Japan, one prefecture at a time

The 47-prefecture Pokémon manhole hunt — ambassador Pokémon by prefecture, and how to plan it.

The best Japanese textbooks by level — Genki, Quartet, Tobira and more, with free tools first.

Get Japan-only goods shipped worldwide — how proxy services work, Buyee vs ZenMarket.

Knives, tea, whisky, ceramics, stationery and the free collectibles — sorted by what you already like, plus the tax-free change on 1 Nov 2026.

Tokoname, Mashiko, Arita, Imbe and Shigaraki — five towns you can walk, and the autumn fair dates.

Yoichi, Yamazaki, Hakushu, Komagatake, Chichibu — which you can actually get into, and which town is worth a night.

Uji, Yame, Shizuoka, Chiran and Sayama — what each grows, what to visit, and which tea to bring home.

Sakai, Seki, Echizen, Tsubame-Sanjo and Miki — five towns, five different blades, what you can visit and when.

King vs Shapton vs Suehiro vs Naniwa, what grit you actually need, and Kyoto's natural finishing stones.

Japan's safety razors and blades, and why both brands trace back to Seki in Gifu.

Why Japanese saws cut on the pull stroke, and what to buy if you work wood.

Visit the real places behind Your Name, Slam Dunk and more — by prefecture, with the etiquette that keeps fans welcome.

RX-78-2 and Zeon covers donated to towns nationwide — how the project works and where to find them.

Free collectible cards for Japan's design sewer covers — the lot system, how to collect, and notable designs.

Beyond manhole and dam cards — rice terrace, historic town, observatory, ropeway and port cards, and which have ended.

Shrine & temple seal-stamps — what they mean, the etiquette, and how to collect them respectfully.

Japan's 100 Famous Castles, the 12 surviving original keeps, and paid gojoin castle stamps explained.

Gotōchi form cards vs Pokémon Local Acts goods — what's collectible, what's discontinued, and how to get it.

Conan, Evangelion, Lupin III, Ultraman — anime & mascot sewer covers by town, and how to find them.

Japan's free railway station stamps — the paper stamp, the EKITAG digital app, and the stamp rallies.

Only 6 of the loop's 30 stations still play their own tune — Astro Boy, The Third Man, Sakura Sakura. Where, why, and a one-hour route before they go.

Osaka's 19-song loop, Keikyu's 23 stations, Hokuriku Shinkansen originals, Galaxy Express 999 — verified north to south, plus the ones already gone.

Roadside-station stamps turn a road trip into a collecting game — the free stamp and the kippu ticket.

The accordion stamp book you collect goshuin in — how to choose and buy one, and the etiquette.

Cut-paper temple stamps handed over as loose sheets — confirmed temples, published prices, and the sell-out rules.

Maple season brings limited designs — and famous temples stop writing in your book. Confirmed 2026 dates.

Asian Games, 19 Sep–4 Oct 2026 — castle stamps, free manhole cards, pottery towns, and the Ghibli Park ticket date.

Omihachiman and 59 other towns from Japan Living Fit — population, winter and summer temperatures, land price and minutes to a big city, from official sources.

Five straight swaps — Kawagoe→Sawara, Kamakura→Sakura, Nikkō→Mashiko — with the travel time for each.

Six onsen towns from Tokyo by train, sorted by the last leg — which need a bus, how often it runs and what it costs.

176 of Japan's 388 inhabited islands are small enough to walk in a day — measured, with visitors per resident so you know how busy each gets.

The cat island, the Matsushima Bay villages, Enoshima and Jōgashima, the Toba islands, Kashiwajima, Hotojima — every inhabited island on the open-ocean side, 49 of them.

Every inhabited island from Tanegashima to Yonaguni — Yakushima, Tokara, Amami, the Kerama, Miyako, Yaeyama and Daitō, 68 of them, with the gateway for each.

Every inhabited island of Tokyo — from Ōshima, a day trip, to Chichijima, 24 hours by the only ship — with how you get to each.

Sado, the Oki, Rebun and Rishiri and every other inhabited island on the cold side of the country — 38 of them, grouped, with when the boats actually run.

All 60 inhabited islands of Nagasaki — Goto, Hirado, Iki, Tsushima and the bay islands — grouped, sortable, with how each group is reached.

All 110 inhabited islands of the Inland Sea, sortable — and the five to start on, from Naoshima to Ogijima.

All of Japan's inhabited islands in one sortable table — population, size, prefecture — from the island reference that has never been translated.

All 91 JAZA zoos in one sortable table — price, hours, the 14 that are free, where Japan's own species are, and an honest answer on welfare.

All 49 JAZA aquariums in one sortable table — price, hours, station, and what each is for — plus which show Japan's own fish.

November's rooster-day markets — 7 and 19 November 2026, open midnight to midnight, and the haggling custom that is not a rule.

Seven stamps on one sheet — and most routes open only 1–7 January. Verified periods, hours and the year-round Kyoto exception.

6–7 January in Takasaki, 3–4 March at Jindai-ji. Which eye you paint first, and why you take the doll back to be burned.

All the Sailor Moon covers in Minato, Tokyo — Azabu-Jūban to Tokyo Tower, in one afternoon walk.

Hakone is the real Tokyo-3 — the NERV outpost, Eva store, ropeway and Lake Ashi spots.

All 10 Straw Hat statues across Kumamoto — the earthquake-recovery story and the route.

The famous opening crossing at Kamakurakōkōmae — access, timing, and the etiquette that keeps it open.

Five islands that are legally Tokyo are real anime settings — including one airing now — plus the language UNESCO lists as endangered.

Why the tamamushi shines like metal, boar piglets wear stripes, and blue is so rare — the science behind Japan's wildlife.

