One of our last pre-Covid trips was to Japan – exclusively Honshu – and we both felt our itinerary was the perfect introduction. That itinerary is listed here. We knew almost immediately that we wanted to return, and in the fall of 2024 we did.

By way of introduction, my husband and I are in our early seventies (how did that happen?), and we’re transitioning to no driving for most international travel. We enjoy outdoor activities as well as museums and gardens, and we like to end the day with a fine meal. "Night life" for us means a stroll back to our hotel.

For this trip we once again opted for fall, as the Koyo was spectacular while we were there in 2019. This time we were too early. We went back and forth about going to Shikoku, and looking back, it would have been better to spend more time there or eliminate it. Our itinerary is below. Tokyo and Kyoto are the only cities we revisited. If we were to return, they’d be on the next itinerary as well.

October 21-November 14

Tokyo – 5 nights
Kurashiki – 3 nights
Takamatsu – 3 nights
Miyajima – 1 night
Hiroshima -2 nights
Tsuwano – 2 nights
Matsue – 3 nights
Kyoto – 4 nights

Travel Days – October 21/22

We left our house at 7:30 a.m. for a 10:40 flight from SFO to Haneda. Somehow taking the local BART train to the airport sucks much of the anticipation out of traveling. I don’t feel like the trip actually starts until wheels up. When we arrived at the gate the pre-boards were already on, but everyone else was milling around in confusion. It was announced that there would be a delay due to an issue with the hydraulics, and all the pre-boards were off-boarded. See what I mean about wheels up? After another 30 minutes or so a new boarding time and gate were announced, so we headed back to the lounge to grab some lunch. I have no complaints when a flight is delayed due to hydraulics. It’s a good time to be on terra firma.

The flight took off about 2 hours late, and we settled in for our long flight across the Pacific. The flight was smooth, and we were in our preferred seats for international flights – United’s Premium Plus bulkhead on the side. While the armrests are fixed, and bags need to be stowed during take-off and landing, no one is lowering their seatback into you, and I find the visual space to be less claustrophobic. There’s also enough space to step across your sleeping seatmate. The route was different this time from other trips to Japan/Asia – there was no flying over the Aleutians and skirting Russian airspace. Hmmm.

We had spent time on the Visit Japan site to get our immigration and customs QR codes ahead of arrival. I don’t know how much time, if any, this saved. The site itself wasn’t great, and upon arrival, it took some deep dives to retrieve the QR code. We were waived through one set of lines, but then had to queue up in the kiosk lines to show documents. It may be like so many things for me in Japan where it makes perfect sense once you’ve done it the first time.

We had our Suica cards from the first trip, but didn’t know how much money was on them. We couldn’t find the right machine to read and charge them so we decided to just purchase train tickets into the center. The ticket machines we tried were cash only, which we didn’t have yet. There was a ticket counter next to the machines where we could use a credit card, and a helpful agent found us find a route to our hotel which only required one ticket. (Taking trains to the station at our hotel’s front door would have required us to transfer to a competing line, and purchase another ticket when we transferred with cash we didn’t have.) He did advise that we have some cash on us, and it just so happened that we then saw a 7-Eleven ATM vending machine opposite. So off we went like the pros we weren’t to Yurokucho Station, a short walk to the Gate Hotel, where we had stayed previously. Thank goodness for Google maps which show the station, the stops, the platform and the exit! When we popped above ground it was dark, but I knew exactly where we were and we headed to our comfortable room at the Gate.

After a quick refresh we headed out for a walk and a light sushi meal at Sushizanmai. We had not been to this branch before – the Takumi Ginza – and while not as good as other branches we had been to, it was sufficient. We later consulted a friend who has been to Japan often and advised that the branch “under the tracks” - the Yurokucho branch - was consistent.

In bed by 10, wide awake at 1 a.m., melatonin dose, and slept until 7 a.m.

October 23 – day 1 - Tokyo
Out for breakfast before what we hoped would be a full day. We headed to Muji for the basement diner where we had previously eaten many a breakfast. Closed tight. Not open until 11 a.m. The street level bakery had workers inside, but again, closed until 11 a.m. Anything we found at the street level was closed until 11 a.m. We remembered there is a City Bakery one level down nearby, so we got an assortment of pastries to go, and returned to the hotel to enjoy.

