Planning a first trip to Japan gets complicated surprisingly quickly. You start off wondering where to stay in Tokyo, and twenty minutes later you’re comparing rail passes and checking whether your phone supports an eSIM. Then you find three IC cards that seem to do exactly the same thing. I’ve lived in Japan since 2000, […]

Japan Medicine rules are classified by their active ingredients, not by their brand names and not by whether they are prescription or over-the-counter back home. A cold tablet you have bought at CVS for years might contain pseudoephedrine, which Japan classifies as a Stimulants Raw Material and treats as a serious customs matter. An ADHD […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

You have spent months planning this trip, maybe longer. Your flights are booked, your accommodation is confirmed, and your countdown has started. Somewhere underneath the excitement sits a quiet worry about those first few hours. On arriving in Japan, you picture yourself jet-lagged and disoriented. Surrounded by signs you cannot read, making expensive mistakes before […]

I’ve been in Japan for nearly three decades and I’ve spent a huge chunk of that time travelling around the country. If I could go back and give my younger self a quick pep talk before that first trip, this is what I’d say. Not to plan less, but to plan smarter, and to avoid […]

Japan has a reputation for being exhausting. That’s mostly because suggested itineraries are terrible. Too many hotels, too many early mornings, too many long travel days that would exhaust anyone under 40, let alone over 60. Planned differently, Japan is not only manageable for older travelers, it’s often easier than many European destinations because the […]

Every year, I watch people frantically Google “when is cherry blossom season Japan” in January and February, hoping to pin down the perfect travel window. After close to 3 decades attending hanami in Japan, here’s my honest answer. The dates shift every year, they vary significantly from city to city, and the peak lasts roughly […]

If you are planning a Japan spring trip around the famous Mount Fuji cherry blossom festival, this change could affect everything. On February 3, 2026, officials in Fujiyoshida announced the cancellation of the cherry blossom festival at Arakurayama Sengen Park. The decision ended a ten year tradition that had drawn visitors from around the world. […]