Trip Report Solo 20 Days Tokyo>Kyoto>Himeji/Hiroshima>Kyushu>Osaka>Tokyo Part 1 of 2

Hi Everyone, just got back from my (early 30’s M) 20-day solo trip to Japan. This was my second trip to Japan, having spent a week previously in Tokyo and Mt Fuji. I’ve been keeping daily notes on my phone half to remind myself of this trip but also to contribute to this community which was very helpful in planning this trip. Hope this report helps someone out there with their trip planning also! I’m only lightly editing my phone notes for spelling, grammar and links so hopefully they make sense.

**2-7 Tokyo/ Shibuya** 

Hotel: [Millennials Shibuya](https://goo.gl/maps/JWypHyuFfExPntgR9)

⁃ Arrived in Narita in the afternoon, took about 30/40 minutes to clear Covid screening and customs. Pretty painless because I had the documents all submitted to the arrive Japan app.

⁃ Picked up my jr pass and reserved ticket to Kyoto 

⁃ Took the nex to shibuya and hung out there after checking into my hotel, my hotel has a free beer hour so got to chat with some of the other people staying there.

⁃ Ate at Yakiniku LIKE, it was delicious! The tables are for individuals so don’t have to worry about taking a 2/4 person booth by yourself.

⁃ Went to Tokyu Hands to buy a goshuincho and some misc knickknacks. Side note: I wasn’t completely happy with the cover design of the book, if I was to do it again, I’d probably keep looking or pick one up at the first shrine, there’s certainly no shortage of these books.

\- Went into a Mandrake, got a bit overwhelmed and left.

**2-8 Izu Atagawa**

Hotel: [Bousui ryokan](https://goo.gl/maps/UnT4MvEY2yFgKXMJ6)

[Photos](https://imgur.com/gallery/YomnYsI)

⁃ Took the train to Izu Atagawa and checked in to the ryokan

⁃ The ryokan is right by the water and was wonderful. I booked 2 time slots for the private onsen overlooking the ocean, at night the moon was out and in the morning my booking happened to be the perfect time to see the sunrise; soaking in the warm water and enjoying chilled black bean tea while taking in the atmosphere was amazing! The kaiseki dinner and breakfast there were absolutely amazing and the overall hospitality was top notch! I feel bad that I didn’t know enough Japanese to properly converse with the obasan that was my attendant for the stay; She was so kind and jabbered at me in Japanese the whole time, despite me repeatedly apologizing that I don’t understand; at some point she even brought in someone that spoke a bit of English to translate for her about some booking information for my onsen. 

⁃ Going to sleep to the sound of ocean waves crashing against the dike was so surreal and peaceful.

⁃ Apart from the ryokan there wasn’t actually too much to do nearby during the day, I walked up and down the dike, watched some fishermen in action, and played with a cat that I found.

⁃ Jr pass did not cover the entire trip and I had to supplement 3000yen combined for there and back. But overall I think this place was worth the detour and the extra charge! I would gladly come back again!

**2-9 Kyoto day 1**

Hotel: [Superhotel kawaramachi](https://goo.gl/maps/7hcfeVA65v2CuUom9)

[Photos](https://imgur.com/gallery/IqSVGY9)

⁃ I left the ryokan and made my way to the Shinkansen and headed to Kyoto

⁃ The hotel is right next to Nishiki market which was super convenient for access to great food and gift stores. Also the hotel has washer and dryer for 100 yen each 🙂

⁃ I spent the afternoon going to food stalls and shops and getting my mouth burned off by takoyaki and croquettes! Also wandered around Gion for a bit but it was late by then and everything seem to be closed.

**2-10 Kyoto day 2**

[Photos](https://imgur.com/gallery/SRQqnl8)

⁃ (Raining today) I woke up early and went to Kiyomizu dera. I got there around 7:30 and it was just myself, a couple (under 5) visitors, and the staff. Got some great pictures with no one in it :). Office for the goshuin opened at 8 and I was able to get my first page filled!

