Most visitors to Japan never come into contact with the people who keep its older coastal traditions alive. In Toba on the Mie coast, you can sit inside an ama hut, eat seafood grilled by working female freedivers, and talk with women who still dive for shellfish by hand. Around Toba and the Shima Peninsula […]
17
May
May
Nagoya Station, known locally as Meieki, isn’t one station but effectively five different rail systems stacked on top of and underneath each other, and understanding that basic fact makes everything else fall into place. The main JR concourse runs in a fairly straight east-west line, but the transfers down to Meitetsu and Kintetsu are genuinely […]
Planning
Vaping in Japan: Customs Limits, Public Rules, and Why Nicotine Liquid Is Treated Differently
15
May
May
If you have been searching for a clear answer about vaping in Japan and found nothing but conflicting advice, you are not alone. Most sources treat nicotine e-liquid, non-nicotine products, and heated tobacco as a single topic, but under Japanese law they are three quite different things. Separating them is the key to making sense […]
13
May
May
If you are weighing up Takayama vs Kanazawa and feel short on time, here is the simple version. Most first time visitors to Japan are better off choosing Kanazawa. Choose Takayama instead if you want mountain scenery, Hida beef, access to Shirakawa go, or a slower rural pace. That is not a knock on Takayama. […]
11
May
May
If every Japan itinerary looks the same to you, there is a reason. Tokyo for three nights. Shinkansen to Kyoto. A day in Osaka. Maybe Nara. Then home. Some travel articles dress it up with different hotel names, cafe stops or side trips, but the route itself rarely changes. If you have been researching Japan […]
08
May
May
The short answer: Yes, Hida-takayama is worth visiting if you want a genuinely preserved Edo-period merchant town with excellent food and proper alpine scenery. But if you’re on a tight first trip of seven to ten days, the travel time alone should give you pause. Getting there takes a full day out of your schedule, […]
06
May
May
The thing nobody tells you before deciding which Japan cruise ports to visit, is how fast six hours disappears. Your ship pulls in, you clear the gangway, and suddenly it is mid-afternoon. You are calculating whether you have time for one more stop before you need to be back aboard. Getting this wrong does not […]
30
Apr
Apr
First time Japan travel should be fun, not worrisome. If you have been half-planning a Japan trip for longer than you would care to admit, you are not alone, and the problem almost certainly is not Japan. Every search produces three new worries, the worries stack up, and eventually the whole thing starts to feel […]
16
Apr
Apr
Japan has a well-worn family itinerary and most visitors follow it without thinking too hard. Tokyo for the theme parks, Kyoto for the temples, Osaka for the food. All three are worth visiting and none of them are wrong choices, but they share a problem that only becomes apparent once you are actually there with […]
12
Apr
Apr
Most visitors to Nagoya spend their time at Nagoya Castle, eat miso katsu, and head straight for Kyoto on the shinkansen. That is their loss. Less than an hour south of the city, the Chita Peninsula stretches down into Ise Bay and offers a completely different side of Aichi Prefecture. There’s a thousand-year-old pottery town. […]