"Just a Big Buddha"? Japanese Travelers Push Back on Kansai's "Most Disappointing Spots" List — and Say How You're Supposed to Visit

What Japanese visitors said — picked from the top 60 of 254 comments

• Temples, shrines, castles, kofun tombs — I'd ask people to visit them with the history front of mind, not the entertainment value or the view. Just my opinion.

  神社仏閣や城、古墳などはエンタメや景観より歴史を重きに置いて見に行ってほしい と個人的に思う

  — @TBToiK2Most liked80 likes

• Same as walking into a top-rated restaurant thinking "this had better be amazing" — over-expect at a famous sight and disappointment is guaranteed.

  グルメでも評価の高い店に行って「こんなもの？」と思うように 観光地に期待しすぎるとガッカリするものです

  — @frifrifrispable19 likes

• Even if you're let down, having seen the real thing with your own eyes becomes a memory in itself.

  ガッカリしたとしても、実物を観た　という経験をした事自体が思い出にもなる。

  — @芳久山村44 likes

• Going to see a Great Buddha and complaining "there's only a Great Buddha" is absurd.

  大仏見に行って「大仏しかない」はおかしいよね

  — @waiwaiwai_BEER40 likes

• Too many people don't know the Buddha came first and the hall was built around it — the Daibutsuden is basically a purpose-built warehouse for the Great Buddha 😅

  元々先に大仏が有って、その大仏を囲う形に作った、いわゆる大仏専用倉庫って事を知らない人が多過ぎますよね😅

  — @pengopenpen-d9g14 likes

• I took a night bus to Nara in fresh-green season, and Nara Park in the early morning was beautiful. Todaiji next door was quiet, and I could take it in unhurried — it hit far deeper than the rushed school-trip version. The souvenir stalls were still closed, though. A modest defense: for the right person, it's wonderful.

  新緑のころ夜行バスで早朝の奈良へ行ったんだけど、奈良公園とてもきれいでしたよ。近くの東大寺も人が少なくゆったりと見学できて、慌ただしく見学した修学旅行時よりも感慨深かったです。ただ土産売場は閉まってました。人によっては良いところもあるので、ささやかな弁護をしてみました。

  — @pentafan54575 likes

• If you can't feel the wabi-sabi of Ginkakuji… that whole area is meant to be savored together with the Philosopher's Path.

  銀閣寺のワビサビがわからないなんて・・あの辺は哲学の道と合わせて雰囲気を味わうんですよ

  — @水車猫56 likes

• Kinkakuji and Ginkakuji each have their own kind of beauty — but there are so many foreign tourists now that the atmosphere gets wrecked.

  金閣、銀閣はそれぞれの良さがあるんだが外人が多過ぎて雰囲気が壊されてしまってる

  — @panthertiger488366 likes

• Amanohashidate, disappointing…? It's a natural landmark — "it doesn't photograph well in bad weather" says more about your luck than the place. I've been many times and never once had rain or clouds. And anyway: you enjoy scenery whatever the sky is doing.

  天橋立が、がっかりって… 自然のものなのに天気が悪いから見栄えしないって それは、自分の行いが悪いからでは？(笑) 私は何回も行ってるが、雨とか曇りは全くない まぁ、曇ってようが何であろうと景色を楽しむものだよ

  — @芝政-b2x55 likes

• Tsutenkaku is far shorter than you imagine — which, flipped around, means its fame outruns its actual height. And Tsutenkaku isn't just the tower: it's your gateway to deep Osaka, Shinsekai and all.

  通天閣はイメージより遥かに低い。逆にいうと実際の高さを上回るそれだけの知名度があるということ。 あと、通天閣はそれだけでなく、周囲の新世界などディープな大阪を味わう場所だよ。

  — @koshian540542 likes

• Osaka local here — I went up Tsutenkaku for the first time in my life around the end of COVID, and enjoyed it more than I expected. They're putting in real effort, I'd say.

  大阪民だけどコロナ明けぐらいに人生始めて通天閣行ってみたけど思ってたより楽しめた 頑張ってると思うよ

  — @namedaruma-oyakata7 likes

• Kuromon and Nishiki did it to themselves.

  黒門、錦は自爆や

  — @bam541759 likes

• The Nintoku Kofun was only recently World Heritage-listed — it was never a tourist site to begin with. There's barely any souvenir trade (kofun pudding, maybe), and the area around it is an ordinary residential neighborhood.

  仁徳天皇陵は世界遺産に登録されたのがつい最近なので、元々観光地ではありません。お土産物も古墳プリンとか位しかなくほとんどありません。仁徳天皇陵近辺は元々住宅地です。

  — @scenic119314 likes

• The connoisseur's Todaiji is everything other than the Daibutsuden — Sangatsudo, Nigatsudo, Kaidan-in, the Shosoin.

  東大寺は三月堂、二月堂、戒壇院、正倉院など大仏殿以外を訪れるのがツウ。

  — @sc-et8ip73 likes

• The route I'd genuinely push: Nanzenji → Eikando → the Philosopher's Path → Ginkakuji. And Ginkakuji is best during the spring and autumn special openings, when you can enter the Togudo hall.