⁃ After that I stayed in the area for a bit and checked out Sannenzaka, Nineizaka, Hokan-ji, and Yasaka shrine.

⁃ Took a bus to Kinkaku-ji. There’s more people by now (around 11) but it still wasn’t SUPER crowded, maybe it was the rain. 

⁃ I had a late lunch reservation at Gion so had to head back and unfortunately didn’t get to check out the other sights in this area. It would’ve been nice to check out the castle.

⁃ Went to [Kobe Beef Steak Mouriya Gion](https://goo.gl/maps/JWBxYfttiq9javiP9) and had an amazing meal with A5 Kobe sirloin. I was pleasantly surprised by the shiitake mushroom they served, it was so juicy and full of flavour! The meal was pricey, something like 15000 yen with wine but personally I think it’s worth the splurge.

⁃ Hung out at Nishiki and Gion for the rest of the day, had dinner at ichiran, it tasted ok, wasn’t blown off my seat or anything. Honestly it might be because I was craving yakiniku but the line was too long so had to settle for ramen, maybe it wasn’t fair to fault ichiran… Post trip edit: Ichiran was really just “ok”.

**2-11 Kyoto day 3**

Hotel: [Ranzan](https://goo.gl/maps/sC3kfCPm6eKepsRY7) (I had an issue with my booking where they won’t let me extend a day so I thought fuck it and booked a night by Arashiyama instead)

[Photos](https://imgur.com/gallery/yOHB958)

⁃ This day SUCKED, not anyone’s fault, just bad planning on my part and trying to do too much in one day.

⁃ Woke up early and went to Fushimi inari taisha, took the wrong train that was actually a limited express and skipped a bunch of stations, had to back track to the right station. It was 8 by the time I hit the gates and by then there was already a moderate amount of people, the bottom set of stairs up to Okusha shrine there were no opportunity to take pictures without anyone in it. I got my goshuin page and kept going up, there were some stairs but it was not bad, there was even a vending machine half way up! I got to the cross roads where you can take some pretty pictures overlooking the city and then head back down or keep going to the summit. There’s a map of sorts that indicated the summit loop was approximately 30 minutes. I thought, “hey I ain’t no bitch” and kept on climbing. These stairs were way more brutal than the previous sets and there were barely any flat portions, it was just straight up. After passing by 2 more maps that says “\~30 more minutes” I realized that either the signs were misleading AF or Im just fat and sucked at climbing stairs. Anyways, made it to the top, made a prayer there and then headed back down. Oh, there’s a second goshuin booth on the summit loop with a different design than at the bottom! When I reached the bottom around 10, the booths and stores had opened. I bought a souvenir but no food as I was rushing to get back to the hotel to shower before checkout at 11. I successfully showered and made it out of my room at 10:58, left my luggage at the front desk and went and got lunch at Gyukatsu which tasted great but could definitely tell the difference in quality compared to the A5 I had yesterday.

⁃ Took the train to Arishiyama where my hotel for the night is. It was a couple hours yet before I could check in so I left my luggage at the hotel and started wandering around. It was soooo crowded here around midday! Crowds everywhere in the bamboo forest, on the main streets, and along the river. It was fun to witness the hustle and bustle of it all: Rickshaws going about, girls in kimonos, and so many food stalls and shops! I was pretty tired from the morning though, so that killed the mood a bit.

⁃ I walked through the bamboo/people forest, went to Jojakkoji Temple (more stairs), still had some time to burn so went to the monkey park. This is probably what killed me: I hadn’t realized that the monkey park is ON TOP OF ANOTHER MOUNTAIN. Anyways, I dragged myself to the top and watched monkeys for a bit which were super cool and you could even pay 100yen for some food to feed them! When I was sitting down half way up the mountain, a monkey jumped down from a tree and landed on the covering above with a thump and scared the bajezus out of me!

