Stories & lists

Blog

Travel stories, curated lists, and honest takes on Japan — from someone who keeps going back.

Day trips from Osaka: 8 escapes (including 3 nobody else lists)
List

Day trips from Osaka: 8 escapes (including 3 nobody else lists)

Kyoto, Nara and Himeji plus five quieter picks: a mountain with 30,000 cherry trees, Japan's best Edo merchant quarter, and a UNESCO cedar-stair shrine.

9 min read
Best day trips from Tokyo: the decision guide
List

Best day trips from Tokyo: the decision guide

Nikko, Kamakura and Hakone, each paired with a crowd-free alternative that scratches the same itch. Choose in thirty seconds, not thirty minutes.

11 min read
Best sushi in Tokyo: where to eat, from ¥1 belts to Ginza counters
List

Best sushi in Tokyo: where to eat, from ¥1 belts to Ginza counters

From Uobei's tablet-order conveyor belt and Katsu Midori to Toyosu market counters and an approachable Ginza classic.

3 min read
Conveyor belt sushi in Japan: a first-timer's guide to kaitenzushi
Experience

Conveyor belt sushi in Japan: a first-timer's guide to kaitenzushi

How kaitenzushi works: touch-screen ordering, plate-colour prices, and where to find the best conveyor belt sushi spots in Tokyo.

4 min read
Gion Matsuri: Kyoto's Month-Long Summer Festival
Experience

Gion Matsuri: Kyoto's Month-Long Summer Festival

Kyoto's oldest festival runs all of July, not just the 17th parade. The lantern-lit yoiyama evenings are quieter and often the better reason to come.

6 min read
Koyasan, Japan: what a night in a Buddhist temple is actually like
Experience

Koyasan, Japan: what a night in a Buddhist temple is actually like

What a shukubo stay at 800m actually involves: a 6am goma fire ceremony, shojin ryori dinner, and Okunoin cemetery after the day-trip crowds have gone.

9 min read
Tokyo sushi omakase — chef plating nigiri at a counter, single piece on a wooden board
List

Best Sushi Omakase in Tokyo

Six omakase counters from a ¥6,000 lunch to Ginza's top tables. What omakase means, how booking works, and which counters are actually gettable.

9 min read
Tokyo street food — Tsukiji morning market, Ameyoko alley at dusk, depachika basement
List

Tokyo Street Food

Tsukiji at 07:00, Asakusa midday, Ameyoko at dusk, plus depachika basement halls. Six walks from famous to locals-only, with cash and timing notes.

9 min read
Osaka food guide — Dotonbori neon, takoyaki griddle, kushikatsu skewers, Kuromon market
List

Where to Eat in Osaka

Takoyaki at Aizuya, okonomiyaki at Mizuno, kushikatsu at Daruma Shinsekai, Kuromon Market at dawn, and kappo counter-kaiseki, mostly at half Tokyo prices.

8 min read
Kyoto Michelin restaurants — kaiseki tatami room with seasonal courses, garden view
List

Michelin Star Restaurants in Kyoto

Kyoto's 2025 guide lists 93 starred restaurants, dominated by kaiseki. Seven picks across three tiers, from 3-star Hyotei to a 1-star Gion sushi counter.

9 min read
Tokyo Michelin restaurants — sushi counter, kaiseki tatami, French open kitchen, yakitori grill
List

Michelin Star Restaurants in Tokyo

Tokyo leads the world with 170 starred restaurants. Eight picks across 3-star, 2-star and 1-star tiers, plus Bib Gourmand under ¥6,000 and how to book.

10 min read
Tokyo yakitori — chicken skewers over charcoal, counter omakase
List

The Best Yakitori in Tokyo

From Torikizoku's ¥328 skewers to the Michelin counters at Birdland Ginza and Torishiki Meguro. Tare vs shio, chicken-part vocabulary and how to order.

7 min read
Tokyo izakaya — counter drinks, sashimi platter, yakitori smoke, yokocho alley
List

The Best Izakaya in Tokyo

Where Tokyo actually drinks after work: four izakaya worth the trip, plus how to walk Omoide Yokocho, Golden Gai and Ebisu Yokocho.

8 min read
Kyoto kaiseki — Hyotei, Kikunoi, Kitcho Arashiyama tatami room with seasonal dishes
List

The Best Kaiseki in Kyoto

Hyotei, Kikunoi, Kitcho and two more Michelin-starred kaiseki rooms, plus the lunch trick that cuts the price by 40 to 60 percent.

7 min read
Five cheap Japanese chain restaurants — gyudon, udon, conveyor sushi, Italian
List

The 5 Cheapest Chain Restaurants in Japan

Matsuya breakfast, Yoshinoya gyudon, Marugame udon, Kura Sushi conveyor and the Saizeriya wildcard. Plus a plain guide to surviving the ticket machine.

7 min read
Tokyo ramen — tsukemen, shio, tantanmen across six neighbourhoods
List

Best Ramen in Tokyo

Six Tokyo ramen counters eaten over three days: Fuunji's tsukemen, Nakiryu's Michelin tantanmen, and an honest Ichiran vs Ippudo answer.

9 min read
Tokyo sushi — counter, omakase, fresh fish
List

Best Sushi in Tokyo

Six picks across three tiers: ¥90-per-piece standing bars near Tsukiji, an Akasaka omakase counter, and the three-Michelin room you can't easily book.

5 min read
Kyoto food — kaiseki, yudofu, machiya
List

Where to Eat in Kyoto

Kikunoi kaiseki, Tousuiro yudofu, Pontocho obanzai, Nishiki Market at opening. Lunch at a kaiseki house costs half the dinner price.

6 min read
Tokyo food — ramen counter, yakitori smoke, sushi conveyor
List

Where to Eat in Tokyo

Eight cuisines, four chains, five neighbourhoods. From Fuunji tsukemen to depachika bento marked down at 19:30, with queues mapped.

9 min read
Bowl of Fuji Ramen Masterpiece tonkotsu — pale silky broth, shredded cabbage, chashu, marinated egg, nori
List

The Best Ramen in Asakusa

Five minutes off Nakamise-dori, past the tourist tempura: Fuji Ramen, Yoroiya, Yukikage, Hayashida and Bibi, with what to order at each.

6 min read
Mountain mist over a traditional Japanese village
List

10 Hidden-Gem Destinations in Japan Worth the Detour

Takayama sake breweries, Onomichi's cat-filled temple walk, Kanazawa's geisha districts: ten places past the standard Tokyo-Kyoto loop.

2 min read
Forest temple steps surrounded by autumn maple foliage in red and gold
Experience

Autumn in Kansai: Three Days, One Sunrise, Forty-Two Maple Trees

Three days chasing maple peak through Kyoto and Nara, plus the lesson that the official koyo forecast runs 48-72 hours behind reality every single year.

3 min read
Cherry blossoms over a traditional Japanese garden
List

Where to Go in Japan in 2026: An Opinionated List

Five places noticeably better than three years ago, including Kanazawa after the Hokuriku Shinkansen extension, and three now worth deliberately skipping.

3 min read
Illuminated Tokyo Skytree above Asakusa rooftops
Experience

A Year of Japan: What I Learned in 12 Months of Trips

Three trips across March, August and November: why Kyoto in cherry blossom season disappointed, and what to book differently next time.

3 min read