Carbo loading complete, we took the train to the Nezu Shrine. This is such a lovely, peaceful place right in the center. Other than what looked to be a group of nursery schoolers playing just inside the entrance, we had the shrine mostly to ourselves. Given its small size it’s a great stop at the beginning of a day of touring. The bright orange torii winding up the hillside stood out against a sky threatening to rain.

From the Nezu Shrine we walked to the Tokyo National Museum. We visited many of the most popular sites in Tokyo on our first trip, including this museum. It, along with two other sites - the Meiji Jingu Shrine and the National Crafts Museum - were on my list to repeat. (As it turned out we never made it back to Meiji Jingu, and the crafts museum has been moved to Kanazawa.) The walk itself was interesting as we wandered off the beaten path through small residential streets, rounding corners to find a row of vending machines, a small shop, or a temple.


At the museum there was a special exhibition of Haniwa, terracotta funerary objects from the 4th-7th centuries. We had seen some of these before, but all crowded together in a roped off area with little explanation. This exhibit was well done, the objects were beautifully displayed, and there were English descriptions. While we toured the entire museum, we spent most of our time in our favorite area upstairs with the wood block prints, kimono, and netsuke. I highly recommend a visit. If you are short on time, go directly upstairs to the small alcove with the display of netsuke.

As we left the museum, not only was rain imminent, but we needed some refreshment. The restaurant in the complex was filled to capacity, so we settled for a very pleasant matcha and hot tea from a little stand next to the restaurant, sat out the downpour under cover, and rested our feet. We took a different train back to the hotel. One thing we like about the Gate Hotel is that it is close to 3 train lines (Ginza, Hibiya, and Yurokucho), and is about a 15 minute walk from Tokyo Station. We had a very early dinner – remember, pastries for breakfast and no lunch – at Ginza Kagari Soba. We found a recommendation for this place on Katie Parla’s website, and we thank her for it. Much has been said about the lines to get in, but we only waited about ten minutes to order, and perhaps another ten in the second line to get seated. Perhaps it was because we arrived around 5:15, but the lines didn’t seem that long when we left either. We loved the rich, unctuous chicken broth suffused with truffle. The kabocha squash in the bowl was also outstanding. It was a perfect bowl of goodness on a cool, wet night. We walked the few short blocks back to our hotel and were done for the day.

Nice start - looking forward to your stay in Tsuwano - I was there a few years back - you don't often see it mentioned here....

Thank you for sharing about your experiences in Japan. I am especially looking forward to your time in Takamatsu, Matsue, and Tsumago given the limited information on those places here as I am planning my own visit there in the fall of 2025.

I loved reading this. The Tokyo National Museum and Ginza Kagari were both places I had on my list but didn’t get to. You can never do it all in Tokyo!

October 24 – day 2 – Tokyo

I had another night of jet-lag-disturbed sleep, but I am happy for slow mornings, especially as my husband made a solo run back to City Bakery for breakfast supplies to get me going. The day’s plan is to hit the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo and the National Crafts Museum. We had visited the crafts museum on our 2019 trip and were blown away by both the permanent collection and the special exhibit. It was a highlight of that trip, but we were having trouble finding information about it this time around.

We walked along the path of Kokyo Gaien National Garden before entering the Imperial Palace National Gardens, thinking that a stroll through the garden and popping out across the street from the museum would be more pleasant than staying along the busy thoroughfare. Along the way we saw a horse parade with two carriages coming from the palace grounds. We caught up with the procession just as traffic was stopped so the carriages could cross the street and disappear out of sight. Later research determined that the carriages are used for ceremonial purposes such as meeting new ambassadors at Tokyo Station. It was just one of those lucky sights to stumble upon.

We enjoyed our tour of the museum with its interesting and varied collection and descriptions in English. My favorite was Work 66-1 by Sadamasa Motonaga. There was also a thought-provoking video of a woman standing immobile in a crowd in four different cultures. It was mesmerizing to take in the different reactions of those who passed the woman, from indifference to annoyance to hostile. It was in one of the exhibition spaces that I saw a small notice on the wall stating that the National Crafts Museum had been moved to Kanazawa in 2020. This was a disappointment as Kanazawa was not in the itinerary for this trip. I highly recommend planning a visit to this museum if you are planning a trip.

