Nijigen no Mori — Attraction in Awaji

This rating is for our 2nd visit to Nijigen no Mori.

This was our second visit to Nijigen no Mori. Our first trip was quite challenging, and we couldn’t fully enjoy it, so this time, we decided to stay at the Grand Chariot hotel for a more convenient experience.

It had been two years since our last visit, and this was also our first time traveling to Japan during the winter season. The weather was pleasant, with clear skies, though it was quite windy. At certain times of the day, we even saw snowfall. Experiencing snow in Japan for the first time made it a refreshing and memorable visit.

After being dropped off at the main entrance, we began our visit at the information office and explored the small gift shop nearby. There was a Gacha section, but unfortunately, we didn’t find any worthwhile Dragon Quest items.

Next, we came across a small pop-up shop near DQ Island, offering limited-edition Dragon Quest prizes. We tried our luck a few times, but my husband wasn’t able to win the prize he wanted.

Since our hotel provided a complimentary admission pass to DQ Island, we used it to enter the attraction. There were special admission upgrades available, and my husband was tempted to get the upgraded version. Since the upgrade included some great souvenirs, we both decided to go for it.

Already familiar with the DQ Island game from our previous visit, we moved through it quickly. There were additional optional side quests that offered specific prizes, so we completed all of them. However, luck wasn’t on our side when it came to winning rewards.

After thoroughly enjoying the game, we decided to grab lunch. We checked Luida’s Café menu but found it unappealing since it was the same as our last visit. Instead, we explored the food court area and chose a food truck that looked promising. The food was decent but nothing special.

We then stopped by the DQ gift shop, hoping to make some purchases, but the experience turned out to be disappointing. The store layout had changed, and despite having a wide variety of items, nothing particularly stood out. Many of the apparel items we were interested in were either out of stock or unavailable in larger sizes.

We also had free admission to the Godzilla ziplining attraction, but due to the strong winds and cold weather, we decided to skip it and return to our hotel.

PROS: Clean and well-maintained park Beautiful views of the park and bridge Quiet and relaxing atmosphere Excellent food at the hotel

CONS: Still not very accommodating for foreign tourists Awajishima/Nijigen no Mori lacks taxi services, as we learned from our previous trip. Even local bus drivers confirmed that only buses or rental cars are available. No winter season specials Some anime-themed stores were closed for the season Taxis are not allowed to drop guests off at the hotel, forcing us to walk all the way with our luggage. None of the staff driving vehicles within the park offered assistance. (This was the first day of our check-in.) Winter is not the best time to visit Nijigen no Mori. No convenience store within the park, only vending machines near the parking...

Read my review on the Naruto x Boruto theme park for details about getting there and more detail on that aspect of the park.

Naruto theme park was so good we went there a second day despite have 4 hours for the first day. The additional missions were all worth it.

The second day we also did the Demon Slayer theme park. The day mission was slightly disappointing in English. The puzzles in Japanese seemed to stump people a lot more and I peeped over at a Japanese puzzle sheet and they seemed a lot more complicated. The English puzzles were really simple. I asked the staff member working there and they did say the Japanese ones were more difficult. The Japanese one also required having to open lockboxes with codes to get the next puzzle sheet whereas the English one just gave us a pack and told us to open the next one when we're finished the first one. No way to even check if your answer was actually correct. Just one puzzle sheet needed per group. Don't have to buy a pass for each person. Tickets are cheapest on Klook.

We were changing cities that night so needed to take our big bags with us. The storage lockers at reception closed before the night walk so we had to pull our huge suitcases around for the whole night walk which was a really long uphill. We asked staff before hand and they didn't seem to care much that we had the bags. They just said we have to take it with us because the exit is. A different place from the start. But at the end we were taken in a shuttle to the entrance of the park. Could someone not have gotten the shuttles to take our suitcases. Can the baggage locker also not just be outside at the entrance?

Besides this the night show would've been really amazing.

This certainly knocked off a couple stars for us but the Naruto theme park was so amazing that that aspect was way over 5 stars so in total it's still way over 5 stars for us.

We want to go back for Godzilla because there seemed like there was a lot to do there and we wouldn't have had enough time to do all of it so we just got a refund on Klook which you can get for unredeemed tickets.

Outside the Naruto theme park the food options aren't th greatest but without a ticket you can't just enter the Naruto...

I think you will only like it if you know the characters and understand what’s going on.

We wandered about the place because it’s nearby our hotel. We didn’t know anything much except Godzilla and crayon Shinchan. We tried the light package of Godzilla which had the zip line and the shooting. It was good enough for us. The staff are majority friendly but some seem a bit curt towards foreigners. Maybe more English, Chinese , foreign language signage would help them.

The crayon Shinchan park has many figurines you can take photos with but it’s more kiddy type play so not for adults.

There’s many themed dining areas too so you can enjoy some Godzilla food or drink etc. the Naruto section is quite disappointing because we walked all the way there about 10 min from the Godzilla but it’s only paid access. Even the gift shop is only for paid participants which is disappointing. Thought of just buying a gift but too bad.

The signage on the map is also only in Japanese so it’s not easy for those who don’t read Japanese. But there’s guys wearing yellow shirts who are helpful to direct you.

One problem is things in this park is very short. I banged my head a few times as things are low and I’m hardly 6 feet tall. The tents for shelter were also low. The bus signage was even more ridiculously low. We walked about frantically looking for the bus waiting point at carpark F as there’s no signage. Later we realized that some men who aren’t particularly tall, around the sign already obscured it. Quite silly.

I think the signage to direct guests who don’t drive and need to take the free shuttle bus is insufficient. Also this place is a nature park, with individual themed events, if you want to play everything it’s going to cost you hundreds of dollars. Probably less cost effective than universal studios. But different animes and characters so if you’re a...