A Tokyo local's guide to Hie Shrine in Akasaka—its monkey guardians, the red torii tunnel up the hillside, the escalator entrance, and why business people stop here before work.
A local's guide to Saitama—Kawagoe's preserved 'Little Edo' streets, the Railway Museum, Nagatoro's river gorge, and the Chichibu Night Festival, all an easy ride from Tokyo.
Kanazawa was never bombed. That accident of history left behind a city where samurai districts, geisha quarters, and 400-year-old craft traditions exist not as reconstructions, but as living continuations. A Japanese perspective on what makes Kanazawa irreplaceable.
A local's guide to Aomori at the top of Honshu—the fiery Nebuta Festival, Lake Towada and Oirase Gorge, Hirosaki's cherry blossoms, and the best tuna and apples in Japan.
Osaka has a word for its food philosophy—kuidaore—that reveals something deep about how this city differs from Tokyo. A Japanese perspective on what Dotonbori actually means, and how to eat your way through it correctly.