I wanted to go to Daimaru to wander the basement food hall that gets on every “must visit” list. We took the train one stop to Tokyo Station, and then wandered around a bit until we found the store. It all proved too overwhelming for my husband. If I’d been on my own I may have managed 10-15 minutes, but the energy level is not one to take on when you’re getting the “hangries”. We stopped somewhere beneath the station at a large “Beer Hall” for good fish and chips and gyoza for an early lunch as we had early dinner reservations.

After lunch we walked back to the hotel for a bit of a rest, wandered the Ginza to do recon on the location of our dinner restaurant, and then hit Itoya, a 12 story stationary store. This is my kind of store! Holiday cards were already out, and we had lots of fun selecting special ones. Stationary goods are so well-priced in Japan compared to what I find at home that it was difficult to narrow down choices. On the other hand, cards are light and pack easily.

Dinner was at Ginza Furuta, a Bib Gourmand omakase restaurant. This cash only restaurant features food from the Noto Peninsula. The dishes are beautifully presented, and our sashimi course was excellent. One of the little desserts was a small oblong of jellied apple with microscopically small shreds of apple in suspension. Altogether our meal was reasonably priced for omakase in Tokyo, but aside from the sashimi, neither of us felt the meal was outstanding.

After dinner we walked to Venchi for gelato where we were greeted with a small piece of truffle. Really, that’s all the sweet I needed it was such a perfect taste. We bought about 5 pieces of it, plus a piccolo cup to share outside within a roped off standing room eating area.

October 25 – day 3 – Tokyo

Still not sleeping well, and still starting slow. The plan for today is to go the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum, and then wander the area to see what we can find. If you enjoy decorative arts, especially Art Deco, you must go to this museum, formerly house for Prince Asaka and family. WOW! Completed in 1933, the house was commissioned by Prince Asaka after he and the Princess attended the 1925 Paris Exposition. Many of the most well-known artisans of the style were involved in the design and craftsmanship – Lalique glass abounds. I found the entire house, furnishings and fixtures to be jaw-droppingly gorgeous. It, and the gardens, were definitely worth the morning we spent there. There wasn’t much going on in the garden at this time of year, but the vast lawn with an enormous sculpture planted at one end was beautiful.

We scrounged for lunch, finding a busy tempura spot filled with office workers. The food was fine, and did the trick. Then we wandered through a residential area with lots of interesting modern infill and found our way to the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum. The exhibition space was lovely, but the current shows were not to my taste. Leaving, we found ourselves on an interesting walkway to Ebisu Station. It all looked brand new, possibly an interesting place to check out if we ever return.

Once back at Yurakucho station we tried to purchase shinkansen tickets at a machine for the next stop on our itinerary. We thought we were doing everything correctly, but we would get to the end of entering all the information and it would fail. Not willing to take up even more of the time of the commuters waiting in line behind us, we gave up, deciding to plan in some time at Tokyo station to book all of our tickets in advance at the JR counter.

An early evening walk prior to dinner found us entering an intriguing underground passage which turned out to be Hibiya Okuroji, a mall underneath the elevated tracks between Hibiya and Shimbashi stations. There were some interesting shops, lots of restaurants and bars, and not much going on. Perhaps there would be a greater draw on a rainy evening? We liked the look of a little cocktail bar that was featuring gin drinks, but when we were told the negronis were pre-made, we took a pass. I’m not a snob, but how difficult is it to pour a fresh negroni?

We opted for a quick, casual dinner at the Yurakucho branch of Sushisanmai which turned out to be much better than the previous meal at the Takumi Ginza branch. It was a lovely, cool evening for a quick stroll around Ginza, and then off to bed.

October 26 – day 4 – Tokyo

We began our day with a quick walk to Tokyo station to purchase our tickets, and to find the shinkansen gates. By sheer luck we entered the station to find a small JR ticket office just to the right of the entrance. The line was short, and as we entered, a clerk with a badge reading “English” made her way to us. She filled out order forms for all of our trips while all along we advanced in the line. Then she handed us a slip for each of our trips, we handed them over the counter, paid, and we were on our way. Once again Japanese efficiency and customer satisfaction met. The only problem with purchasing tickets in advance if you want reserved seats is you need to decide what time of day you want to travel.

