Hi all, this is Part 2 of my recent July trip report, covering Matsuyama, Fukuyama, and Kyoto. Part 1 is here.
For some reason, the original version of this post was auto-modded, and I truly do not know why, so I made a couple of edits as a guess? Hopefully this one goes through.
Friday 7/18 – Matsuyama
The journey from Miyajima to Matsuyama involved two boats, one back to Hiroshima port, and then another to Matsuyama. From there we had a choice. The port is not in a convenient location, so we were looking at two bus rides and then a tram ride with all of our luggage to get to our hotel (Hotel Candeo Okaido). I pulled up the Go app and found that a cab ride would be about 4000 yen for a 35-40 minute drive, not that much more expensive than the three of us taking those three other forms of transit, and at least 20 minutes faster. Given how much my mom had struggled to this point, particularly with luggage, I made the executive decision that we were taking a cab. Public transit in Japan is great, but sometimes paying a little more to make a trip in a single vehicle is the right move.
Once in Matsuyama, we got dinner at a ramen shop north of Okaido that my husband had his eye on when we last visited two years ago, which was similar to Jiro style. My mom, not knowing exactly how many bean sprouts she would be receiving, went ahead and ordered that option. We ended up taking a chunk of her bean sprouts. It was good!
A note about the Candeo, they have public baths, and explicitly allow tattooed customers if you can cover the tattoos. The rooms therefore only have showers.
Saturday 7/19 – Matsuyama
As I mentioned, we came to Matsuyama two years ago, so most of what we did this day was repeats for my mom. But made easier by public transit in Matsuyama now accepting Suica!! Very big news, as Shikoku has very limited national IC card connectivity. The question is when Tokushima and Kochi will join the party.
We started the day heading up to Matsuyama castle. There are three ways to access the castle: hiking, chair lift, or ropeway. Given that it was 95 degrees, hiking was off the table. We tried both the ropeway and the chair lift. The wait for the chairlift is much shorter, so assuming you don’t have small children, it gets you up there faster.
There’s still a bit of a walk once you land to actually get to the castle, and we noticed that prices for everything were a bit more expensive up there. Like vending machine drinks were 20-30 yen more, and the orange juice taps (a Matsuyama specialty) were twice as expensive. So stock up on water before you go up.
This castle was I think the only original on our trip, which means no elevators, very steep and narrow stairs, and you’re doing this in socks. There are also exhibits inside, so it’s a good mix. But not suitable for those with mobility concerns.
We got lunch after heading down the mountain at a local bar that served tai meshi, a local specialty. It was actually my first time having red snapper, though the proper procedure for eating tai meshi is a little involved. It was good though. Not a strongly flavored fish.
From there, we took the tram to Dogo Onsen. We’d come this way before, but at the time the main building was still being renovated, so it was covered by what my husband calls “modesty tarp”. Those renovations are done now, so we took pictures from all angles, shopped on the shopping street, and walked up to the foot bath that overlooks the building. Fair warning, the water up there is blisteringly hot. I thought it was just me or just that day, but my friend in Matsuyama confirmed that it is extremely hot, always.
One of the unique products we bought in the shopping street are these like. Balls made of different ground up beans and other ingredients? Very hard to describe, but the store is literally a bean store. I got the sesame/soybean flour flavor (which apparently also contains peanuts, talk about an allergy bomb) and the raspberry flavor.
My mom and I headed back to rest while my husband hunted down the Gundam manhole covers, and we recovened for dinner at a karaage place near Okaido (Go-ichi). The stamina karaage took me out, they were so good. Another recommendation if you are a garlic fan like me.
Sunday 7/20 – Matsuyama
This day was planned months ago as a meetup with our friends who live in Matsuyama, so it was a much more relaxing/non-touristy day. They also have a car, making a lot of things easier.
First up, we went to the beach. Ironically, the weather dipped down to like 82 on this day, the one time more heat would have been nice. Oh well. The water was calm, and there were a lot of little shells and crabs to see in addition to swimming.
We left for lunch, scrapping our original plans when that restaurant was full in favor of an old favorite chain, Tendon Tenya. One of my friends is vegetarian, and Tenya is one of the few chains that makes it easy for her to eat. It’s also cheap and good.
After that, we went to Kisuke Box, somewhere none of us had ever been. Basically, you pay for a certain amount of time, and in addition to free drinks, you gain access to all of their activities, from karaoke and bowling to rock climbing and retro gaming. It’s not cheap, but it was a cool experience getting to try a bunch of different things in the same place.
