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

VoyaponGo

The Oykot: A Train Journey Worth Savoring

September 17

The premise of the Oykot is disarmingly simple, everything about Tokyo that feels loud, fast, and anonymous is inverted here.

Trains & routes Featured Nagano Niigata Trains

Read at Voyapon ↗

One letter a week, in your inbox.

Latest

The Oykot: A Train Journey Worth Savoring

Related

TokyoJR’s Autumn Unlimited Ride Pass Returns: 3 Days of Trains for ¥7,850 Tokyo Cheapo

Go3 Things to Do Near OCAT While Waiting for Your Bus in Osaka Namba MATCHA

TokyoThe Survival Guide to Ueno Station Tokyo Cheapo

GoNagoya - La grande ville sur la route du Tokaido Kanpai (FR)

KyushuFukuoka West Coast 2-Day Itinerary: Nishinoura and Futamigaura Fukuoka Now

TokyoThe Fukushima Diamond Route Metropolis Japan