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

JW Web MagazineGo

Sendai & Matsushima in September: A Scenic Escape 90 Minutes From Tokyo

September 17

The bullet train leaves Tokyo, and for the first forty minutes you are still in the sprawl — apartment blocks, rice paddies squeezed between warehouses, the occasional glimpse of…

North: Hokkaido & Tohoku Transportation Autumn Miyagi Sponsored

Read at JW Web Magazine ↗

One letter a week, in your inbox.

Latest

Sendai & Matsushima in September: A Scenic Escape 90 Minutes From Tokyo

Related

GoTohoku Autumn Foliage: The Complete Guide to Fall in Northern Japan JW Web Magazine

OfficialNotice of the Sapporo Night View Café – Sweet Light Garden Sapporo Chuo

Eat【北海道民が厳選】セイコーマートで買えるお土産・お菓子11選！安くて配りやすいご当地商品 macaroni

OfficialNotice of SAPPORO NIGHT BUS Service Sapporo Chuo

GoHotel Metropolitan The Base Sendai to Open by Sendai Station Japan Station

OfficialImportant Information for Travelers to Sapporo Sapporo Chuo