We said goodbye to our friends, and then got some Yokohama Ie-kei ramen, my husband’s favorite style. Recommended if you like a pork heavy broth.
Monday 7/21 – Matsuyama to Fukuyama to Kyoto
This was a major travel day, as there was no convenient way to get to Kyoto from here. It was a tram ride to Matsuyama Station, then a train to Imabari, and then a highway bus to Fukuyama. The nice thing about the bus ride is that it basically takes you on the Shinmanami kaido route, and my mom really enjoyed the scenery.
Then we get to Fukuyama and it’s clear that I am actually sick. Our plans for this day were always flexible, but I’d wanted to go to Onomichi (for Yakuza game reasons). We decided to buy cold medicine, eat lunch (old faithful Nakau), and see how I felt. Just a note that if you buy the good cold medicine, they will ask you a bunch of questions like who is it for, what are their symptoms, have you bought this somewhere else etc because of the more controlled ingredients.
Anyway, the verdict was that I felt terrible. But leaving now would get us to Kyoto before our hotel allowed check in. So I dragged myself to Fukuyama castle, which is insanely close to the train station. I know nothing at all about this region, so it was an interesting museum, and newly reopened, so there was english all over. Even english subtitles on all of the videos!
After we bought enough time at the castle, we hopped on the shinkansen to Kyoto. I was braced for the worst in terms of human traffic, to be honest. And getting off the train in Kyoto station was an absolute madhouse, I think in large part because we were traveling on the end of a holiday weekend and a lot of people were trying to get home. Then again, every time we had to go through Kyoto station was similar, so probably best avoided if you can.
Our hotel was the Hotel M’s Shijo Est, so a two stop hop on the subway. It was a good spot, right by both Shijo station and Karasuma station. An easy walk to our two favorite shopping destinations, the pokemon center and Hands, hahaha. Also, the bathtubs in this hotel were unusually wide in the center, giving you more space. Always a plus in my book.
At this point I felt truly awful, so my husband brought me dinner from the convenience store and I enjoyed single digit bedtime.
Tuesday 7/22 – Kyoto
It was 100 degrees this day and I felt terrible so I spent the day resting.
My mom and husband felt okay, so they went to the craft museum, which they tell me was almost empty of people and full of english. Recommended if you like crafts and want away from the crowds.
After that they went to Kyoto Gyoen, which was also pretty sparsely populated, and more of a green space than a garden. Apparently they didn’t get too far before my mom felt too poorly to continue, so they headed back.
My mom and I got another convenience store dinner and my husband went to the Kimetsu no Yaiba movie.
Wednesday 7/23 – Kyoto
I woke up feeling better so we decided to brave Nijo Castle. We’d been before, but they’ve done a lot more restoration work since then (roughly ten years ago???). Prices have accordingly gone up, but it’s a very beautiful place. The ground are also pretty big, with benches scattered kind of far, which is tough when it’s. 100 degrees. The language I heard the most here was Spanish, which was interesting.
A note about amenities like cold drinks… when you leave the Honmaru Palace, you come across a cafe with some of the most inflated prices I’ve ever seen. We gave in and got drinks and a big shaved ice because we were suffering. But the vending machines, bathrooms, and rest area are just a short walk further down the path. So if you don’t want a 1700 yen shaved ice, keep walking, you’re almost there.
I was flagging at this point, my limited stamina drained, and my husband hoped that a favorite meaty meal would revive me. So we heading to the food floor of the Yodobashi Camera by Kyoto Station to visit my favorite tonkatsu spot in Kyoto, Tonkatsu Satsuma. They give you a mortar and pestle, and you grind up sesame seeds to add to your katsu sauce, giving it a unique flavor. I could do this at home, but I’m lazy. We also came to Yodobashi Camera to find “nature’s dumbest ear buds” because my husbands were broken and he still prefers cheap and wired. We did eventually succeed in that mission, but I was still weak, so we headed back to Shijo.
We gave the rest of the day to shopping: pokemon center, the food floor of the Daimaru, etc. And then had dinner at Yoshinoya because that’s my mom’s favorite chain from when she lived in LA. I might have taken a nap somewhere in here, and my husband went to the city museum.
Thursday 7/24 – Kyoto
The plan for today was to watch the Gion Matsuri floats, but those were scheduled around 11, so we popped over to Mibudera for some shinsengumi history. There was a lady there with a cat wearing a shinsengumi jacket, and maybe like 3 other people, which was great. There’s not too much to see there other than some graves, but shockingly there were a few english signs. Guess we’re not the only freaks out there.
