Attractions, sightseeing, day trips and unmissable experiences across Japan.
Aomori is the prefecture at the top of Honshu, three hours from Tokyo on the Hayabusa shinkansen. A practical guide to the Nebuta Festival, Hirosaki cherry blossom, the Oirase walk, Lake Towada, Mt Osore and the Tsugaru stove train.
Yamagata is the Tohoku prefecture you should base in, not pass through. Yamadera, Zao snow monsters, Ginzan Onsen, the Three Mountains of Dewa, and the Mogami River boat: a long-form guide with verified 2026 prices.
The Tohoku Shinkansen Hayabusa from Tokyo to Sendai takes 1 hour 30 minutes and costs around ¥11,410 in unreserved ordinary class. Most travellers spend exactly 4 hours in the city before pushing on north, and most of them get those 4 hours wrong. They walk a few shopping arcades, eat passable beef tongue at the … Read more
Niseko isn’t a single resort. It’s four interconnected ski areas on Niseko Annupuri (1,308m), each with its own owner, base, and personality. A grounded guide to Grand Hirafu, Hanazono, Niseko Village and An’nupuri, plus Mt Yotei, summer activities, transit from Tokyo, and where Niseko’s powder hype stops being true.
How to spend two days, three days, or a Snow-Festival week in Sapporo. Odori Park, Susukino, the Clock Tower, Mt Moiwa, the Beer Museum, ramen, jingisukan, soup curry, and Otaru as a half-day. Verified prices and timings as of 2026.
A practical guide to Hakodate, the city the foreign-itinerary guidebooks underplay: the morning market at 06:00, the star-shaped Goryokaku fort, the five-block Motomachi religious cluster, the Mt Hakodate night view, the lighter shio ramen, and how to get there from Tokyo on the Hokkaido Shinkansen.
The Arashiyama Bamboo Grove disappoints most visitors who arrive between 10:00 and 16:00. Here is when it works, and what to walk in Sagano-Arashiyama instead: Tenryu-ji, Jojakko-ji, Gio-ji, Daikaku-ji, the Hozugawa river boat, the Sagano Romantic Train, and the Iwatayama monkey-park view back over Kyoto.
Shibuya Scramble is the least interesting reason to come to Shibuya. There. Said it. The aerial shot is the only Scramble shot worth the airport miles. From street level it’s a traffic light, a crowd, and a noticeable absence of seating. Photo by David Kernan / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0) Walk twenty steps off … Read more
Eight day-trip routes worth the train time from Tokyo. The 90-minute rule, the best season for each route, and verified 2026 prices for Hakone, Nikko, Kamakura, Kawagoe, Yokohama, Mt. Takao, Mt. Fuji and Enoshima.
A contrarian Hakone day-trip guide. Skip half the round course, base the day around Owakudani plus a long ryokan lunch, and actually see Mt. Fuji from Lake Ashi at the right time. Verified 2026 pricing on the Hakone Free Pass and Romance Car.