  南禅寺→永観堂→哲学の道→慈照寺（銀閣寺）というルートは是非オススメしたいですね。 銀閣寺は春と秋の特別公開で東求堂に入るのがオススメですね。

  — @motoyukihirai7777 likes

• Takeda Castle: if you want the "castle floating in a sea of clouds" shot from TV, you have to climb Ritsuunkyo or the viewpoints on the east side of Route 312. Climb the castle itself and you're standing on the stone walls — no wonder the view of them disappoints. The view from up there is good, though.

  竹田城跡、よくテレビなどで紹介される雲海に浮かぶ姿を見たいなら、国道312号線を挟んだ東側にある立雲峡とか展望台の方に登らないとね。 そりゃお城自体に登ったって自分が石垣の上にいるんじゃねぇ、期待外れ言われても。 眺めは良いいと思うよ。

  — @nao-shirokuma96920 likes

• Kyoto and Nara especially: don't go on "oh, I know that name" alone. Do the reading first, and the place becomes the stage of the history you just learned. If an unfamiliar ruin or old temple comes up while you're reading, prioritize it — untouristed, hushed, standing quietly in the stillness, you feel the flow of deep time, like you've wandered into that era; the opening lines of the Tale of the Heike well up, you think soberly on Atsumori cut down so young, on the fleetingness of human life… get to that point, and then you may come.

  京都・奈良は特に「あっここ名前知ってる～」　程度で観に行かず下調べをしてから行くとここがあの歴史の舞台になった場所なのかと感激する、下調べ中に聞きなれない史跡・古刹・が出てきたら優先して行くと良い、観光ずれしていなくて静謐の中ひっそりとたたずむ姿に悠久の時間の流れを感じ、その時代に迷い込んだような思いがして平家物語の冒頭が心に湧き上がり若くして討ち取られた敦盛の最後をしみじみと思い、人の儚さについて考えられる・・・ぐらいになってから来やがれ。

  — @9chinchin8 likes

• SaveNigatsudo (Todaiji)↗東大寺 二月堂Todaiji temple complex, Nara

  The thread's fix for "just a big Buddha": the halls beside the Daibutsuden — Nigatsudo's terrace view gets singled out — plus Sangatsudo, Kaidan-in and the Shosoin (73 likes).

• SavePhilosopher's Path↗哲学の道Higashiyama, Kyoto

  The recommended approach to Ginkakuji: Nanzenji → Eikando → Philosopher's Path → Ginkakuji, so the wabi-sabi lands in context.

• SaveGinkakuji (Silver Pavilion)↗銀閣寺（慈照寺）Higashiyama, Kyoto

  Defended as a different beauty from Kinkakuji — wabi-sabi that lands when you arrive via the Philosopher's Path (56 likes), best during the spring/autumn special openings when the Togudo is open.

• SaveTsutenkaku↗通天閣Shinsekai, Osaka

  Shorter than its fame implies, and the advice here is to treat it as the gateway to Shinsekai's deep-Osaka streets rather than a skyline deck (42 likes).

• SaveRitsuunkyo↗立雲峡Asago, Hyogo (across the valley from Takeda Castle)

  Where the "Takeda Castle floating in clouds" photo is actually taken from — the viewpoint side, east of Route 312 (20 likes).

• SaveAmanohashidate↗天橋立Miyazu, northern Kyoto Prefecture

  The retort in the thread to the "disappointing in bad weather" complaint: it's a natural landform — enjoy the scenery whatever the sky does (55 likes).

Named in the source comments. Where a note gives a price, opening status or rule, we checked it against the linked source on the date shown — everything else is what the comments said. All of it can change; check the map listing before you go.

Is Todaiji worth visiting?

Japanese commenters say emphatically yes — the pushback against "it's just a big Buddha" led the whole thread (69 likes on the top retort). Their fix: don't stop at the Daibutsuden; the connoisseur's Todaiji is Nigatsudo, Sangatsudo, Kaidan-in and the Shosoin next door (73 likes), and early morning is the quiet way in.

Is Ginkakuji worth it compared to Kinkakuji?

Commenters defend it as a different kind of beauty — wabi-sabi rather than gold — but insist it only lands as part of the walk: Nanzenji → Eikando → Philosopher's Path → Ginkakuji, ideally during the spring or autumn special openings when the Togudo is open.

Is Tsutenkaku worth going up?

Manage expectations on height: commenters admit it's far shorter than its fame suggests (42 likes). The consensus is to treat it as the gateway to Shinsekai's deep-Osaka streetscape rather than an observation deck, and one local who finally went was pleasantly surprised.

How do you see Takeda Castle's "castle in the sky" view?

Not from the castle. Per the comments (20 likes), the famous sea-of-clouds shot is taken from Ritsuunkyo and the viewpoints east of Route 312, across the valley — climb the ruins themselves and you're standing on the very walls you came to photograph.