Most Inspirational Moment
My favourite place was Takayama--the scale of the City was really manageable. I loved wandering in the historic centre, going into the craft galleries to purchase one-of-a-kind pieces, and doing the Higashimya Walking Course.
Kyoto- Nijo Castle had a really interesting and beautiful interior. I really enjoyed going there. While I liked seeing Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion), it wasn't my most favourite experience as you follow a set path with a lot of people. Ryoan-ji temple had a simple rock garden with a lot of meaning--I liked the surrounding landscape. Seeing Fushinmi Inari Taisha in the late afternoon/early evening was a cool experience. While we saw 4 geisha standing at a corner in Gion it wasn't my favourite experience as we didn't really get to experience the area. I'd suggest doing the historic areas on your own during the day to actually see and do more. My favourite Kyoto experiences I did myself-- a tea ceremony adjacent to a traditional garden, Ginkaku-ji (Silver Pavilion) had an amazing garden, the Philosopher's Walk with temples along the way, and the other temples/shrines I went into. I bought a Goshuin book at my first shrine and for the remainder of the trip would get it filled with the 'stamps' from the shrines/temples that I visited which is fun and a great souvenir.
Nara- The Buddha in the Todai-ji temple is huge! It was really cool to see. I also liked the walk through the woods, with the many deer, to Kasuga Shinto shrine. We saw quite a few kids in kimonos celebrating their age year which was a nice cultural experience. The shrine itself was very interesting with all the lanterns.
Miyajimma Island- The Torii gate was nice to see upon approach by ferry but more so from the beach while walking to the Itsukumshima Shrine. The Shrine itself was different as it is built overtop the water. It was quite busy! We went to the gardens on the island which were nice to walk through with the fall leaves.
Hiroshima-The walk around the Atomic Bomb memorial was very moving. I wish we could have talked to the survivor that was nearby. After going through the musuem which was rather crowded, I went into a few smaller buildings on the site that had exhibits on peace talks and foundations from the site. In particular, I liked walking the whole of the park--seeing the different memorials, the burial mound, and areas of paper cranes that were off the path of many. We spent about 2 hours at the museum and park complex--which was enough time but didn't allow for time for other activities in the City.
Kobe-We got into Kobe rather late in the afternoon so after eating dinner a small group of us walked along the harbour which is nice and then though the street(s) that was China town located beside the hotel. It did look like it would be an interesting place to visit--but with not a lot of time the stop wasn't monumental.
Kanawaza- The gardens are very beautiful and very manageable in scale. The best was seeing the fall foligage at night when it was illuminated--it is very crowded but worth seeing. The adjacent Castle was a quick visit. During our day walking tour, I enjoyed going to the Samarai house and garden, having silver/gold foil ice cream, walking the Samarai and Geisha districts (I saw one), and the Omicho (fish) market. I did a separate cooking course in the evening where I learnt how to make sushi and other Japanese food which was a lot of fun--and we got to eat the food. It was a great experience. I also went with a small group to the Ninja temple which was very very cool! They provide you with an English write up as you do the tour but as you can see all the trap doors, etc. it's still very engaging. The art gallery did look really interesting--I only went into the shop as it wasn't open late and I went to the garden at night instead.
Shirakawa-go- This was an interesting village. I went into 2 of the buildings--the temple/museum was really interesting and the house/farm offered insight into the way they lived and worked (silk farming) in the area. The visit did seem a bit rushed but I think it's because our group walked to the top and then it took awhile for the group photo.
Takayama- Hida no Sato Open-Air Museum was really interesting. It felt rushed as we went at the very end of the day--I think at least 2- 2 1/2 hours likely is needed here. It was a really manageable site with quite a few old buildings you can go into. In addition, there were artisans (only the wood carver when we were there) that you could watch do traditional crafts. The market and walk in the historic area was nice--this was a City I could have had an entire free day to myself though. I went to the Government House which was really interesting and enjoyed the walk along the Higashiyama (literally a temple/shrine every few metres along the 1/2 hr walk--the short version). The walk was nice as there were very few people doing it so you had the sites to yourself. I enjoyed going into a few shops of artisans--I did go into the Festival Float museum but it wasn't a highlight though seeing the floats was cool. I would have liked another full day here and it is a place I'd go back to. Our group did a tea ceremony but it didn't have the atmosphere of the one I did separately--still nice but more 'commercial' feeling.
