Place ranking

So, the trip is soon over. What are the pros and cons of each place I visited? Which did I like, and why? What were the drawbacks? Let's try to list the pros and cons, eh?

Kyoto
Pros: A city of great historical interest, Kyoto sports several amazing temples. Most notably the Daigo-ji, the kinkaku-ji, ginkaku-ji and Sanjusangendo. These should all be visited. Kyoto is also quite close to Nara, which certainly should be included in any trip here.

Cons: I feel that Kyoto is a bit overrated. Yes, the temples are beautiful. Yes, they have a nice commercial district in the Gion. But then that's pretty much it. I'm an avid fan of temple vissits, but I was sick of them after five days here. So yeah, I still agree that Kyoto should be visited, but maybe just for 2-3 days.

Rating: 3/5

Hiroshima
Pros: Also of historical interest, Hiroshima has its Peace museum as the general attraction. But there is also the beautiful island of Miyajima, plus the fact that the food here was brilliant. Everything was delicious!

Cons: besides those two sightseeing things, there's really not much to do here that makes it stand out.

Rating: 3/5

Osaka
Pros: Osaka is quite charming, and is placed in a central position which makes it an excellent base for exploring the Kansai region. Osaka also has a quite nice castle and a good historical museum, as well as lots of commerce.

Cons: Sure, there's nothing really wrong with Osaka, but there really isn't much about the city. Instead, it's all about the possible daytrips. If you include Koya-san and Ise-Jingu, then Osaka becomes interesting.

Rating: 3/5 without the daytrips, 4/5 with them.

Takamatsu and Kagawa prefecture
Pros: Northern Shikoku is well worth a visit, with a number of good temple grounds, a beautiful garden in Takamatsu, and the Seto inland sea to explore. They also have great udon!

Cons: Well, really, Takamatsu only suffers in relation to Tokushima.

Rating: 4/5

Matsumoto
Pros: a charming city with surprisingly much in it, despite its rather small size. It is also brilliantly placed to be the base of any exploration of Nagano prefecture. The people is very friendly, and you can easily get to talk to some of them at a local izakaya.

Cons: At the time, the railroad was damaged by that typhoon, making some trips more difficult.

Rating: 4/5

Tokyo
Pros: The city to visit. Tokyo has everything the other cities have, and much much more. It is easy to spend many many days here, no matter what you are interested in.

Cons: A truly international city, there a quite a few touristy areas. There are also a LOT of people here :S.

Rating: 4/5

The two locations of special notice though, the ones that really got to me and really didn't have any cons, are the following two (they both have 5/5 of course):

Tokushima: the cosiest town I visited, with crabs running on the pathways in the park, and access to the fabulous Iya Valley.

Norikura: the most beautiful nature experience, and an excellent complement to the more tropical sense of Iya valley. Norikura was incredible in every way.

For me personally, Tokushima also has a special place in my heart because it became my completely own experience, and Norikura has an equally special place in my heart because it to a high degree was not my own experience. And if that was cryptic you are not meant to understand it.