A brief summary of a few of the things we did in Japan rated for Enjoyment and Value. Almost everything was incredibly good value given how cheap Japan is at the moment(Including that a lot of the things we went to have very low admission fees).
Tokyo 4 4
Teamlab Planets 5 4
Teamlab was one of my favorite experiences of the entire trip. Especially with a toddler the experiential nature of the installations is great.
Miraikan 3 4
Miraikan is a large science musem and is mostly interchangeable with a science museum in any other country in terms of being set up for school trips more than anything.
Disney Sea 4 4
Disney Sea is a great time. On the one hand it's not that cheap, on the other hand it's noticeably cheaper than the equivalent Disney parks in other countries. Sinbad had almost no wait and was weirdly good if you want a recommendation.
Shibuya Scramble 3 4
Shibuya is a worth a visit both for the famousness and for a good range of shops and small restaurants to explore.
Takeshita St 2 3
Takeshita St is famous, overcrowded, and generally a tourist trap at this point. If you for some reason absolutely need a candy floss flower that's the size of small child then it's a must visit.
Kyoto 5 4
Kyoto was my favorite city of the trip. A smaller city with reasonably explorable alleyways and public transport that was busy but not packed.
Nijo Palace 4 4
Nijo palace was far more enjoyable than I expected. The nightingale floors are a unique experience and great fun to walk around on. The grounds themselves are also an incredibly pleasant walk. It's also a less popular destination so doesn't suffer from overcrowding as badly as some of the other things to do in Kyoto.
Gion 4 5
Gion is easily worth a few hours of walking around and seeing a Japanese suburb that has maintained its traditional elements. Trying to correctly identify shops that have been forced to remove all their brand colours can be quite entertaining.
Kinkaku-ji 4 4
Kinkaku-ji is very pretty and probably the best single photo I took on the trip. It's another easy walk and wasn't too busy when we visited. I could imagine it being unpleasant in peak season though.
Arashiyama 3 4
Arashiyama was packed worse than any other thing we did and didn't feel unique in the way some of the other busy attractions did. I'd suggest finding another bamboo forest if you want to hang out in one.
Fushimi Inari 4 4
Sushi Train Restaurant 5 4
Huge quantities of good quality sushi. We just found the closest place with decent google reviews and it was great - I imagine this would be true anywhere in Japan.
Nara Deer Park 3 3
The deer are kind of dicks. If I wasn't going to make it to Miyajima then Nara would be great but I do think the Miyajima deer are nicer and the island is an overall cooler place to visit.
Osaka Castle 3 3
It's a castle. We got a discount and to skip a chunk of the line because we had a JR pass. Looking at it from the outside was the best bit.
Hiroshima Dome 3 4
Fascinating to see - both from the impact of the bombings and from the difference in story telling around the events themselves in a Japanese context.
Miyajima 5 4
Miyajima is great. If we planned the trip again I would do a ryokan stay on Miyajima for nighttime on the island rather than the trip up into the hills that we did.
Yudanaka 3 4
Technically we went to Yudanaka, but I was too sick to do anything. The onsen was good though.
Iwaki 3 4
We want to Iwaki to visit friends. It's a pleasant area but I can't imagine anyone including it in a trip without an explicit reason to be there.
Iwaki Aquarium 4 4
The Iwaki aquarium was a surprisingly good time. It had spider crabs and also quite a lot of bright yellow spiders.