We had two museum reservations today at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m., so a morning to fill. We headed out to an artisan district that my husband read about online, Aki-Oka Artisan. We arrived too early, opening was at 11 a.m. so we wandered a main street through what is known as Electric Town.

Here I had my first look at Gachapon machines, as in one-half of a city block’s worth all along one building on the sidewalk. Head blown! Where have I been? I knew about, and had seen, all the little toys hanging off of purses and backpacks, but these machines are where they are dispensed. Quite the display. Another interesting sight while we wandered waiting for the opening of the artisan mall were the lines, mostly young men, waiting for all the gaming stores to open.

We then happened into the Nippon Department Store, where I spent a blissful fifteen minutes or so wandering the aisles taking in all the interesting foodstuffs from all over Japan. There were also some craft souvenirs, and I purchased a little Kokeshi doll for our grand daughter. I could have spent a bit more time, but by then it was 11, and we headed to our intended destination.

Many of the shops were closed, there seemed to be a lot of leather-working shops, and a few restaurants. Altogether, somewhat of a snooze for us. If you want a custom umbrella this might be the place to go, as that shop looked impressive. As we left I noticed that the street-side brunch restaurants were lively and had lines.

It was time to hop on the train for our ticketed time at the Yayoi Kusama Museum. Um – not impressed. I would say that if you have seen any of her exhibits, you can save yourself some time. The building itself was interesting, but not a great space to display art, spread over 4 narrow, confined floors. You must take the one-way stairs up, and a very slow, small elevator down. The first floor is comprised of the welcome counter, restroom and gift shop, plus the most interesting installation of all – colorful stuffed fabric sculptures suspended from the ceiling. The second floor displayed clippings and photographs of Kusama at various times in her life. I vaguely remember a few paintings on the wall, but I can’t verify as no photographs are allowed except on the top floor. This would probably be of most interest to someone studying the evolution of this particular artist’s work. On the third floor we were held in a small group until we could enter a narrow hallway with a video projection of Kusama reciting some of her poetry. The final floor is a roofless area containing one of her giant yellow and black pumpkins. Mostly it was a line of people waiting to get a photograph of the pumpkin, with or without themselves, and the image was continously interrupted when a new group of people entered the small space. Back on the first floor, the line for the restroom was long with a lengthy wait time. Probably because the mirrors and dots were what people came expecting to see. My apologies for this poor review. Perhaps I missed something, but I have seen her installations in other places, and this pales in comparison.

Back to the Ginza branch of the Mitsukoshi Department Store food hall to grab some lunch, a quick refresh at the hotel, and off to Team Lab Borderless. We really didn’t know what to expect. This was either going to come across as totally hokey, or great fun. We had a blast. I’ll just say that it’s hard not to smile while taking in this collection of ever-changing rooms. My notes indicate that it was “half incredible and half drugs for the masses. Then you enter the Christmas ball hallway and room. Total joy – visual delight.” It was the perfect connection and foil to Kusama. Team Lab is located in the Mori building in the Azabudai Hills. It was full on dark when we left, and Tokyo Tower appeared to be just a bit of a ways away. We’d had a full day on our feet, so opted to enjoy the sight from where we were, and headed back to Sushizanmai for our last evening in Tokyo. In retrospect, I wish we had either walked the ten minutes to Tokyo Tower, or found our way to the top floor of the Mori building.

Thank you for your feedback of Team Lab Borderless, as we're considering it for our return trip to Japan.

Really enjoying your report especially since I'm planning our trip for November 2025 and looking for ideas. Please continue.

October 27 – Day 5 – Travel day to Kurashiki

We took one last long stroll through the Ginza. Chances are it will be our last visit to Tokyo. Rather than dealing with luggage on the metro steps we walked to Tokyo Station which was not much longer than if we had taken the metro, plus it meant we could more easily work our way around to the direct shinkansen entrance. A pleasant 3 ½ hours later we were in Okayama with an easy transfer to Kurashiki.

The Royal Park Hotel was minutes away from the station. Our spacious room was somewhat dated, but perfectly comfortable and extremely clean. The top floor lounge, where breakfast is served provides a view of the city. There is a spa and laundry facilities, plus self-service luggage storage.