⁃ I stumbled back to my hotel, checked in and crashed as soon as my head hit the pillow. I forgot I had booked the kaiseki meal so unfortunately had to get up for that, boy was I sore! Absolutely did not want to get out of bed… Dinner was ok but kind of paled in comparison to the meals I’ve had so far. Think I’d rather have yakiniku.

⁃ After dinner I went out to walk around for a bit. At 8pm, literally everything was closed and the streets were completely deserted! What a contrast to the hustle and bustle earlier! I walked around and enjoyed the peace and quiet of the river, walked through some side streets, and then went back to my hotel for the night.

My phone said I walked 30,000 steps/20.57 KM and climbed 102 flights of stairs this day

**2-12 Himeji/Hiroshima** 

Hotel: [Via Inn Hiroshima](https://goo.gl/maps/7GdXH8FJPgRc3FjJA) 

[Photos](https://imgur.com/gallery/eRiGvcy)

⁃ As expected, I woke up EXTREMELY sore from the day before. I did some stretching in the public bath to no effect. Spent the whole day slow-walking, half expecting my legs to give out when going down stairs…

⁃ Took an 8:45 am Shinkansen out of Kyoto and arrived at Himeji at 10 and took a bus to the castle. It was an interesting experience to learn about the various additions over time and the functionality of each room/area! Unfortunately I arrived too late for the English tour which started an hour earlier. I read somewhere that it would take 2 hours to do Himeji castle so I booked my next Shinkansen for 12:15, wished I would’ve booked for a 3 or 4 hour gap instead. I only had time to do the castle and grounds and not the adjacent garden or check out the food stalls across the road 🙁

⁃ Arrived at Hiroshima around 1pm, left my luggage with the hotel and took the streetcar to the peace memorial.

⁃ The entire memorial park was a harrowing experience. In particular the children’s peace monument and their innocent wishes for peace brought a little tear to my eye. There were groups of students on trips going through the park to learn about the history here and locals were paying their respects by the cenotaph.

⁃ I went into the memorial hall and by pure coincidence they had an English reading of testimonials and poems left by the victims shortly after the bomb went off ( this reading looks to happen every second Sunday). One particular poem that resonated with me is [here](https://imgur.com/gallery/HTLPCit). It was chilling/harrowing to listen to their experiences and really just being at a location where so much pain and suffering had happened is a sobering experience. I think the only other time I’ve had this “chill up my spine” feeling was upon reaching the “medical experimentation room” at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp (empty white room except for 2 tile-lined surgical tables with drains in the middle, presumably for more efficient cleanup).

⁃ Next I went to the Memorial Museum and then spent some more time walking the grounds until I could not walk anymore. Had yakiniku (yay) for dinner at the nearby SOGO mall and went back to the hotel. Spent the evening limping around the hotel and doing laundry.

**2-13 Kyushu Day 1 – Fukuoka/Kumamoto** 

Hotel: [Kumamoto Castle Hotel](https://goo.gl/maps/NSEix4HCBLnG6maT8)

[Photos](https://imgur.com/gallery/DVIrJKV)

⁃ Finally got to give my poor legs a rest today. Took the Shinkansen to Fukuoka and picked up my rental car for the next couple days in Kyushu. The car I got was a GR Yaris and driving it was an ABSOLUTE BLAST (\* I’ll leave a couple asterisks and fanboy about the car and driving in general below). Driving in Kyushu is great, the scenery was absolutely beautiful… from windswept shores to narrow mountain passes, little communities along rivers to terraced farmland along the roads. I honestly enjoyed every moment I spent on the road. No traffic in front meant I get to white knuckle through the touge and when there’s cars in front, I get to coast and take in the beautiful view.

⁃ Anyways, picked up my car, loaded up an eurobeat playlist on spotify, and into the touge I went. The mountain passes were everything Initial D told me it would be and so much more! And the GR was so “hayai” thru the turns! Pictures don’t do it justice, wish I brought a car mount for my phone so I could record it :(. Needless to say I was grinning from ear to ear my whole time in Kyushu. For the day, I stopped by [Shiomi Park Observatory](https://goo.gl/maps/DSACutRPqkiWrSzh7), [Ukiha inari shrine](https://goo.gl/maps/8E9j1NMxjLVKo57Y8), [Ryu shrine](https://goo.gl/maps/96zpH8vC5FjAveeg8), and ended at Kumamoto for the night.

