Editor

Sora Nakamura

Sora Nakamura is the pen name the routes on Day by Day Japan are written under, drafted with AI assistance and read before they go out. Every fare, fee and opening time on a route comes from whoever printed it, the operator, the place itself or a Japanese magazine or guide, and the page says which, with the date. Sora writes routes, not rankings, and would rather send you to a place that has kept its regulars for fifty years than to anything called a hidden gem.

Routes and notes, newest first

  1. RouteNikko in a day: the cedar avenue, Toshogu and the imperial villa
  2. RouteHiroshima and Miyajima in two days: the Peace Park, okonomiyaki, and the ropeway up Misen
  3. RouteKanazawa in a day: Kenrokuen at opening, the market at lunch, the teahouses after
  4. RouteA weekend south of Tokyo: Yokohama, Kamakura, Atami
  5. RouteAtami: two days by the water, a ryokan dinner between them
  6. RouteFushimi Inari before eight, then two temples and a coffee
  7. RouteKamakura: breakfast at eight, sushi at noon, the sea, and an auberge
  8. RouteKitakata: four bowls of ramen before lunch, at the weekend
  9. RouteKyoto in a day: temples by daylight, obanzai at night
  10. RouteNiseko: two days in the green
  11. RouteTokyo in three days, at the middle price
  12. RouteYour first week in Japan: Tokyo, Hakone, Kyoto, Nara and Osaka
  13. RouteHakodate: the market, Motomachi's slopes and the mountain at dusk
  14. RouteIzumo Taisha: the great shrine, soba in five bowls, and zenzai
  15. RouteKichijoji: a menchi-katsu, the pond and a cave of a kissaten
  16. RouteKobe: a warm cheesecake, a room in the old settlement, a bar with a fire
  17. RouteKusatsu: once round the Yubatake, eating as you go
  18. RouteMeguro to Yutenji: three cheesecakes and a Korean dinner
  19. RouteNara from Osaka: the Great Buddha, Kasuga's lanterns and an afternoon in Naramachi
  20. RouteOsaka in a day: the castle, Dotonbori, Tsutenkaku and the aquarium at dusk
  21. RouteOsaka, eating: takoyaki, okonomiyaki, kushikatsu and a box of pork buns
  22. RouteSapporo in two days: ramen at six, crab at night, then Jozankei
  23. RouteShibuya after dark: two standing bars and a basement