One of the first things we found out about Kurashiki is that we had been mis-pronouncing it all during our planning, which made requesting train tickets a bit funny. The emphasis is not on the third syllable, but somewhere along the second syllable so that it sounds like “krashki” (same for Okayama), etc. I need to do a better job of pre-trip education!

Our guidebook (Fodors) said that most things are closed on Sunday in Kurashiki, so we asked the hotel ahead of time for dinner recommendations. The response was that they would give us a list when we arrived. Based on the list, there were many options of all types available. The desk clerk recommended dinner at a fabulously atmospheric izakaya just around the corner, Kita-no-Kura. Dave Brubeck was on play, gorgeous soft light filled the old warehouse space with lofty ceilings and huge beams. We had very friendly service and great food. We shared octopus wasabi, chicken skewers, pork tenderloin skewers, shishito, grilled squid, grilled shrimp, a second order of octopus, vegetable tempura, and shrimp tempura. It was all so very good we immediately made plans to return. There may have been a few beers and some sake. After dinner we wandered around to find the historic district, missed it by a few turns and packed it in for the night.

really enjoying your trip report, and following along eagerly as we are planning our October/November 2025 trip now. looking forward to hearing more about your stay in Kurashiki, as we're trying to decide whether to spend a few days in Okayama or ????

October 28 – Day 6 – Day trip to Okayama

We had planned a visit to Okayama, and as most things that we wanted to see in Kurashiki are closed on Mondays, we took the train into Okayama to visit Korakuen Garden, further explained here. It is considered one of the great gardens of Japan. It must be stunning in the spring, but we found it to be quite impressive in general, especially with the castle perched above. There was a silk spinning and weaving exhibition with about 25 beautiful kimonos on display, and a helpful volunteer who patiently showed me how to spin silk thread from the cocoon fluff. This is the type of experience that we seem to stumble upon in our travels, and why we tend not to pack our days with detailed plans.

Also on display were incredible Chrysanthemums under protective cover, and carefully tended by their growers. We’ve seen these displays all over Japan in the fall, and they never cease to amaze. Some have flower heads as large as dinner plates requiring support, while others have countless small blossoms whose stems have been trained into fan shapes.

From the garden we walked up to Okayama Castle, impressive in size, but all the displays are in Japanese, and we couldn’t get the QR code to work. I’d say walk up to, and around it, but there is no real need to go in unless you want the view or you haven’t seen Japanese armor or swords before. It really is stunning perched above the garden and town.

Because we spent extra time at the silk exhibition there wasn’t enough time left in our day to take a train to Kibitsu Jinja Shrine. In retrospect, I wish we had made our way to the shrine first thing. If we ever return to the area, this will be on the list. We walked back to the station, stopping for a quick bagel and homemade ginger ale (so good!) at a little cafe called Stand. We then joined all the school kids for the train ride back to Kurashiki. By this time the overcast had turned to rain and wind.

Dinner was at Sushi Katsu. Half the fun was the owner/chef who spoke to us as if we could understand Japanese. At one point I caught a word of French, and that seemed to work better for us. No matter, we all seemed to figure it out, sort of. We wanted to order pieces of sushi and some nori, but he said no, no. Somehow we ended up with a large combination platter. Perhaps we should have tried harder, but perhaps what we first ordered wasn’t available? The platter, beautifully presented, was enough for the two of us, and was good. One diner across from us noticed that my chopsticks had split unevenly, and she ceremoniously presented a new pair. We had a fun evening with good, not amazing, sushi.

October 29 – Day 7- Kurashiki

Our hotel serves a great buffet breakfast plus a hot entree served at table with a choice of western or Japanese items. After that we began our stroll through an arcade on our way to the Bikan Historical Quarter. We were immediately distracted by a store whose sole product was Gachapon – vending machine-dispensed capsule toys . These tiny accessories are purchased from coin operated machines which lined the walls and filled the aisles. I was fascinated watching a group of young girls seriously contemplating what to get for their 300 yen. A young couple was videotaping a purchase, perhaps hoping to complete a set of something. Further on we stopped to watch a sweet bean paste filled pancake type thing being made. Called momiji-manju, they are made by pouring batter into hot cast iron molds, topped with bean paste, and followed by more batter before being pressed and baked. These were being filled by hand, but later on in the trip we would be mesmerized watching the automated process of preparing these treats.