⁃ By the time I arrived in Kumamoto and checked in to my hotel, the castle was already closed so I found a random okonomiyaki place near my hotel(it was delicious and super cheap!) and then roamed around the nearby shopping streets. Only walked 10k steps today 🙂

\*\* Driving footnotes from Kyushu Day 1

\- I’d never driven on the left hand side so my decade plus of driving experience was completely useless, even counterproductive in certain situations. I kept on unconsciously centering myself to the left side of the lane which was very bad because now the driver side is on the right and that makes the left side of the car go past the line. My intuition of my car dimensions were also completely out the window, especially the left hand side of the car; these 2 points above made driving pretty unnerving at first because on certain roads, there’s barely a foot of space between the fog line and barriers, curbs, drainage slots, and countless other sudden death events. Lastly, the turn signal and windshield wiper is flipped (ie, signal on the right of the steering wheel), I kept on switching on my wipers when trying to turn or change lanes lol! All in all though, after a couple of hours I started getting the feel for it and it was fine until I arrived at downtown Kumamoto and took a wrong turn into a series of narrow alleyways that barely fit my car, with pedestrians and cyclists weaving around without care…

⁃ A couple of observations I’ve made about driving in Kyushu (not applying to the whole country because I haven’t driven elsewhere): people in general drive about 10-30kph over the speed limit, some obviously drive way faster (\*\*), eg. the highway speed is 80k and most people I see were driving about 100-110 and passing at 120. On the highway, left lane is the slow lane and right lane is the fast/passing lane, MAJORITY of the drivers only occupy the right lane to pass and then merge back right away once they overlook, this is quite a contrast to my city where I tend to be the asshole that tailgates/flashes the idiot hogging up the fast lane while driving the same speed as the slow lane… people are pretty liberal with the hazard beacon: eg. when they cut you off on a merge, when traffic ahead is slowed down, when they did something stupid and want to apologize. Stop sign requires a FULL stop at the line, not a rolling stop. When the light is red, you are not allowed to turn left (this is the inside turn, ie. Right turn for us right-handed drivers)

(\*\*) I got into a little three way race down the highway, got to about 145kph before I chickened out, lead guy in a Camry was going way faster than that… I’m not in any way condoning breaking the law, it just kind of happened because when driving in a foreign place I tend to just follow the fastest car so that they’d get into trouble before me.

⁃ Ok fan boy time about the car: so the GR Yaris is in the same category as the GR86 at the rental company (ie. 2.5x more expensive than the “economical/compact” category), I debated for weeks and weeks on whether to go ahead with it and finally said “fuck it” and pulled the trigger (was also secretly hoping they’d give me the GR Hachiroku instead but alas that didn’t happen). I also got the automatic transmission because 1. The manual was not available and 2. I’m already driving on a different side than I’ve been all my life, trying to learn manual at the same time would have been insane! Anyways, as mentioned earlier, this car was an ABSOLUTE PLEASURE to drive! The throttle response was top notch and the automatic transmission was excellent, there was no weird shifting or delayed throttle at all; when I wanted to go fast, it GOES FAST. The raw sound of the engine inside the cab was also very satisfying (yes I know it’s piped sound and it sounds like a pussy cat outside, but still, it sounds like a fucking tiger inside and that’s all that mattered to me, the driver), to hear the engine growl when gasing around a bend was just unreal. Lastly, it goes without saying that this car corners like it’s on rails, and if you turn the traction control off and turn on power mode…well, that’s when the fun really begins ; ). My only gripe is that the sound system is a bit lacking, maybe this is a Toyota thing, my Tacoma back home is the same way.

