout. Finally, you’ll exit via a side path that makes its way out skipping the incoming crowds.
Overall I preferred this to Fushimi Inari-taisha, but it’s a far simpler, shorter, and easier experience, focused more on views than any actual hiking. The main downside is the approach roads being unusably thick with visitors on the weekend, you’ll be moving extremely slowly!
Conclusion
As mentioned in Kyoto Part 3 article, we really enjoyed Kyoto. The second half of our time here was more subdued, with a couple of days being genuinely spontaneous instead of the usual dense plan! Whilst the day trips to Osaka and Hiroshima were valuable, I’m not sure that they were the best use of our time.
Osaka was very focused on shopping, something I personally have no interest in, and food, of which infinite excellent options are already available in Kyoto. Luckily transport from Kyoto is very simple and quick, and admittedly the unusually grey weather may have influenced our enjoyment. Overall though, we struggled to find many things to look at even in a single day, unlike Kyoto and Tokyo where there are far more things than you can see in a week.
For Osaka, this Reddit post I viewed beforehand kinda summed it up. It’s shopping and bars / food, of which we had plenty elsewhere. I’m sure it appeals to some people, but seeing Osaka / Kyoto / Tokyo being referred to together feels bizarre!
Hiroshima was great, but we knew it was going to be a long commute, made worse by the typhoon disrupting the usually perfect Japanese trains. As such, we only had a few hours there, enough to see the bomb-related area & eat but not actually explore the city, so I’d like to come back one day.
I’m happy that we got most of the “must-see” locations in Kyoto, with those we didn’t see being an intentional choice not a time limitation. Obviously there are many, many more things we could do there, but I’m satisfied with our choices! TripAdvisor is just one source of recommendations, however we visited around 85% of their top “Things to Do”, a good metric.