Upon exiting the arcade we faced the entrance to the Achi Shrine, but opted to save it for later. Our goal was the Ohara Museum, but we were further distracted by all of the great shops along the street that runs parallel to the street with the canal. We noticed that there didn’t seem to be the standard tourist schlock here. The district is really attractive, and the shops were filled with enticing, well-made goods. Our favorite was a store called Atiburanti. This multi-level shop is filled with beautiful cards, pottery, linens, baby items, and lots and lots of washi tape. Overall, I’ve found the paper products in Japan to be of exceptional quality and well-priced. Some of my favorites from this shop were illustrated cards of birds that opened to pop-ups of the birds in flight. We purchased all of our souvenir gifts in one shot in this store. Further along there is a toy store filled with darling wooden toys of exceptional quality. I had already purchased my granddaughter's present, so I had to let these get away.

After a quick stop for an exceptionally sweet filled donut, we finally reached the canal of fame and the Ohara Art Museum. While small, it was interesting to see what Western art the original collector was able to acquire, and how it influenced the Japanese artists included in the collection. Our impression was that most of the first purchases were second tier, as in what was left after Western collectors snapped up what they wanted. That did not make the visit any less enjoyable.

We then bumbled around a bit looking for the Museum of Folk Craft which may have been more interesting if we knew what we were looking at. Happy to have spent the 15 minutes or so that we took. From there we went inside the home of the wealthy Ohara family. The best part of that was sitting in the tatami room overlooking the beautiful garden. From there we grabbed an unimpressive lunch, and made our way further along the canal side until reaching Ivy Square. This was my least favorite part of a wonderful day’s stroll. The quarter didn't seem to be overly crowded, and while the day was somewhat overcast, the willows along the canal and reflected in the water made for a scene from the guidebooks.

It began to rain so we returned to the hotel via the arcade, and spent some time reading and relaxing until dinner. We made a repeat visit to Kita-no-Kura where we had: grilled mackeral, chicken skewers, vegetable tempura, octopus tempura, and a luscious tuna and avocado salad. Highly recommend this izakaya.

October 30 – Day 8 – Travel day from Kurashiki to Takamatsu on Shikoku

After another nice breakfast, and before checking out, we walked up to the Achi Shrine. At the top of a hill, the area is serene, and we enjoyed the first sunshine of our trip. (Tokyo had been overcast and warm, Kurashiki overcast with off and on rain.) Preparations were underway for a celebration of some sort – possibly for the upcoming Culture Day. Rice straw sheaves were piled up under a tent, and I assume they had something to do with the beautiful Shimenawa, a rope braid at the shrine’s entrance that separates the sacred from the mundane. There was no one about to ask, so we just enjoyed the peaceful space, the view over the city, and the walk down past a wisteria that is reported to be 300-500 years old.

We enjoyed our stay in Kurashiki, and I’m glad that we spent the time there. Yes, it could be done as a day trip, but there was something special about wandering the streets of the Bikan in the soft lamp light. It felt timeless. But it was time to head to the station and stand in line for our tickets to Takamatsu. I can only guess that we didn’t pre-purchase them because we didn’t know what time we wanted to travel. I think we could have used the Suica cards for this leg of the trip.

We had a beautiful crossing over the Inland Sea with the sun sparkling off the island-dotted water. At the station in Takamatsu we looked and looked for the information office to no avail. We kept seeing signs for it, but all we could find was a map on the wall. A few days later when we left Takamatsu the information office was the first thing we saw when we got to the station. It appeared as if by magic… Google maps came to the rescue, and after a short walk to the tram station we took it three stops to a mall that was within a few blocks of our hotel.

The Royal Park Hotel was fine, but turned out to be our least favorite hotel of the trip. Our room, in the deluxe category, was cramped with a settee and desk set up at the end of the bed making a trip to one side of the bed an obstacle course. The bathroom was small, but adequate. The bed was comfortable, but the lighting was atrocious. There was no spa at this hotel, but there was a lovely lounge that served as breakfast room, afternoon tea room, evening cocktail lounge, and late night bar. We spent quite a bit of time there!

