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: First-timer
Destination Guides
Kamakura and Enoshima: The Easiest Day Trip from Tokyo
An hour from Tokyo Station: a bronze Buddha from 1252, temples in the hills behind the town, and a tram that runs…
Destination Guides
Nikko in a Day: The Shrines, the Lake, and Which Pass to Buy
Nikko is two day trips in one place: gilded shrines in the town, and a lake and a waterfall an hour above…
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…
Destination Guides
Mount Fuji Day Trips from Tokyo: Which One, and How to Get There
Four different day trips get called "Mount Fuji" by the tour companies, and they are not interchangeable. What each one costs you…
Getting Around
Tokyo to Kyoto: Shinkansen, Night Bus or Plane?
The Shinkansen is the right answer for almost everyone: 2 hours 15 minutes, about 14,000 JPY, no check-in. Here is what the…
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…
Plan Your Trip
Where to Stay in Kyoto: The Five Areas, and the New Lodging Tax
Kyoto is a city you see before nine in the morning, which makes where you sleep matter more than it does in…