Matsumoto- Walking the interior of the Castle was a different experience than your typical Castle in Europe. With the exception of artefacts and displays, it is empty and you go up narrow stairs into smaller rooms as you go higher in the building. I am glad to have done it. I also went to the Art Museum--enjoying both traditional art and the Yayoi Kusama exhibits. I found Nawate and Nakamachi Shopping streets interesting--Nakamachi had really nice craft/art gallaries and shops as well as restaurants. I went back to see the castle at night after a dinner of fried chicken and noodles and it was very attractive.
Kawaguchi-Oishi Park and the walk from Itchiku Kobata Art Museum offered great views of Mt. Fuji (it was a clear day!). The Art Museum offered beautiful kimonos to look at. It was a pretty small musuem with somewhat larger gift shop areas (offering a lot of scarfs). The garden outside was really nice and the architecture is Gaudi inspired.
Toyko- Going to see Senjo-ji temple at night was amazing--the shops that line it have a lot of traditional food, wood prints, and a 100 yr old pet store (for those who like me have to shop for their puppy). We spent a lot of time in Ueno Park--there were interesting temples/shrines to see but I was expecting more places that we were going to go that day so it was a bit of a surprise. On the free days, I went to see Senjo-ji temple during the day as well as nearby shrines, I visited Meiji Shrine which is very cool (there was a wedding, baptism, celebration of the Emperor/Empress, and harvest festival), Shibuya crossing at night, and then Skytree the next morning (with another great view of Mt. Fuji...at 9:30 there are no crowds either). I also had arranged to make chopsticks which was a lot of fun, experience teamlabs Borderless (the tea room was very cool), and went to a Sumo Festival (where I did sumo and learnt about the sport).
While I saw a lot (and filled my goshuin book with stamps), there was so much more that Japan offers that I would love to do and see!
Thoughts on Group Leader
Our group leader was very good--he kept us organized and on time for all our train/subway/ferry journeys and was very knowledgeable on the history and culture of the places we visited.
For several days, we had a trainee tour leader who also joined us that was a treat as she provided us with a lot of additional information on Japanese culture. It was nice to have two leaders for several days of the trip.
Our group leader was very dedicated to our group--he stayed until the very last day in spite of having a family emergency/health matter. He made sure that we were comfortable and knew Exodus was having a new tour leader meet us at the hotel on the last day to assist with flights/getting to airport if needed.
Advice for Potential Travellers
Book extra days in Kyoto and Toyko if possible.
Look into additional activities (especially cultural) that are offered in the places you are going--I booked on days that I knew I would have free time or in the evening so to not conflict with the trip. They were among my favourite memories.
Travel with cash--many places (i.e. shops, restaurants, temples/shrines) do not take credit card/debit. You can get cash easily if needed.
Travel with extra power source for your cell phone if you use it to take photos & for directions, etc. There aren't chargers/power outlets available (I did hear that tourist bureaus have them).
Pack light especially for days that you have to carry your own bag--I got a backpack that was large enough to do so which made it easy to go in train stations and to hotels. If I had known there was going to be in-room laundry in Takayama I would have packed less overall in my large suitcase.
There is great food in department stores/train stations which are similiar to food courts you would find in Europe. The grocery stores have great selection of food. Even Seven-11 Food was good and cheap. The food at restaurants was very filling and not expensive (compared to Europe).
Bring comfortable shoes--you walk at least 15 000 steps a day.
And bring a bag for garbage as there are no garbage bins on streets--though you eat at establishments instead of out. If you need to throw something out it does help to have a small bag to carry in your day bag.
Expect to take a lot of photos. Always go out with full battery power--and have back up.
Japan uses the same plugs as North America so you don't need to travel with universal plugs/converters.
Good wifi is handy to get around Cities easily (aka google maps).
Taxi and public transportation are cheap, fast, and reliable.
