Shibuya, Tokyo · Book ahead
An independent field guide to Japan
First trip to Japan?
Start here.
Most English guides still do the math with pre-2023 JR Pass prices and five-year-old advice. We write the practical, double-checked Japan guide we wished existed: which rail pass (if any), how to pay, what to book ahead.
Re-verified monthly
Every page carries the date its facts were last checked against official sources.
Double-sourced
Pass prices, tax-free rules and booking policies are confirmed from at least two independent references.
Independently written
No tours for sale, no sponsored rankings. When something is a tourist trap, we say so.
Destinations
Where first-timers start
From neon Tokyo to the temple city of Kyoto — what to see, what to skip, and everything you need to book before you go. Then go deeper: 22 destinations from Hokkaido's snow festivals to the subtropical islands of Okinawa.
Kanto Tokyo
Neon canyons, temple incense, and the world's deepest food city
Kansai Kyoto
Seventeen World Heritage sites and twelve centuries of good taste
Kansai Osaka
Japan's kitchen: street food, neon canyons, and a merchant city's swagger
Kansai Nara
A thousand deer, the Great Buddha, and Japan's first capital
Chubu Hakone
Hot springs, a pirate-boat lake, and Fuji on the horizon
Chugoku Hiroshima
Peace park mornings, Miyajima day trips, and griddle-side okonomiyaki nights
Hokkaido Sapporo
Snow sculptures, miso ramen, and Japan's youngest great city
Kyushu & Okinawa Okinawa
Ryukyu castles, coral beaches, and Japan's slow island south
Featured itinerary
First Timer's Japan: The Golden Route in 7 Days
Essential guides
The practical stuff, solved
The questions every first-timer asks — rail passes, payments, etiquette, internet — answered with current, tested steps instead of five-year-old forum posts.
Is the Japan Rail Pass Worth It in 2026?
The Japan Rail Pass stopped being an automatic purchase when prices jumped massively in October 2023: a 7-day ordinary pass now costs ¥50,000 online, which is more than a Tokyo–Kyoto round trip on the fastest covered trains. This guide runs the real math on typical itineraries using October 2026 fares, explains the Nozomi/Mizuho supplement rules that trip people up, compares the pass with regional alternatives like the JR Tokyo Wide Pass, Kansai Wide Area Pass and JR West All Area Pass, and shows where to buy at the cheapest official price. All prices verified as of October 2026 — plug your own route into our calculator before you commit.
Read the guideMoney and Payments in Japan: Cards, Cash, ATMs and Tax-Free Shopping in 2026
Japan is no longer the cash-only country of old guidebooks — credit cards and IC cards now cover most spending — but cash still matters at shrines, tiny restaurants and rural shops, so the winning setup is a card, an IC card and a cash buffer. This guide covers which cards work where, how to withdraw yen at 7-Eleven and post office ATMs without surprise fees, the dynamic currency conversion trap (always choose yen), the ¥5,000 tax-free threshold and how the whole system changes to refund-on-departure from November 1, 2026. Plus the short version of tipping: don't. Rates and rules as of October 2026.
Read the guideTrains, Shinkansen and IC Cards: Riding Japan's Railways in 2026
Japan's trains are the best in the world and almost the easiest — once you know the flow. This guide walks through buying and boarding a Shinkansen step by step (ticket machines, reserved seats, the smartEX app, oversized luggage rules), sets up your IC card with the 2026 options — Welcome Suica, the Welcome Suica Mobile app for iPhone, or a regular Suica in Apple Pay — and explains what IC cards can and cannot do, from convenience stores and vending machines to why you cannot tap one from Tokyo to Kyoto. Includes Tokyo Subway Ticket pricing and when it pays off. Fares and card rules as of October 2026.
Read the guideJapanese Etiquette and Manners: What Actually Matters in 2026
Japanese manners have a fearsome reputation, but the rules that actually matter to visitors fit on one page — and most concern trains, shoes and trash rather than elaborate ritual. This guide covers shoe etiquette and the slipper system, why your phone stays silent on trains, which side of the escalator to stand on in Tokyo versus Osaka, how to handle trash in a country with few public bins, chopstick basics, the full shrine-visit ritual including the two-bows-two-claps prayer, and why tipping does the opposite of what you intend. Learn these nine things and you will be more polite than 95 percent of visitors.
Read the guideStaying Online in Japan: eSIMs, Pocket WiFi, Roaming, and Free WiFi in 2026
Japan is one of the easiest developed countries to stay connected in — if you set it up before you land. This 2026 guide explains why a travel eSIM is now the default choice for most visitors (and what it typically costs), when roaming on your home plan actually makes sense, whether pocket WiFi routers still earn their place for groups and rural itineraries, and where free WiFi genuinely exists: airport terminals, cafe chains, and convenience stores. Plus the apps that matter on the ground — Google Maps, Japan Travel by NAVITIME, and offline translation. Connectivity details as of October 2026.
Read the guideBest Time to Visit Japan: Seasons, Crowds, and the Weeks to Avoid
There is no single best time to visit Japan — there is a trade-off between weather, crowds, and price, and a handful of weeks you should genuinely avoid. This guide breaks down cherry blossom timing (late March to early April on Honshu, with year-to-year swings of about a week), autumn colors in mid-to-late November, Hokkaido's February snow festival, the June rainy season, August's heat plus Obon, and why Golden Week (April 29-May 5) is the worst week to arrive. Includes a best-months table for Tokyo, Kyoto, Hokkaido, and Okinawa. Timing facts as of October 2026.
Read the guidePlus 12 more guides — onsen etiquette, where to stay, food survival, timing your trip and more.
Rail tool
Is the JR Pass still worth it after the price hike?
Tick off the trips you plan to take — the calculator adds up point-to-point fares and compares them against the current 7, 14 and 21-day pass prices.