After leaving our bags at the front desk, we headed out for an overdue lunch. My husband had read about an udon restaurant near Ritsurin Garden that closed at 2:30, so off we race-walked toward what would be a noodle adventure. We walked because the navigator in our family said that it was 26 minutes to walk, and the same amount of time to take the bus/tram. (I keep falling for that one.) The idea was that if we passed something interesting on the way for lunch we could stop. However, the walk was through a nondescript, fairly isolated area so Sanuki Udon Ueharaya was where we ended up. This is a self-serve type place, and I think we would have had a great lunch if we had had any idea what to order. We grabbed a tray, that being self-explanatory. We walked down the line of various tempura offerings. Again, self-explanatory. When we got to the end of the line where the noodles are ordered we were totally stumped. We finally pointed to one of three pictures above the counter and paid. One of the staff tapped their wrist which we interpreted as meaning, “We are closing soon”. Turns out it meant, “This will take some time”. All the other customers were happily slurping enticing bowls of noodles while we waited, and waited, and waited. After almost fifteen minutes our order was ready, and we received bowls of udon in plain hot water with a dish of dipping sauce on the side. Then the fun really started as we tried to wrangle the long, slippery noodles with chopsticks out of one bowl, into another, and hopefully into our mouths. Let’s just say that I left feeling hangry, and it was all our fault for not doing a bit of research beforehand.

Ritsurin Garden was across the street so we paid our fee, and took a circular path off to the right. A lot of the garden was in the shadow of the steep hillside it abuts. Off in the distance we kept hearing sirens which came closer and closer. By the time we drew close to another gate to the garden the sirens were blaring, and we could see flashing lights on the street quite close by. Out of one of the vehicles jumped two men, one carrying what looked to be a full length shield, and the other swinging a club against a smaller shield. We decided this wasn’t the gate that we wanted to exit from. As we turned away from the gate, I looked over my shoulder to see a wild boar about 20 feet behind! It spun around and charged into the heavily wooded hill behind the garden. The story I tell myself is the boar had found its way into someone’s garden, and they had called for help.

We left the garden after seeing very little of it which was disappointing, but we were both footsore and tired. We returned to the hotel, officially checked in, and tried to put together a plan for the following day. One thought had been to visit Takamatsu in order to go to Naoshima and Teshima if the weather was going to be nice. Rain was predicted for the remainder of our time so we scrapped that plan. We had not made advance reservations for the Isamu Noguchi garden museum, and the hotel was unable to obtain tickets for us once we knew we weren’t going to Naoshima. No matter. We headed to the lounge for late afternoon tea, stayed for cocktail hour, debated walking through the arcade which opened just down the street from the hotel, and opted to sleep.

Enjoying your TR a lot. Love the wild boar story!

Your report on Takamatsu is helpful. Is it fair to say that it is not worth going out of the way for?

Tripplanner001. It's hard to respond. It depends on how much time you have, and what your priorities are. I have two more days to report about Takamatsu, and we enjoyed them. If it hadn't been dreary weather we would have taken the ferry to Naoshima. Overall, we wish that we had either spent more time on Shikoku to see more areas, or eliminated the visit. You might want to look at my itinerary for our first trip to Japan in 2019, as we both thought it was a great introduction.
Thanks for following along, and thanks for your patience.

October 31 – Day 9 – Takamatsu

After a nice breakfast at the hotel which included a choice of Western or Japanese hot entree, we began our plan for the day: hike the Yashima Loop pilgrimage trail to Yashima Temple, and then go to the Shikoku Mura.

The train ride was relatively short, and we then found ourselves at an abandoned station with none of the promised signs pointing the way to the path for pilgrims or bumbling tourists. But heck, there’s the mountain, and here’s a road going up, so off we went. It was like walking through a ghost town. There were no cars on the streets, few shops and those weren’t open, no unsuspecting residents we could stop to ask for directions. We soon found ourselves at the abandoned funicular that used to go up the mountain. Still no signs to guide us to the path so we decided to visit the Mura first, and ask directions there.

We spent about 2 hours at the Shikoku Mura, an outdoor museum consisting of buildings from all over Shikoku. The signage was great, and the museum was placed in a forest setting with many pathways, making for a lovely meander. I thoroughly enjoyed the time we spent there, and we were able to get directions to the road which leads to the pilgrimage trail.