Japan's third firefly lives on land, eats snails, flashes gold twice a second — and its females cannot fly.

Around 50 Japanese plants gave up photosynthesis and steal carbon from fungi — including one declared extinct and found again.

The bitterling grows an egg tube as long as its body and spawns inside a living mussel. All 16 native taxa are red-listed.

Sukagawa plays Ultra theme songs over its emergency loudspeakers at 07:00 and 17:30 — and is twinned with a nebula.

Kochi's Ripple is a drink locals assume is national — and five more you can only buy in one part of Japan.

Japan has an official Densen Ambassador, 8% undergrounding in central Tokyo, and a plan that is removing the view.

Prime-time TV sorted air-conditioner spotters into three types. Japan has about three units per household to look at.

A free Shimbashi museum of fire-hose inlets rescued from demolished buildings — reportedly the world's first.

The patterned concrete blocks in every older neighbourhood have names — and a 2018 earthquake started removing them.

Why a Japanese café has a floor drain and a bar has a vault door — one lease clause explains the ghosts.

Beyond Hobonichi: planners for one job only, and the prefectural almanacs going out of print.

500 ornamental varieties bred in 20 years, some worth ¥1,000,000 — while the wild fish is on the red list.

Our sister site — the real arthropod science behind Monster Hunter's creatures, worked out by a naturalist.

Departure tax, JR Pass, Mt. Fuji, tax-free — every dated change for 2026, each with its official source.

An honest 2026 daily budget — what $80–120 a day really buys.

How much yen to actually carry in 2026, and where cards still won't work.

What to actually buy at 7-Eleven, Lawson and FamilyMart, and how the ATMs work.

Showa-era cafés, cream soda, and why Gen Z fills them — plus how to order.

The best hot-spring stays near Mt. Fuji and Kyoto — and what the price actually buys.

Once-in-a-trip experiences worth the splurge — and the ones that aren't.

From zero kana to N5 — a study sequence that works, with the free tools first.

Passive, causative, giving-and-receiving — the N4 points that trip everyone, with the tell for each.

The Japanese you need for Specified Skilled Worker — JFT-Basic vs N4, explained.

Key money, guarantors, and the cheaper ways foreigners actually rent in 2026.

Your arrival checklist, in the order that beats Japan's chicken-and-egg paperwork.

Language-school agents and study programs, honestly compared — how to pick a route to Japan.

Visas, housing, phones, banks — the whole relocation sequence in one guide.

Japan's minimum wage by prefecture — what part-time work really pays.

Powder snow, onsen, seafood, and wide-open nature.

Japan's apple country at the northern tip of Honshu, famous for the explosive Nebuta summer festival.

A vast, rugged prefecture of temples, coastline, and cold-soba traditions.

Home to lively Sendai and one of Japan's 'three great views' at Matsushima Bay.

Deep snow, rice and sake country, and the fierce Namahage folk tradition.

Mountain temples, cherries, and snow monsters on Mount Zaō.

Samurai history, hot springs, and fruit orchards in a large, scenic prefecture.

Seasonal flower parks, a giant Buddha, and natto just north of Tokyo.

Home to the ornate shrines and waterfalls of Nikkō.

Famous hot-spring resorts and a UNESCO silk-mill heritage.

A little Edo at Kawagoe, plus bonsai and bustling suburbs.

Tokyo's seaside neighbor — the airport gateway, beaches, and a famous temple.

Neon, temples, and the world's best trains.

The Great Buddha of Kamakura, the port city of Yokohama, and Hakone's hot springs.

Rice, sake, and snow on the Sea of Japan coast.

Towering snow walls in the Alps and glassy bays of firefly squid.

Kanazawa's gardens and gold leaf, plus the rugged Noto Peninsula.

Dinosaurs, dramatic cliffs, and a great Zen temple.

Mount Fuji's lakes, vineyards, and Japan's wine country.

Alpine peaks, the great Zenkō-ji temple, and snow monkeys in hot springs.

Thatched mountain villages and the riverside old town of Takayama.

Mount Fuji, green tea fields, and the coastal Izu Peninsula.

Nagoya's castle and industry, plus samurai-era history.

Japan's holiest shrine at Ise and the pearl-diving Ama tradition.

Wrapped around Japan's largest lake, with a stunning castle.

Temples, tea, bamboo — the cultural heart.

The friendly food capital. Eat until you drop.

Japan's most beautiful castle at Himeji and the port city of Kobe.

Japan's first capital — a giant Buddha and free-roaming deer.

Sacred pilgrimage mountains and dramatic coastal hot springs.

Japan's famous sand dunes on the Sea of Japan.

Home to Izumo Taisha, one of Japan's oldest and grandest shrines.

A great garden, a 'crow castle', and the canal town of Kurashiki.

A moving peace memorial and the floating torii of Miyajima.

A spectacular five-arched bridge and a vivid vermilion shrine.

Roaring whirlpools and the electric Awa Odori dance.

Japan's smallest prefecture — udon noodles and art islands.

One of Japan's oldest hot springs and a hilltop castle at Matsuyama.

A clear river, a famous castle, and the spirit of reformer Sakamoto Ryōma.

Kyūshū's gateway city, famous for tonkotsu ramen and street-food stalls.

Japan's porcelain heartland and a vivid autumn balloon festival.

A port city of cross-cultural history, hillside views, and a peace park.

A mighty castle and one of the world's largest volcanic calderas at Aso.

Japan's hot-spring capital — steaming Beppu and chic Yufuin.

Sunny Pacific coast, surf, and shrines wrapped in myth.

An active volcano across the bay and a gateway to ancient-forest islands.

Subtropical islands and distinct Ryukyu culture.