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.

← Day by Day Japan Archive

Tokyo CheapoTokyo

New Video! We Tried More Tokyo “Tourist Traps”

September 25

New Video! We Tried More Tokyo “Tourist Traps”: Japan story from Tokyo Cheapo. Read on Day by Day Japan, the Japan radar: where to eat, where to go, what's on.

Editorial

Read at Tokyo Cheapo ↗

One letter a week, in your inbox.

Latest

New Video! We Tried More Tokyo “Tourist Traps”

More from Tokyo Cheapo on Day by Day Japan

TokyoTourist Taxes in Japan: What You Actually Pay in 2026 Tokyo Cheapo

TokyoTokyo Events This Week: Moon Art Night, Fall Fests, and Peace Day Tokyo Cheapo

TokyoOctober 2026: 8 Events Not To Miss Tokyo Cheapo

TokyoJR’s Autumn Unlimited Ride Pass Returns: 3 Days of Trains for ¥7,850 Tokyo Cheapo

TokyoteamLab TOKYO: New Museum To Open in Ariake in 2032 Tokyo Cheapo

TokyoThe Survival Guide to Ueno Station Tokyo Cheapo