Autumn 2025. We – Sam and Danny, Michel and Wille, and Timothy – are travelling to Japan for a quite classic tour of the Land of the Rising Sun. We are flying separately as we used miles. On the planning: Tokyo, Kanazawa, Shirakawa, Osaka, and Expo 2025, Hiroshima, Himeji, Miyajima, Kyoto, Nara, Nagoya, Hakone, and back to Tokyo. Three weeks plus some extra days.

As Kanazawa is a smaller city in Japan, there where less “western” hotel brands on offer, so we decided to try out a Japanese one. We selected the Daiwa Roynet Hotel Kanazawa Eki Nishiguchi as it looked clean and modern, was close to the station and offered a very good price. I was also under the impression the hotel would offer an onsen, but apparently that was the other Daiwa Roynet hotel near Kanazawa station and I had booked the wrong one.

Upon arrival at the hotel we were impressed by the nice modern looking lobby with some nice sofa’s to relax on and a complimentary offering of cold and hot drinks as well as any imaginable amenity you could wish for in your room. We were less impressed by how check-in was handled. We approached the desk and they asked for our passport, they did some things on their computer but couldn’t check us in as we were too early (fair enough), but could leave our bags stored at the hotel. When we got back later in the afternoon we had to do a full check-in again at the machine, so no idea what they had done with our passport earlier.

The room itself was tiny, with a bed pushed in a corner of the room, a desk in the other corner. They did have an electrical moveable tv, so you could use a remote to turn however you wanted it. The room also offered complimentary water bottles.

In Contrast the bathroom was huge, with both a walk-in shower and a bath tub in the wet area. The toilet was of course a Japanese one with built-in bidet functions. They also had the quirk of having a basket to throw your used towels in. and by attaching a magnet to your door you could select which type of cleaning you would like, full cleaning, no cleaning or just new towels and water bottle.

In the morning a very Japanese themed breakfast buffet was offered in the Italian restaurant under the hotel. I wasn’t very excited by it as there was little to my liking, I just had some pizza for breakfast. The items on offer where of good quality, but I’m not too fond of Japanese food for breakfast.

The hotel also offered a laundromat room which was useful to do some laundry while on the road.

In the end we weren’t overly thrilled by the Daiwa Roynet hotel, it was clean and functional. But the room especially with 2 persons was really small. As I am used to bigger and more expensive hotel this wasn’t my favourite hotel on the trip.

2025 Journey Across Japan

1. Japan’s Superconducting Maglev train breaks world speed record at 603 km/h.
2. Japan’s maglev bullet train delayed to 2035 or later as costs rise to ¥11 trillion.
3. QUESTION | Should you be stressed about travelling to Japan, and fear of missing out?.
4. Brussels Airport to Milan Malpensa with Brussels Airlines, operated by Air Baltic, ft. the 2025 check-in and boarding software hack.
5. REVIEW | Sala Montale Exclusive Lounge and Sala Gae Aulentin Premium Lounge at Milan Malpensa Airport, extra Schengen.
6. REVIEW | All Nippon Airways (ANA), Business Class, Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner to Tokyo.
7. REVIEW | Toei Animation Museum in Nerima, Tokyo.
8. JAPAN | Tokyo Station, its Character Street and Pokémon Store.
9. REVIEW | Onyado Nono Asakusa Hotel in Tokyo.
10. TOKYO | Asakusa ft. Sensō-ji Temple.
11. JAPAN | The Odoriko train from Tokyo to Ito on Izu Peninsula.
12. PHOTOS & REVIEW | The Izu Teddy Bear Museum in Izu-Kōgen.
13. JAPAN | A visit to Ito on Izu Peninsula in Shizuoka Prefecture.
14. REVIEW | Japan’s Saphir Odoriko in Premium Green Car from Ito on Izu Peninsula to Tokyo Station.
15. GAY TOKYO | 24 Kaikan in Asakusa (+ Ueno and Shinjuku).
16. TOKYO | Sawara in Chiba Prefecture, ‘Little Edo’ beyond Narita.
17. TOKYO | Omotesandō in Shibuya – AEON Shinonome –  Uniqlo – Muji.
18. PHOTOS | The Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum in Koganei Park.
19. JAPAN | Solo in Tokyo.
20. REVIEW | Brussels Airport The View lounge.
21. REVIEW | Qatar Airways Business Class Brussels to Doha.
22. REVIEW | Qatar Airways Al Mourjan The Garden Business lounge.
23. REVIEW | Qatar Airways Q-Suite Business Class Doha to Tokyo.
24. REVIEW | Pullman Tokyo Tamachi.
25. REVIEW | The Railway Museum, Ōmiya, Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture.
26. TOKYO | Imperial Palace East Gardens – Akihabara – Tamiya flagship store – Skytree.
27. JAPAN | Kanazawa Castle – Kenrokuen Garden – Higashi Chaya District.