The day was cool and overcast, but so far there was no sign of rain. As we trudged uphill (I think some of the steepest ascent was while we were still on the town roads) we passed a school that was just letting out for the day. We were swimming upstream against a torrent of young children. They just kept coming. As we had found the town to be so quiet I wonder where they were going? One brave little boy called out “Hello.” “Konnichiwa”, I responded. This resulted in gales of laughter. This started a pattern of “hellos”, “konnichiwas”, giggles, and laughs. It was a lovely way to make our way up hill until we left the school and the kids behind, and found ourselves on the path to Yashima Temple.

The wide path is paved with stones with small shrines along the way. We were overtaken occasionally by walkers more used to a steady ascent, and a few people were making their way back down who stopped to ask us about our travels. We took it slow, but I’m so glad that we made the trek. The journey was the reward, but the temple complex was also lovely and interesting with its mix of ancient and modern, along with its badgers standing guard. We were unable to visit the museum, which is supposed to have a lovely garden. We debated taking the bus back down, and we should have. The first several switchbacks felt as if my old enemy shin splints were returning, but I was fine once the pitch was less severe.

Once back in town we took a different road down to the train track level looking for a place to get a late lunch. We found Parlor Emerald tucked away just off the main street running along the tracks. We got there just before the kitchen closed at three, but we were graciously served a nice set lunch. We then walked back to the little station where several people were waiting for the train. Where were these people all day? Perhaps there is a whole lot more to Yashima on the other side of the tracks.

Back at the hotel we were just in time for tea and cookies. Once again, dinner was out of the question due to our late lunch. We did some laundry, edited photos, and planned the next day.

November 1 – Day 10 – Takamatsu

After another nice breakfast we headed out into the rain for the Takamatsu Art Museum. The building itself is visually impactful, and I found this to be the case for all of the modern prefecture museums we would visit on this trip.

We were incredibly fortunate to be there for a special exhibition of five Japanese wood block print artists. The exhibition was titled, “Stars of Ukiyo-e”, and featured about 150 marvelous prints. The artists are: Kitagawa Utamaro, Toshusai Sharuku, Katsushika Hokusai, Utagawa Hiroshige, and Utagawa Kuniyoshi. I found an interesting site with an explanation of the history and evolution of Ukiyo-e. The exhibition was wonderful in the breadth of the works displayed. It was hard to move from one piece to the next because the level of detail in each, and the subject matter held my attention. Especially interesting for me were Hokusai’s 35 Views of Mt. Fuji. Some of the prints were familiar as icons of the genre, but each told a different story with Fuji-san either prominently placed or peeking out from somewhere in the frame.

We also viewed some of the permanent collection featuring an exhibit of lacquerware with a great illustration of the layering process of the craft. Yet another gallery featured art from the permanent collection which had been selected for show by a youth group who had participated in a class at the museum.

From the museum we walked to an “art alley” - Kitihama Alley - my husband had read about that was on the port. It was pretty much a bust, with only a few shops open. I’m thinking it might be one of those places that might be busier on the weekends. There looked to be lots of studio spaces behind locked up doors in the old warehouse buildings. It was quite a trek from the Museum, and then we had to head back toward the station which turned out to be a long walk through construction before we made it to the entrance of Takamatsu Castle Park. It’s a small, pretty park with the requisite chrysanthemum displays. It was interesting to see the salt water moats, but it’s not a place to spend much time on a windy day that promises more rain.

From the park we found our way back to the covered arcades just in time. After scouting the arcades from all sides we decided on Beijing for lunch, enticed by the sign for lemon gyoza. These gyoza were so, so good. They were perfect for a light lunch along with a few beers. Service was very friendly, and it was nice to have a sit down. We haven’t exactly been hitting the fine dining scene on this trip, and perhaps we should have tried udon again, or gone for the local specialty of chicken on the bone, but we were so happy with the gyoza that we decided to make the decision making process easy by returning to Beijing for dinner. Which we did. We had Chinese style tempura prawns and eggplant in ma po sauce. Both were excellent.

enjoying this. We leave in under 2 months for our second trip to Japan and have included 2 nights Takamatsu. We want to see Ritsurin, Shikoku Mura and maybe Noashima if weather is good. Seems you enjoyed it and I appreciate the lunch reservations. We would't know how to self order the udon so will have to look into that.
Did you enjoy Takamatsu more that Kurashiki?