Tokyo Food Guide: Where to Eat, What to Order, Local Secrets
Tokyo has more Michelin-starred restaurants than any other city on earth. It also has Â¥500 bowls of ramen that’ll stop ...
Best Neighborhoods in Tokyo for Tourists to Stay In (and Where to Skip)
Tokyo throws a curveball at first-time visitors before they’ve even booked a flight. The city is so massive, and packed ...
Where to Stay in Kyoto (and Where to Skip) for First-Time Visitors
Kyoto looks small on a map, and that’s the trap. The historic center fits neatly onto a phone screen, so ...
Best Souvenirs From Japan: What to Buy Beyond the Kit Kat Aisle
If you’ve ever had a friend or family member come back from Japan, chances are you already know what’s in ...
How to Make Your Nara Day Trip from Kyoto Unforgettable
We still laugh about the moment a deer bowed to us for a cracker, then headed straight for my husband’s ...
Fushimi Inari Taisha: Complete First-Timer’s Guide to Kyoto’s Torii Gate Trail
The first time we mentioned Fushimi Inari Taisha to friends back home, most of them already knew the photo, that ...
How to Experience the Best of Nara and Kyoto in 3 Days
Kyoto does something to people. We’d read about it for months before we landed there, and somehow the real thing ...
Japan Travel Tips for First Timers the Guidebooks Skip
The first time I visited Japan, I stood at a train station exit for a full five minutes, rolling suitcase ...
Why 2 Days in Takayama is the Ultimate Japanese Experience!
We almost cut Takayama from our Japan trip. It looked small on the map, sandwiched between bigger names, few first ...
3-Day Hakone and Kawaguchiko Itinerary Done Right & Easy
Most visitors to Japan pick one or the other. Hakone or Kawaguchiko. A volcanic mountain resort or a Fuji-facing lake. ...
Hakone vs Kawaguchiko: Which Mt. Fuji Region Should You Visit?
Want to visit the Mt. Fuji region but stuck choosing between two very different destinations? We were in exactly that ...
Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden: A Guide to Tokyo’s Best Park
If you think a park is a park, Shinjuku Gyoen will prove you wrong within five minutes. We walked through ...
Senso-ji Temple: Complete First-Timer’s Guide to Tokyo’s Oldest Temple
The moment you reach that massive red lantern and the smell of incense hits you, you’ll understand why people have ...
Unlock the Best Day Trips from Tokyo by Shinkansen (Bullet Train) 🚅
Tokyo is one of those cities that could genuinely keep you busy for weeks without ever leaving the city limits. ...
Best Tokyo Views: Shibuya Sky or Tokyo Skytree or Tokyo Tower or…?
Tokyo will overwhelm you with choices before you even leave your hotel. There’s a tower here, a skyscraper rooftop there, ...
How to Plan 4 Days in Tokyo (The Neighborhood Strategy)
Tokyo doesn’t do subtle. From the moment the train pulls into Shinjuku Station and the city swallows you whole, you’ll ...
Guide to Meiji Jingu Shrine Tokyo: History, Etiquette, & What Not to Miss
There’s a moment, maybe thirty seconds after you pass through the towering torii gate, when Tokyo goes completely quiet. The ...
How to Spend 2 Weeks in Japan Mixing City and Tradition
There’s a moment I keep coming back to. We were standing on the shore of Lake Kawaguchiko at dusk, Mount ...