\- last footnote, pretty sure the idiots at my hotel valet took my car for a joy ride, noticed too late the next day that the “new driver” magnets on my car were both gone…. (I’d wanted to steal them for myself, assholes)

**2-14 Kyushu day 2 – Kumamoto/ Takachiho Gorge/ Kurokawa Onsen**

Hotel: [Ryokan Nanjoen](https://goo.gl/maps/aLu4JkoveWGhX1ow6)

[Photos](https://imgur.com/gallery/4WgTpQX)

⁃ Unfortunately Kumamoto Castle was opening a little later than I wanted so I roamed the outside for a bit before checking out of my hotel and hitting the road. I did stop by [Suizenji Jojuen garden](https://goo.gl/maps/HpsZ7qpLAJrEquccA) before leaving the city. The garden was beautiful everything was meticulously laid out and there were many keepers painstakingly trimming each stray branch on the trees. There was also 2 shrines in the garden, the goshuin page I got from the Izumi shrine had cute pictures of a bird and cat on it :). Unfortunately I came too early in the year, the plum trees were just starting peak out and the cherry trees were still barren. This place would be a wonderful place to visit during Sakura season!

⁃ I stopped at a 7-11 on my way out of the city and picked up a coffee, onigiri, and this sandwich(?) that’s basically omurice, there is a layer of ketchup rice with a cake of omelette on top, it was so delicious! I will add this to my list of favorite Japanese foods, but slightly below yakiniku. (post trip edit: I visited many combinis since and was never able to find this again).

⁃ I drove to [Takachiho Gorge](https://goo.gl/maps/3YQUBAv91XwBb5pQ8)\*, it was a nice place but unfortunately a typhoon last year wrecked a large portion of the walkway along the cliff side, I guesstimate only 1/4 of the walkway was available to the public that day. The boat rental was also closed on the day. I walked around for a bit, took some pictures, had a dango and went on my way. 

⁃ Next up, I drove to Mt Aso. There’s a big rest stop area with the Mt Aso Volcano Museum (can’t miss it, it’s where all the tour busses congregate), it costs 500yen to park, I did not go in, past the bend there’s free parking and a [lookout](https://goo.gl/maps/CbaUZ1H3q4gUoCVY9) with arguably better views! This lookout has great view of the Aso caldera and also the active volcano crater. Today the crater was chucking mad clouds, my vape would not be able to compete. I backtracked a couple minutes and arrived at the [Aso Sanjo Public Square](https://goo.gl/maps/QNUrdPsDnmEb4TGF6), from here you can take a bus, hike, or drive up to the live crater! Unfortunately the mountain was angry today so the way was closed. I bought some souvenirs and ate some takoyaki before starting to drive toward my hotel (I thought it was a little funny that you can eat takoyaki near the top of an active volcano).

⁃ Finally I drove to Kurokawa Onsen \*\*. The town was interesting! It was very vertical, seemingly carved/built out of the mountain on either sides of the river. Right next to the river, houses are even hanging over the edge! There’s not much to do here other than onsen and all the shops/restaurants close up at 6pm, you can wonder around town in your yukata and visit the various onsens here. I checked into my Ryokan for the night, admired the spectacular views from my room, silently scoffed at a couple of obnoxious tourists checking in (like seriously, the girl doing the check in was super nice, stop loudly complaining about having to take your shoes off at the genkan before you enter, she might not be able to understand you but I certainly could) and then went for a walk in the town.

\- I had a kaiseki meal at my ryokan (had horse meat…sashimi… I don’t know how I feel about 1. Eating horse 2. Eating red meat… sashimi) and then took a bath in the open air bath. Something about bathing in warm water while the surrounding mountain air is at 0C just feels so great!

Driving footnotes from Kyushu Day 2:

\*on the drive there, I was following an older gentleman riding a motorcycle. Both of us were getting a bit frustrated by the slow moving dump truck in front of us. Finally when the truck turned off, he shot off like a rocket and I quickly followed. We were going 100kph up the pass and thru these these INSANE bends and haripins, he was leaning probably 45 degrees on some of them! My poor luggage was just banging left and right in the trunk. He eventually pulled over for a drink at the vending machine on the side of the road and I sped off past him, we both nodded at each other as I passed. If I had a passenger with me, they would probably be throwing up.

