Apologies for taking so long to get this one written down if you were someone who saw my teaser elevator post from the Hello Kitty Apple House last August. I was finally writing up last summer’s roadtrip around Shikoku Japan to see my relatives in Kochi and realized I’ve probably been avoiding writing this because I did not want to tell my family that about 95% of the reason I insisted we do this Shikoku roadtrip (instead of by train or flight) is because when I zoomed into Awaji Island looking for the routes we would take, I noticed a giant Hello Kitty on the map, that led me to finding the Hello Kitty Apple House. So ultimately, this might not just be a “what to expect at the Hello Kitty Apple House” post but more of a confession to my family: this was what the road trip was really all about. (And because we are now at peak busyness this summer maybe none of them will notice.)
How long will it take you to go through the Hello Kitty Apple House?
Literally you could do the whole Apple House in 5 minutes, but also you could take 30 minutes. It is not very big, and it’s more like an observation tower with an elevator or stairs to the top and a gift shop in the bottom. Does this mean it’s not worth it to visit? That is up to you. (If you’re from the Pacific Northwest you might have done something similar in Astoria without Hello kitty and more stairs at the Astoria Column)
I also just posted this visit as a reel on Instagram so you get more of an idea of what it really feels like. This is my original post just about the elevator at the Hello Kitty Apple House too.
Three family members put up with me as I spent close to 30 minutes at this Apple House. I rode the elevator up and down and then took the stairs. The elevator itself was a fun experience and I’m not a fan of elevators. The gift shop had cute things and I peeked at the cafe but decided we did not need to do the cafe or show. (The cafe and show are in the big area that looks like Hello Kitty from the sky but neither seemed like they were super appealing unless maybe I was with really small children and we were here at the right time-the shows only happen a few times a day)
Buy the Onion Soup mix at the Hello Kitty Apple House
Who would have known Awaji Island is famous for onions? Maybe I should have watched Tik Tok because since coming home, I’ve seen video after video of onions at Awaji Island coming into my feed, and I only bought the onion soup mix because it seemed like a cute packaged Hello Kitty disposable souvenir. I don’t really understand the Japanese to make it but used google translate and you pretty much just add hot water until it suits your taste.
How about the nearby Hello Kitty Smile
We drove about 5 minutes to Hello Kitty Smile, another Hello Kitty Shaped building on the coast nearby. It was very busy and I was originally going to just peek in, but also it was really hot and we decided that one Hello Kitty visit was enough and we decided to go find a beach to swim in instead and this ended up being our perfect choice. We found a restaurant down the road that had really delicious food. We found a beach and had a refreshing swim. And then we made it to Kotohira where we stayed the night in a Ryokan that had a private traditional bath on our balcony.
If you are looking for more information about the Hello Kitty Apple House you might want to check out this site to get as up to date information as possible. I thought it was a really cool spot to see (my family was not as enthusiastic) but also I was wary that it might have inconsistent hours and if you are traveling far to visit this place, or if you make a whole roadtrip around this place it might only be a five-minute stop or maybe even nothing. For me, I’m really glad I went, it was a fun memory from the trip and it was part of a bigger road trip, one from Osaka to Fukuyama (with a train ride back to Tokyo) and a stop in the middle to see family in Kochi. I’ll try to get the rest of this trip written up soon.
Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys. She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live. She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)
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