I arrived bright and early at Hakata station to jump on the Shinkansen, and by "bright and early" I mean 10am because I overslept.
I booked myself JR West's Setouchi Area railpass because it covered the Shinkansens from here in Fukuoka all the way up to Shin-Osaka, plus conventional rail lines to Kyoto and Nara. I had expected to be able to just go to a machine and pick up my pass, but the machines spat out a cryptic error message and the attendant told me to go to the JR West (not JR Kyushu) service counter and take a number.
Eventually they printed my pass, and then I logged onto the website to make a train reservation.
And that was when I learned that once you pick up your pass, you are no longer able to make train reservations online. You can make (up to 6) reservations online before you pick up your pass, but without any warnings I could see, this functionality will disappear once the pass is picked up.
Instead, I had to go get in a different line to use a kiosk to make my reservation (and again, I can only make up to 6 reservations cumulatively this way; after that, I was told I'd need to go back to the counter for any more).
Look, I adore the Shinkansen network, but if I'm being fair, I have to point out how bad so much of the software is. Frankly, had I known that the online reservations all shut off after picking up my pass, I probably would've skipped buying the pass and just bought individual tickets via SmartEX. The ability to show up to a station and decide on the spot to jump on a train means a lot to me, and while I did get pretty fast at using the kiosks after the second or third reservation, there's no spinning the fact that it would've been better to be able to make a reservation on my phone.
On the bright side, I didn't realize until getting onboard that the Sanyo Shinkansens have 2-2 layouts even in normal class cars instead of the 3-2 I'm used to.
Luckily, once onboard, the Shinkansen is as amazing as ever, and I was soon barreling towards Hiroshima at 200mph.
My lodgings for tonight would be the Sheraton Grand Hiroshima, connected directly to the station via an overpass.
Overlooking the station bus loop, the room was clean and quiet. The furnishings were quite old (this was the first toilet I've seen in Japan where the flush handle was on the tank itself instead of the bidet controls) but prices were reasonable and I had a good time.
Some light snacks were in the lounge around dinner time.
And breakfast was offered both in the lounge or in the restaurant downstairs, with the restaurant having more variety, so that's where I went.
Other pictures around Hiroshima and Miyajima Island:
The following morning, I took the train up to Kyoto to drop my bags at the Ritz Carlton Kyoto.
The pass only covers the Shinkansen up to Shin-Osaka, so I did need to get off there and transfer to a local train, despite the Shinkansen I was on continuing onwards to Kyoto.
That added another 15 minutes or to my trip (I got really lucky with a train coming as soon as I made it to the platform). Probably another argument against getting a pass and just buying the ticket you need outright.
The Ritz in Kyoto is in a rather unassuming building up against the Kamo River
It's right around the corner from the Chapter Kyoto, a Tribute Portfolio property I'd stayed in before and am rather fond of. But I'd always wanted to try this Ritz (it's one of the few properties that offer breakfast to elites), and I found a night I could redeem my 85k FNA from my Ritz credit card on, so here I am. I wasn't planning on making it all the way up to Kyoto on this trip otherwise, but with Bonvoy point inflation so aggressive these days, I decided I might as well redeem my 85k FNAs on properties like these while I still can.
They sat me down on a couch while processing my checkin, and offered me some tea and snacks that looked to me like Pocky sticks, but wider.
My room wasn't ready yet, but by the time I came back, they were ready to show me up to the very large corner suite my NUA cleared into.
To the left of the entryway is the bathroom and the living area
To the right is the bedroom area
Living area first:
Bathroom:
Weirdly, the toilet lid did not automatically open when I walked in, which I kind of expected from a hotel of this caliber.
Bedroom:
All in all, a massive, gorgeous room.
Except, and I'm going to sound like a broken record here, they did not sound proof the room. I could hear cars going by outside all night.
The cash rate on this room was $2,200 USD per night.
If I'm paying a month's worth of rent on a single night stay, I feel like I should not be kept up by the sound of motorcycles going by the window. Is that really such an unreasonable ask?
At least the breakfast the next morning was decent, although I did need to reserve my breakfast time in advance. Yet another bit of friction
The property itself is also quite beautiful in the common areas.
