by karkador
I recently rediscovered Tokaido through BoardGameArena, and I have to echo your sentiment. Playing Tokaido is not just about stopping to smell the flowers (but the game can be enjoyed that way), but it's also a pretty strategic game about how you're going to plan your trip, how you'll use you'll get the most of your character's ability, and how you'll position your moves to try to not get locked out too often.The simplicity of it makes it a very pleasant experience- a joy to play- but I wouldn't necessarily call it easy, either. It's a great game.
I'll say, though, that the Crossroads expansion adds quite a bit more meat to the game - the most important being one-time ability cards, as well as secret goal cards you can buy - all without spoiling the simple nature of it.