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

Kyoto JournalKansai

Review: Words by Baye, Art by Miki

October 31, 2025

By Lewis Miesen Words By Baye, Art by Miki: Crafting a Life Together with Affection, Creativity, and Resilience by Baye McNeil and Miki Hayashi McNeil. Tokyo: Hunterfly Road Publishing, 443pp.

Reviews Book Book Review

Read at Kyoto Journal ↗

One letter a week, in your inbox.

Latest

Review: Words by Baye, Art by Miki

More from Kyoto Journal on Day by Day Japan

KansaiCURATION⇄FAIR Kyoto 2025- Art, Craft, and Culture (Free Tickets for Kyoto Journal Readers) Kyoto Journal

KansaiFrom Farm to Fashion: The (re)Birth of Silk Weaving in Japan Kyoto Journal

KansaiRothenburg ob der Tauber Kyoto Journal

KansaiMing Dynasty Magnolia Kyoto Journal

KansaiThe Humanity of Kyotographie 2025 Kyoto Journal