Day by Day Japan plans a first trip to Japan the way a friend who lives here would: one day at a time, with the trains and the prices written down.

Each route is a real day or weekend: where to go first, how long the walk or the train takes, what the ticket costs and where to eat on the way. Prices come from the operator's or the place's own published fares and carry the date they were checked; where we have not checked a price, the route says so instead of guessing. If it rains, the route has a plan B.

Around the routes sits the week in Japan. Every few hours the site reads the Japanese city and food press and the English-language desks in Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and Fukuoka, and puts the places they name on one map. Headlines stay in the language they were written in, every story links to its source, and we quote no more than a line.

The routes and notes are written by one editor under a pen name, Sora Nakamura, drafted with AI assistance from checked material and read before they go out. Day by Day Japan is independent: no advertisers, no affiliate links, no bookings.

← Day by Day Japan Archive

Time Out Tokyo — RestaurantsEat

Best character cafés and restaurants in Tokyo

September 24

Dine with your favourite characters at these themed eateries, from Snoopy and Pokémon to Hello Kitty and Harry Potter

Restaurants & openings

Read at Time Out Tokyo — Restaurants ↗

Also covered by: Time Out Tokyo

One letter a week, in your inbox.

Latest

Best character cafés and restaurants in Tokyo

Related

EatBest restaurants in Tokyo for solo diners Time Out Tokyo — Restaurants

EatJikasei Mensho Time Out Tokyo — Restaurants

EatEvery Tokyo restaurant in David Chang’s 'Ugly Delicious' season one Time Out Tokyo — Restaurants

EatBest kaiseki restaurants in Tokyo Time Out Tokyo — Restaurants

EatBest restaurants in Shinjuku Time Out Tokyo — Restaurants

EatA Mexican pop-up restaurant has landed at Bees Bar by Narisawa Time Out Tokyo — Restaurants