Travel Guides

Traveling from Kansai International Airport to Kyoto is simple and convenient. The most direct option is the Haruka Limited Express, which connects the airport directly to Kyoto Station in about 75...

Traveling from Kansai International Airport to Sannomiya Station in Kobe is easy and comfortable using the Airport Limousine Bus that is operated by Hankyu. The bus goes directly from the airport t...

Traveling from Kansai International Airport to the Umeda area of Osaka is simple and convenient. One of the easiest options is to take the Haruka Limited Express and get off at Osaka Station. The ...

How to Visit Gunkanjima: Complete Hashima Island Travel Guide Gunkanjima, also known as Hashima Island, is an abandoned mining island near Nagasaki in southern Japan. The island became famou...

Yakushima is a small island located south of Kagoshima in southern Japan. Covered by mountains and dense cedar forests, it is best known for its hiking trails, ancient trees, waterfalls, and wildli...

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...

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 ma...

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 ...

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...

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...

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...

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,...

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 Best Fireworks Festivals: Where and When 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 choosing ba...