\*\*I drove up Mt Aso from the south, it was tour bus central on the way up and was boringly slow. Going down the mountain heading north toward Kurokawa Onsen was empty roads all the way to the bottom, that was super fun ; ). Both sides had great views of the valley below though. Also the side roads right before Kurokawa Onsen was so narrow that only 1 car fit and was full of twists and turns, this part was 10/10.

**2-15 Kyushu day 3 – Yufuin/ African Safari Park/ Beppu Sneak Peak**

Hotel: [Pension Kinrinko Toyonokuni](https://goo.gl/maps/NPK1n6nzodNv6oHM8)

[Photos](https://imgur.com/gallery/mr7pUaV)

⁃ Woke up to the sounds of pigeons hooting outside my window :O

⁃ Had a great breakfast at the ryokan. Sat at the window of my room and enjoyed the serene morning view over the Kurokawa valley, it had even started to snow a little bit! Walked down to [Patisserie Roku](https://goo.gl/maps/4qaiTQk4MpoNedPQA) and bought some deserts and pastries, brought back to my room and enjoyed the view some more. The review said the pastries there are to die for… well, I think I saw the pearly gates for a little bit.

⁃ With sadness in my heart I left Kurokawa Onsen and drove toward Yufuin. The pass thru the Kuju mountains had about 1cm of snow which was apparently enough to defeat the all seasons on my car. After a close call on the first turn, I granny-drove thru the rest of the pass which was a shame because it would’ve been a very fun drive without the snow :(. It was still pretty early when I got near Yufuin so I decided to just randomly drive around and just had fun getting lost. Saw a random sign for “[African Safari](https://goo.gl/maps/Wk2HCPaLC8La1Mts8)” and decided to see where it leads. To my delight it was a zoo where you can take your car thru a self guided tour and see its animals! I paid about 2400yen for the entry and a further 700 for a DVD player with audio/video guide of the various zones I get to drive thru. I passed thru a series of zones, each separated by a double gated check point to keep the animals separate (kinda gave off Jurassic Park vibes).

⁃ It was approximately lunch time now and I’m about halfway between Yufuin and Beppu so I decided to take an early preview of Beppu. Stopped by at view point on my way in and then went to a restaurant where you can steam your food using the hot spring water! The food I got was unfortunately not my “basket of seafood” but it was an interesting experience nonetheless. Walked across the road to Lawsons to pick up an onigiri to get the taste of sulphur and shellfish out of my mouth and then started heading back to Yufuin.

⁃ Yufuin was a nice enough little town but it didn’t seem to have too much going for it. It seemed like the tour bus companies all got together and decided this town was where they will all stop and then a tourism business sprung up around it (ala cruise ship style). There were 2 main streets all lined with food stalls and gift shops. The store employees all sort of had this dead look in their eyes, probably completely jaded from rude foreign tourists all arriving in droves, panic rushing their stores, making a huge ruckus and then back onto the busses, day-in day-out. I spent the afternoon wandering the shops, stopping occasionally to sample the food, had a great curry croquette, a minced meat croquette and some daifuku. My hotel was a bit of a disappointment, the main selling point was that it’s right off the water of Lake Kinrin which is pretty nice but I consider it more a pond than a lake? Also my room had a weird smell to it… 

⁃ To sum up, I like everything around Yufuin, but the town itself, not terribly impressed. Probably worth a stop to pick up some croquettes but not stay the night.

**2-16 – Kyushu day 4 – Beppu**

Hotel: [Galleria Midobaru](https://goo.gl/maps/3s5zECcUKFhCeoBu8)

[Photos](https://imgur.com/gallery/ZWfdKCK)

⁃ Took a bath at the outdoor onsen at my hotel, which turned out to be very nice as it was overlooking Kinrin pond. This turned out to be somewhat of a redeeming feature of the hotel but my room still smelled weird and I couldn’t get out fast enough. Onwards to Beppu, for real this time!