Unfortunately, as much as I loved the look of the place, I don't see myself coming back. For the price, the lack of good sleep is a dealbreaker, and the fact that the very good Chapter Kyoto is just behind this hotel means I can get a hotel that I actually quite like (and also has coin laundry) in the same general location for a fraction of the cost.
For what it's worth, they did cover the accomodation tax for me on my award stay (it was like $10, but still, the gesture was appreciated).
Maybe next time I'm in Kyoto I'll check out the Mitsui instead.
Other highlights from Kyoto:
There were noticeably more people in Kyoto than the last time I was here in 2023; visiting many of the attractions felt like swimming in a sea of other fellow tourists. I see what people mean about the overtourism (and I guess I'm also here making things worse).
The next day, I popped over to Nara. This was again a destination I would've simply day-trippedf from Osaka, except I had 50k FNAs expiring soon and the Shisui Luxury Collection was within budget, so I added a night here too.
The room where the emperor signed the treaty ending World War 2 is a wild thing to just casually have in your hotel.
They checked me into an onsen suite, which my NUA cleared me into.
Apparently this bathtub is filled with real onsen water? I did soak in it for a solid 5 minutes before getting lightheaded and coming out.
During turndown service, they gifted me an entire mango. It was huge. Took me forever to eat. It was so ripe, it felt like it was going to fall apart as I ate it, but it sure was sweet.
Breakfast was in the restaurant back over in the main building (the hotel has multiple buildings).
A perfectly pleasant stay. There was a whining noise coming from the onsen tub all night which I didn't track down the source of, but with the doors all closed, it didn't bother me.
Other pictures from Nara:
The deer here are absolutely vicious if you have deer crackers. I bought some for 200 yen and immediately got assaulted by a hoarde, who were biting and headbutting me and chomping on crackers still in my hands. It was funny in retrospect but honestly quite overwhelming in person.
My final days in Japan would be based out of Osaka. This ends the string of luxury hotels, as here, I'd just be staying at a cheap Moxy property again.
This is the first hotel I've seen that won't store bags for free, although I didn't need it. On the bright side, this hotel offers to fully comp breakfast as a welcome gift option instead of only deducting $10 from the normal price.
Nothing too exciting otherwise. I did still need to sleep with earplugs in, but now that I'm back in a hotel befitting my tax bracket, I'll complain about it less.
Breakfast was fairly typical Moxy fare with a few Japanese additions like miso soup, though elite guests also get a free barista made coffee.
Pictures from Osaka:
I spent an evening at the Osaka Expo, using the night ticket that gets you in after 5pm. I unfortunately did not have a particularly good time and don't recommend it.
I knew, going in, that there would be long lines, and I wasn't afraid to wait in them (heck I'd survived Tokyo Disney in the past).
The problem is that many of the lines start closing around 7pm, and almost every line has closed by 8pm, so when you get in at 5, you can really only see one, maybe two things before they won't even let you get in line for anything else, even if you're willing to wait. This is despite the advertised closing time of the expo being 10pm.
For example, the US pavilion closed their English line at 7pm sharp. I missed that one.
And that's not even mentioning the large number of things that are reservation only, which as far as I can tell, are given out by lottery through a terrible, broken website (the app just links you to the website). If you don't win the lottery, you don't get to see a bunch of things.
The Japan pavilion, for example, was apparently the best, but its line was around 2 to 3 hours long if you didn't get a reservation, and by the time I wanted to get in line, it was already closed.
By 8pm, I had seen only two pavilions (China and France), and with every line I could find already closed, I decided to go up to the top of the big loop thing that is supposed to be the symbol of the expo.
But nope, even that was closed by 8pm. Two full hours before the expo is advertised to end, and there's already nothing left to do that I could find.
I spent 3 hours here in total, almost all of it in lines, saw only two things, and wasn't even allowed to get in line for anything else despite being fully willing to wait.
This was probably the least interesting thing I wasted my time on this trip to Japan. I'd personally recommend skipping it unless you win the reservation lottery to get all those skip the line passes at all the interesting pavilions.
Day trip to Kobe:
And also to Himeji (really milking that rail pass):
The climb up Himeji castle involves some rather steep stairs (almost ladders), and they make you take your shoes off inside.
There's a very pleasant little garden near Himeji castle whose admission costs only 50 extra yen on top of the castle itself.
And that's it for my time in Japan. Next (and final) stop is two days in Taipei before a very long trip home.