Tokyo

Read this essay/guide by my favorite menswear+travel writer: The Tokyo Guide by David Coggins

You’ll likely fly into and out of the capital city, so it’s hard to not spend some time there. It’s HUGE. You could spend a week there and only barely scratch the surface. Getting around isn’t too difficult, but the subways are disparate private networks. The JR (green) line rings around the central city. It’s overall very convenient and what I would recommend for broader travel. Within its circumference, just take a taxi. They are relatively cheap for the convenience and always clean. NOTE: the taxi doors open AND CLOSE automatically. You can hire and/or pay using an app (the taxi will likely advertise the app).

DO:

• Get finely-made cocktail at a sultry bar in Ginza.
• omakase sushi experience.
• Consider taking a class through Wabunka. The Kinsugi pottery repair class was great.
• walk through a neighborhood or three. I’d recommend starting in Ebisu and wandering through Meguro.
• Omotesando shopping district is a bit rodeo drive, but surprisingly lovely with great shops.

NOTE: you need to look UP ; many bars and restaurants will be on a floor about the ground level, and often the signage for it is too.

There is a sort of red-light district within the Shinjuku neighborhood, called “Kabukicho”. It’s safe to visit, just keep your wits about you. In general, just decline or ignore any offers from street barkers. Directly adjacent is the “Golden Gai” - an impossibly compact matrix of even more impossibly tiny watering holes. I think these days it’s a strange mix of overly-touristed + no-foreigners-allowed / members only type bars. But it’s probably worth a look.

This guy’s bar recommendations are solid:

74 places

Osaka

Japan’s kitchen and the heaviest concentration on the list: spice curry, ramen, unagi, sushi, and a deep late-night bar scene.

61 places

Kyoto

Check out this essay from my favorite menswear + travel writer: The Kyoto Chronicles by David Coggins.

In general, my advice is to just stay away, unless you can splurge on the highest of high end experiences. There is the deepest history of Japan here, well-preserved. Although i would normally be put-off by the throngs of costume kimono-clad tourist families with photographers hired for the hour, I have to admit it’s oddly endearing to see people so enthusiastic about it. And in the end, it’s mostly harmless. The actual geishas of Gion are long-gone.

If temples are your thing, there are many, many great ones here, with varying degrees of tourist load.

But i suppose there are rewards for those steadfast in the pursuit of anti-tourism. One night, we stumbled upon a members-only bar on a 2nd floor in a quiet neighborhood that inexplicably let us drink there. I still have the business card of one of the patron-members. And there are still many small, back-alley casual eateries and drinking holes off the main tourist drags. And there is a small pleasure in strolling along the Kamo River at night, walking past the small groups of local young people drinking canned highballs while sitting on the banks of the canal.

But i’m just not convinced any of it is worth putting up with the absolutely staggering amount of tourists.

26 places

Kyushu

Fukuoka is surprisingly big. It has its own style of food stalls too. But the airport is super close to the city and the bullet train takes you very close.

Just watch the DIRT video and you’ll be convinced to spend your whole vacation there.

3 places

Okinawa

Okinawa: Naha’s izakaya and bar scene, the pottery district of Tsuboya, and the Miyakojima resort end of the spectrum.

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Nara

Japan’s first permanent capital — ancient temples, free-roaming deer, and some of the country’s oldest sake breweries.

3 places

Setouchi

Naoshima is hype hype but definitely worth it.

The Seto Inland Sea: Hiroshima’s art museums, Naoshima’s art island, and Okayama — the birthplace of Japanese denim.

3 places

Kanto

Greater Tokyo: Yokohama’s Red Brick Warehouse and the bay area, an easy half-day out of the city.

1 places

Kobe

Port city between the mountains and the sea — famous for beef, jazz bars, and a cosmopolitan streak.

2 places

Shikoku

This large island in between Hiroshima and Osaka is a good base for visiting Naoshima, Shōdo island, and doing some cool activities that most tourists will never visit. Check activities on Wabunka or airBnb experiences.

Shikoku: the Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum in Takamatsu and Dogo onsen in Matsuyama, one of Japan’s oldest bath towns.

4 places

Kanazawa

Kanazawa: the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art and one of Japan’s best-preserved old castle towns on the Sea of Japan coast.

1 places

Tohoku & Niigata

Deep-country ryokan: Yamagata’s Takinami and Satoyama Jujo in Minamiuonuma — snow country, farmhouse food, and quiet.

2 places

Izu Peninsula

Onsen ryokan country — Atami and Shuzenji — the classic restorative escape from Tokyo, reachable in about an hour.

2 places