Japan Travel Guide

I first went to Japan when I was 20 for student exchange. It was my first real taste of the country. I rode the Shinkansen for the first time, wandered through Tokyo’s neighborhoods, and even lived with locals in a small town in Aomori.

Ten years later, I came back for a road trip with my boyfriend, my brother, and a best friend and it was the perfect trip. We explored Tokyo’s side streets, stayed in a ryokan by Mt. Fuji, and even spent a quiet day in Kyoto learning from a Zen monk.

Japan has this way of mixing the magical and the ordinary—where even a walk to the convenience store feels like a scene from an anime.

These guides will take you through the Japan I fell in love with, beyond the tourist checklist.