Sampo Kuokkanen
I have been living in Japan for over 10 years, but only recently started going to a lot of different sights around here.
Guides by Sampo Kuokkanen
© MaedaAkihiko / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Narita Airport to Shinjuku and Central Tokyo by Train and Bus (2026)
Narita is a long way out. The airport sits about 60 kilometres east of central Tokyo, in Chiba, and whichever way you go you will spend roughly an hour getting in. The good news is that there are a...
© MaedaAkihiko / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Haneda Airport to Shinjuku and Central Tokyo by Train and Bus (2026)
Haneda is close to the city. From the international terminal you can be on the platform at Shinagawa in 11 minutes, and almost nowhere in central Tokyo is more than 40 minutes away by train. The ha...
© 掬茶 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Japan Winter Illuminations 2026-2027: Dates, Hours and Prices
Japan Winter Illuminations 2026-2027: Dates, Hours and Prices From late October to spring, Japanese parks, shopping districts and main streets string up lights, and some of them stay lit for six...
© vitalsine / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
New Year in Japan 2026-2027: What Is Closed, What Is Open, and Hatsumode
New Year in Japan 2026-2027: What Is Closed, What Is Open, and Hatsumode Shogatsu, the New Year holiday, is the one time of year when Japan really stops. Offices close, banks close, family resta...
Photo: lumoplank / Wikimedia Commons (CC0 1.0)
Kyoto and Kamakura Autumn Leaves 2026: Peak Dates and Light-Ups
Kyoto and Kamakura Autumn Leaves 2026: Peak Dates and Light-Ups The maples in Kyoto turn red in the second half of November, and Kamakura's a week or two later, often into December. This guide c...
Japan's Famous Day-Trip Onsen: Historic Public Bathhouses You Can Just Walk Into
Japan's Famous Day-Trip Onsen: Historic Public Bathhouses You Can Just Walk Into You do not need a ryokan booking to bathe in Japan's best-known hot spring water. Most onsen towns keep public ba...
© meinen ryu / Pexels (Pexels License)
Shimanami Kaido Cycling Guide: Route Map and Island Stops
Ride between Imabari and Onomichi through the islands of the Seto Inland Sea. This guide pairs a real mapped route with ideas for choosing your ride, planning rental returns and adding sightseeing ...
Hitō: Japan's Hidden Hot Springs at the End of the Road
Hitō: Japan's Hidden Hot Springs at the End of the Road Hitō (秘湯) means "hidden hot spring". It is the onsen you reach only after a long mountain road, a forest trail or a boat, and very often i...
Hikyo: Japan's Secluded, Hard-to-Reach Places and How to Get There
Hikyo: Japan's Secluded, Hard-to-Reach Places and How to Get There Hikyo (秘境) is the Japanese word for a remote, secluded place. The two characters mean something like "hidden region", and in Ja...
Japan's Best Fireworks Festivals 2027: Dates and Where to See Them
Japan's Best Fireworks Festivals 2027: Dates and Where to See Them Japan fires more shells in August than most countries do in a year, and the summer hanabi calendar is crowded enough that choos...
Kyoto beyond the crowds: quiet temples and mountain shrines
Kyoto beyond the crowds: quiet temples and mountain shrines Kyoto's crowding problem is smaller than it looks. It is concentrated in about six places: Kiyomizu-dera, Fushimi Inari, Kinkaku-ji, t...
Japan's Black Castles: A Guide to the Kuroi Shiro (Crow Castles)
Japan's Black Castles: A Guide to the Kuroi Shiro (Crow Castles) Not every Japanese castle is a white one. Alongside famous white keeps like Himeji, Japan has a striking family of black castles,...
Awaji Island and Nushima: An Off-the-Beaten-Path Itinerary (2026)
Awaji Island and Nushima: An Off-the-Beaten-Path Itinerary (2026) Awaji Island sits in the sea between Kobe and Shikoku, crossed by most people at 100km/h on the highway bus and seen by almost n...
Hyogo's Hidden North: A San'in-Side Off-the-Beaten-Path Itinerary (2026)
Hyogo's Hidden North: A San'in-Side Off-the-Beaten-Path Itinerary (2026) Almost everyone who comes to Hyogo sees Himeji Castle and Kobe and goes no further. Head north from Himeji, though, and t...
Lake Biwa and Hidden Shiga: An Off-the-Beaten-Path Itinerary (2026)
Lake Biwa and Hidden Shiga: An Off-the-Beaten-Path Itinerary (2026) Shiga sits right next to Kyoto, barely fifteen minutes by train, yet almost no visitors stop. That is their loss. Wrapped arou...
Off the Beaten Path in the Kii Peninsula: A Kumano Kodo Itinerary (2026)
Off the Beaten Path in the Kii Peninsula: A Kumano Kodo Itinerary (2026) Most first trips to Kansai never leave the Kyoto to Osaka to Nara triangle. The Kii Peninsula, the big forested block of ...
The Weirdest and Most Exciting Soft Serves in Kansai
The Weirdest and Most Exciting Soft Serves in Kansai Soft serve is a road-trip institution in Japan, and the best place to find it is a michi-no-eki, the roadside stations that double as farm mark...
When Do Japan's Beaches Open in 2026? Swimming Season Dates by Region
When Do Japan's Beaches Open in 2026? Swimming Season Dates by Region Most Japanese beaches are only open for swimming during a fixed season. A beach holds an "umibiraki" (海開き), the official ope...