Destination Guides
Ghibli Park and the Ghibli Museum: How to Get Tickets
Two separate places, 350 kilometres apart, with two separate ticket systems and no tickets at the door. Both release on the 10th…
Travel style: Family
Destination Guides
Tokyo Disney Resort: Which Park, What Tickets, and Fantasy Springs
Two parks, neither of them in Tokyo, and a ticket system that prices every date separately. Which park to choose, what a…
Destination Guides
Universal Studios Japan: Tickets, Express Passes and Nintendo World
The entry ticket is the easy part. What decides your day is whether you have Nintendo World entry and whether you bought…
Destination Guides
teamLab Planets or Borderless: Which One to Book
Tokyo has two teamLab venues, they are a 25-minute train ride apart, and people routinely book the wrong one. What each is…
Plan Your Trip
Japan with Children: What Works, and What to Skip
Japan is one of the easiest countries in the world to travel with children, with two exceptions: hotel rooms are sized for…
Japan Column
The Japanese School Day, from First Grade to Club Practice
Children clean their own classrooms, walk to school in groups from age six, and stay for club practice until six in the…
Culture and Etiquette
Matsuri: What Happens at a Japanese Festival and How to Join In
Portable shrines carried by four hundred people, illuminated paper warriors, and a dance anyone can join. The dozen festivals worth planning a…
Eating in Japan
Halal, Allergies and Dietary Needs in Japan
Japan's allergen labelling law is stricter than most countries and its restaurant culture is far less prepared. What is legally disclosed, what…
Destination Guides
Hakone: The Onsen Loop from Tokyo
A switchback train, a funicular, a ropeway over a volcanic vent, a boat and a bus — all on one ticket, in…
Destination Guides
Nara: The Day Trip Everyone Rushes — and How Not To
Most visitors see Nara in three hours: the Great Buddha, some deer, and a train home. The other two-thirds of the park…