⁃ I arrived at the Beppu in record breaking time which turned out to be an hour before anything opens so I drove along the shoreline and stopped at a couple of park/beaches. The views were great!

⁃ At 9AM sharp I arrived at the [Beppu Beach Sand Bath](https://goo.gl/maps/kb4dYvbYxfrZFD337). It was a great experience to be buried in warm sand with the gentle ocean sounds in the background. The weight of the sand on top of you is calming like a weighted blanket. The ladies that buried me were super nice and helped me take a bunch of pictures as I was obviously immobilized. By the time I was exhumed, I had quite a sweat going, went to take a shower to wash away the sand and skipped the bath as I was still too hot. By the time I left the changing room, people were lining out the door!

⁃ Next, I checked out the 7 “hells”. I parked near Kamado Jigoku which was pretty central to the first 5 hells which were all within walking distance of each other. The last 2 hells were about 3km away, I presume they were accessible by bus because there’s a bus stop in front of them but I’m not sure because I had my trusty ride. Each of the hells were all unique and definitely worth checking out! I think all in it took about 3 hours to do all of them.

⁃ After I was done with the hells, I thought I’d get a little taste of heaven. Took the [Beppu ropeway](https://goo.gl/maps/efBcG2cuKTgykvDe9) to the top of Mt Tsurumi. People getting on the gondola were clad in thick puffy north face/ Canada Goose jackets which had me worried as I only have a sweater and hoodie on, there’s also a TV showing it’s -5C on top. My worries were however unnecessary because guess what, there’s a bunch of stairs at the top to climb! If anything, I felt like shedding my hoodie by the time I was ready to come down. I attempted to race a gaggle of old ladies to the summit and it ended up being almost a tie, in their favor (they had a head start ok???). The views up there were absolutely breathtaking, there’s a gorgeous view of Beppu and Oita on the south side and then when you climb the stairs to the top, the entire mountain range on the north side can be seen! Side note, on the gondola up, I gave up my seat to a mother carrying an infant and either her father or FIL, I must’ve past by this party 5 times at the mountaintop and every time the mother stops and profusely thank me, it’s beyond my comprehension how someone could be so polite!

⁃ Down from the mountain, I went to the [Global Tower](https://goo.gl/maps/4bWRTkuEqwLmokH3A) which also offered an excellent view from the middle of the city. Being up there definitely definitely brought out the acrophobia in me though. 

⁃ Finally, I attempted to check out Myoban Jigoku however it was packed with no parking available, I turned tail and headed to my hotel.

⁃ Let me tell you about my hotel for the night… I found this place on IG and it was every bit as picturesque as advertised. Someone more artistically inclined than me could probably write pages and pages about the architecture itself! It’s situated on a hill side and all the rooms over looks the city below. I was lucky enough to be on floor 4 out of 5 and what a spectacular view it has! But wait, there’s more! In the room, there’s a private bath with natural onsen water pumped in (there’s a page in my room with all the mineral contents of the water) and a ginormous balcony, all with the same view! You can even open the door of the bath to the balcony and take a bath with the fresh outside air (which I obviously did). The only thing is, this place is obviously catered toward someone higher class than my humble self. They offer dinner for 8800yen which I declined because I’d already had my splurge meal for the trip. I took an amazing bath, sat on my balcony and enjoyed the view for a bit then went to town to get a karage set for 1500yen instead. 

