All Guides

420+ field-tested travel guides across every Japanese prefecture, by Nobu — written from places he has actually stood in.

Field Notes from Every Prefecture

Every place I’ve walked. In one feed.

420+ articles, written from the places I actually stood in. Filed by region, by season, by what the trip is really about.

Chubu, Experience, Food, Location, Nagano

Michi-no-Eki Hakuba: A Roadside Stop for Purple Rice

The chalet-style timber-and-plaster building of Michi-no-Eki Hakuba roadside station in Nagano under a clear blue sky, with stained-glass mountain artwork on the gable, a HAKUBA sign and a car park out front.

Michi-no-Eki Hakuba roadside station, Nagano: what a michi-no-eki is, Hakuba's purple rice as amazake and chiffon, the soba set, hours and how to get there.

Nobu
June 18, 2026

Location, Culture, Kansai, Osaka, Travel Tips

Osaka Castle: Keep, Stones & Turrets (2026 Guide)

The reconstructed main keep of Osaka Castle rising above green trees, with white walls, green copper roofs and gold-leaf trim, as an ANA passenger jet passes low in the blue sky above the top floor.

Osaka Castle guide 2026: the 1931 reconstructed keep, the 130-ton Takoishi stone, 13 surviving Edo structures, admission ¥1,200, hours and beating the crowds.

Nobu
June 18, 2026

Location, Culture, Kyushu & Okinawa, Miyazaki, Travel Tips

Obi Castle & Castle Town: Kyushu’s Little Kyoto

The reconstructed wooden Otemon main gate of Obi Castle in Nichinan, Miyazaki, a two-storey white-plastered turret gate above heavy black timber doors, framed by trees and the castle's old stone walls.

Obi Castle Town in Nichinan, Miyazaki: the Ito clan's 'Little Kyoto of Kyushu' — the 1978 wooden gate, samurai streets, the combined ticket and obiten.

Nobu
June 18, 2026

Location, Chubu, Travel Tips, Yamanashi

Should You Climb Mt Fuji in 2026 — or See It Without Climbing?

Diamond Fuji at sunrise from the Asagiri Plateau in Shizuoka: the sun bursting into a brilliant starburst exactly at the snow-dusted summit of Mt Fuji above a green meadow and clear blue sky, a spectacular view seen entirely from the ground without climbing

Mt Fuji's 2026 climb means a ¥4,000 fee, daily caps and a 2 PM gate. An honest look at whether to climb — and where to see the famous view without it.

Nobu
June 17, 2026

Travel Tips

Skip the Crowds in Japan 2026: 12 Overtouristed Spots and Where I Go Instead

A quiet lane in Kyoto's preserved Saga-Toriimoto district at dusk: a thatched teahouse with paper lanterns, stone lanterns and a vermilion torii gate, with a classic Japanese taxi passing and no crowds in sight

Japan's famous spots are mobbed in 2026 — here are 12 of them and the quieter places I send travelers to instead, with verified crowd data and first-hand routes.

Nobu
June 16, 2026

Location, Chubu, Experience, Food, Shizuoka

Kashiho Mase: An Izu Wagashi Shop in Atami (Since 1872)

The traditional storefront of Kashiho Mase wagashi shop in Izu, Shizuoka, with a large carved wooden sign reading Kashiho Mase and white noren curtains at the entrance.

Kashiho Mase, a 150-year-old wagashi shop on the Atami coast of Izu — the Izu no Odoriko sweet, seasonal citrus daifuku, its branches, and what to buy through the year.

Nobu
June 16, 2026

Location, Experience, Kyushu & Okinawa, Miyazaki, Nature

Cape Toi: Miyazaki’s Wild Horses by the Sea

Two wild Misaki horses grazing on green clifftop grassland at Cape Toi in Miyazaki, with the blue sea and coastline behind under a bright sky.

Cape Toi at the southern tip of Miyazaki — wild Misaki horses roaming the clifftop grassland (a National Natural Monument), a climbable lighthouse, and how to visit responsibly.

Nobu
June 16, 2026

Location, Experience, Kyushu & Okinawa, Miyazaki, Shrines & Temples

Udo Jingu: Miyazaki’s Shrine Inside a Sea Cave

The vermilion and turquoise main hall of Udo Jingu shrine standing inside a large coastal rock cave, its ornate roof beneath the cave ceiling on the Nichinan coast of Miyazaki.

Udo Jingu in Nichinan, Miyazaki — a vermilion shrine built inside a sea cave on the cliffs, famous for the untama luck-ball toss at the turtle rock and a sea-god birth legend.

Nobu
June 16, 2026

Location, Kyushu & Okinawa, Miyazaki, Nature, Shrines & Temples

Aoshima & Aoshima Shrine: Miyazaki’s Island in the Sea Terraces

An aerial view of forested Aoshima island off the Miyazaki coast ringed by the concentric wave-cut rock terraces known as the Devils Washboard, with a causeway to the sandy mainland beach and teal sea.

Aoshima is a subtropical shrine-island off Miyazaki, ringed by the Devil's Washboard rock terraces — a free, myth-soaked spot for couples on the Nichinan coast.

Nobu
June 16, 2026

Location, Experience, Kyushu & Okinawa, Miyazaki, Nature

Takachiho Gorge: The Boat to Manai Falls (Miyazaki)

Manai Falls dropping about 17 metres down a sheer green-walled gorge of columnar basalt into the deep teal water of Takachiho Gorge in Miyazaki, Kyushu, with ferns and trees clinging to the cliffs.

Takachiho Gorge in Miyazaki: rent a rowboat to the foot of 17-metre Manai Falls, through seven kilometres of columnar-basalt cliffs. Boat fees, online booking, access and seasons.

Nobu
June 15, 2026

Every place I’ve walked. In one feed.

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