Heading back to Shijo, we lined the street to wait for the parade floats. Because we came for the second weekend, I wonder if the first weekend was more… festive? I expected more music as the floats came down, though I understand the first weekend’s parade was conducted in a torrential downpour, so the mood probably wasn’t festive then either. Also, it was 100 degrees, so the float-pullers took periodic breaks for water and salt candy, which they clearly needed. One of the floats was pulled by only foreigners as far as I could tell, and I wonder what the story was there.
After the parade, we went to Min Min for chinese food, and then carried out some specific shopping expeditions. Without realizing it, we entered Nishiki Market on our quest to visit yet another sugi bee garden, and if you’re looking for Kyoto crowd crush, that is the place. It’s just too narrow for the volume of people crammed in there, especially foreign families walking three or four (or five!!) across. Please don’t do this, I’m begging you.
After all of our shopping missions were accomplished, we rested with the intention of going to Fushimi Inari at sunset, because my mom wanted to go, and I figured it would be more manageable near dark. After getting some ramen near the shrine, we headed in and… I was right. Don’t get me wrong, there were plenty of people there. But you could move without being touched, get your pictures (mom’s go pro strikes again) without causing too much trouble, etc. You won’t have it to yourself, but it was fine like that. That said, the bathrooms at Fushimi Inari were the worst we saw anywhere because of the amount of garbage people just left lying around in them. If you’re taking the time to read this, you probably won’t do that. But just to be safe, don’t do that!
We didn’t go very far, because it was getting dark and there are boars.
I do wish I had walked to Gion more than just the one time to get to the train to Fushimi Inari. Because stepping on that bridge over the river in the setting sun, I remembered why I loved Kyoto so much when I first came in 2009. There are some really beautiful moments and places. And not all of them are slammed with people.
Friday 7/25 – Kyoto
Friday was our last day in Kyoto so we split up. My mom rented a bike to explore on her own, and my husband and I did more Bakumatsu greatest hits sites. First we went all the way back to Fushimi to visit Teradaya, which had a unique system for dealing with foreign guests. The hostess had a ring of notecards with common english questions/phrases that she showed us. We didn’t need it, but if you want to visit this famous inn, you might!
From there we took a walk around the canal, taking in the sights, and being eaten by mosquitos. When my husband mentioned a sort of nearby Hama sushi, I jumped on it (it’s our favorite conveyor belt chain).
We headed back to Kyoto station after that, doing some last minute souvenir shopping before bussing over to Nishi Honganji, at one time the largest wooden structure in the world. I’ve been to a lot of temples in Japan at this point, but you do feel the sheer size of this place. It’s really impressive. Also, not crowded, and free. But if you let google maps direct you, it might convince you to get off the bus a stop early and have to do some extra walking in the extreme heat, because the compound is so large.
We linked up with my mom at the Hands for some additional shopping, then collected our luggage for our journey to our final hotel, the KIX airport hotel. Our flight was at like. 6:40 am. So we didn’t want to mess around with trains at that hour. This was the right choice, though for some reason we couldn’t buy tickets for the Haruka at Kyoto station, so we ended up taking a regular express to Osaka and then a bus to KIX. But those things were all well-signed so we made it in the end.
The hotel was the second one where we all stayed in the same room (first was the ryokan), with an interesting setup of three rather firm twin beds. But we had a great view of one of the runways, and my mom is a big plane fan, so she enjoyed that aspect a lot. We got dinner in the airport food court, which was a bit of a mess, both in terms of how busy it was and the prices. The convenience store in the hotel was also small and crowded, so I would get your essentials before trapping yourself at the airport.
Saturday 7/26 – Fly home
We flew JAL this time, and they open their check in counter at KIX exactly 1 hour before their first flight. Crazy to me as an american, but we got checked in and through security in no time at all. We discovered that only the souvenir stores beyond security sell plushes of Sorayan, the airport mascot, just in case anyone else cares… he’s cute okay.
At this point, there’s not much more to report! We did two tax free purchases, which no one asked to see. And then JAL shredded part of my husband’s bag on the luggage conveyor, but thankfully nothing was lost.
To survive the heat: I had a bucket hat, and made copious use of cooling towels. My husband used a UV umbrella and cooling wipes. My mom would soak her microfiber towels in water and then put them in the fridge overnight. The crazy thing is, as awful as the heat was, we did… kind of get used to it. In the sense that, when it was a mere 85 degrees at night, that felt comfortable. And I am not normally comfortable in that temperature. But by the end we all agreed that as long as you stayed out of direct sunlight, it was manageable. Just take it slow and don’t push yourself.
And that’s it. Thank you so much for reading if you made it through!
by lindoreda