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.

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10-Day Japan Itinerary: Walking the Nakasendō and Kumano Kodō

August 6

There’s so much to see in Japan beyond the default Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka itinerary. I’ve explored and hiked all over the country, so I’ve put together a slower-paced route here — much of it on…

Kyoto & Kansai Trains & routes Travel Kyoto Mie Osaka

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10-Day Japan Itinerary: Walking the Nakasendō and Kumano Kodō

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