⁃ After dinner, I went back to the hotel and redeemed my welcome drink at the bar (a glass of bubbly), I also got a bottle of local craft beer for $880yen. I can’t remember the last time I paid over 5 bucks for a bottle of beer, if I went to the combini I could’ve gotten drunk for half…ok imma stop right there… the hotel is amazing, it’s not their fault that I’m poor…. I got over my indignity at the expensive beer and went back to my room for another bath. When finished, I opened the door to the balcony and BOOM, the Big Dipper is right there in front of me, just slightly above eye level. I sat there on the balcony, enjoying the gorgeous nighttime cityscape below and stars above, and did my journal entry for the day. That night, I went to sleep dreaming that I was someone far richer, with a fancy house on Beppu Hills, enjoying cigars and ~~scotch~~ cognac on my balcony while looking down at the peasants below.

**2-17 kyushu day 5 – Fukuoka** 

Hotel: [Hotel Wing Shinkansen](https://goo.gl/maps/wN5fMfeUcLuQqbv49) 

[Photos](https://imgur.com/gallery/zSZ7tlF)

⁃ By chance I woke up just before sunrise, took a morning bath with the sun breaking over the horizon. What a sight! Hung out on my patio for a while longer enjoying the morning view and then checked out. My heart was heavy as I pulled out of the parking lot.

⁃ I stopped at a family mart and picked up some plebeian breakfast of onigiri and BOSS coffee then drove back to check out Myoban Jigaku which is empty so early in the morning. It’s still closed so I walked around a little to check out the view. It was nice, my hotel balcony’s was better (boy was I spoiled). 

⁃ Pulled out and drove to Kunisaki, I had originally planned on driving along the shore line all the way around but it turned out to be a little boring. Hung a left at Kunisaki and drove through the touge toward Matama beach instead ;). This drive was probably the most intense by far, ending in multiple consecutive hairpin turns.

⁃ Over at Matama, the view point I wanted to check out was closed for construction so I turned tail and kept driving west, stealing glances at the ocean when I could. There’s a Teamlab here but I decided to skip it in favour of the one in Tokyo.

⁃ I stopped at [Usa shrine](https://goo.gl/maps/aZ97zUmLGc8BmAWr5), and it was a nice place, teams of staff were present keeping the grounds pristine. The various buildings and water features were beautiful and the tori gates were the biggest I’ve seen by far! I climbed to the top and offered my respects and updated my goshuincho on the way out.

⁃ Next I drove toward Kamado Shrine just outside of Fukuoka, this drive was unfortunately a tad bit boring because I ended up behind a dump truck. The road had potential to be extremely fun otherwise. Nonetheless, I gained a newfound respect for truck drivers in Japan. Buddy’s truck is already wider than the lane lines but was going upwards of 70kph through the pass, oftentimes going around tight bends or passing oncoming cars with less than an inch between himself and the railing!

⁃ [Kamado Shrine](https://goo.gl/maps/yTxuYdWJP1BSE1cC7) was supposedly an inspiration for the anime Demon Slayers whom the main character Tanjiro Kamado took his last name from. I think the recent fame might have brought in quite a bit of cash flow to the shrine; it’s got a spanking new shop with auto-sliding doors which to me looks a bit out of place being right next to a traditional shrine building but that’s just my 2 cents. You can definitely tell this is an anime sacred ground when you see the various prayer tablets hanging outside adoring drawings of the visitor’s favorite Demon Slayer characters. Some of them were seriously well done!

⁃ I left Kamado Shrine and started driving toward Fukuoka. I was dreading this drive because 1. Driving inside Fukuoka, and especially right by the Hakata Shinkansen station, was insanely unnerving and 2. Because I had to return my beloved GR Yaris. Anyways I struggled through the city and somehow made it back to the rental place in one piece. And thus, my Kyushu driving adventure came to an end. 

⁃ On foot again, I spent a good hour looking for my hotel which was within 5 minutes walk of the Shinkansen station. First I got unbelievably lost at the station underground, then I went to the wrong hotel of the same company. Was told I was stupid (in a very polite way) and was sent on my way to the other side of the station. I silently mourn my car as I finally got to the right hotel.

\- Fukuoka is supposedly the tonkotsu ramen capital of Japan so of course I ventured around for some tasty ramen for dinner!

[See Part 2 here](https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/11djhgt/trip_report_solo_20_days/)