Category Travel Tips

Practical travel information to help you plan and travel Japan smoothly.

Experience, Travel Tips

The Camera Gear I Use to Shoot Japan

A camera backpack opened from above on weathered wood, packed with a mirrorless body, two lenses, a small drone and accessories slotted into padded dividers, ready for a day of travel shooting in Japan.

The one-body, two-lens kit I shoot every photo on Hidden Japan Gems with — a Sony A7 IV, a 24–70mm f/2.8, a 35mm prime, a travel tripod and fast SD cards.

Nobu
June 4, 2026

Travel Tips

Yes, Amazon Japan Delivers to Your Hotel — Konbini & Locker Pickup Too (2026)

A Lawson convenience store glowing blue at night in a Japanese city, the illuminated signage and glass storefront showing magazine racks, an in-store ATM and shelves of goods, open 24 hours

Yes — you can have an Amazon.co.jp order sent to your hotel, a convenience store, an airport locker or a parcel locker in Japan, usually free and within 1–2 days. Here is how, in four simple ways.

Nobu
June 4, 2026

Nagano, Accommodation, Chubu, Experience, Location, Onsen, Travel Tips

Club Wyndham Chikumakan 2026: A Dog-Friendly Onsen Ryokan with 6 Baths

An open-air hot-spring bath at Club Wyndham Chikumakan in Togura-Kamiyamada Onsen at night, the dark water lit softly and reflecting a wooden pavilion and a rock-and-greenery garden, in Chikuma, Nagano

A dog-friendly onsen ryokan in Togura-Kamiyamada, Nagano: two sulfur sources across six baths, a domestic-beef kaiseki, and tatami rooms for two small dogs — a short drive from the Obasute terraces.

Nobu
June 4, 2026

Kyoto, Kansai, Location, Travel Tips

Nidec Kyoto Tower 2026: The View from the Only Skyline in Town

Kyoto · Kyoto Station · Observation Nidec Kyoto Tower 2026: The View from the Only Skyline in Town Most travelers walk past it on the way out of Kyoto Station. The 100-meter observation deck is the one place you can…

Nobu
June 2, 2026

Saitama, Culture, Kanto, Location

Kurazukuri Street: Kawagoe’s Warehouse District (Ichibangai)

A large black clay-walled kurazukuri merchant warehouse on Ichibangai street in Kawagoe, with a heavy tiled roof and ornate gables, cars passing on the road in front under a clear sky.

Ichibangai, Kawagoe's Kurazukuri street: about 30 black clay-walled Edo warehouses born from the 1893 fire, the 1792 Osawa House, the bell tower and red postbox — what to see and when.

Nobu
June 2, 2026

Saitama, Culture, Kanto, Location, Travel Tips

Toki no Kane: Kawagoe’s Bell Tower (Times, History & Photos)

The Toki no Kane bell tower in Kawagoe, a three-storey wooden tower lit gold by the morning sun, rising above the black-walled kurazukuri warehouse street under a clear blue sky.

Toki no Kane, Kawagoe's ~16 m wooden bell tower in the Little Edo warehouse district, rings 4 times a day. Its history, ringing times, how to photograph it, and what's nearby.

Nobu
June 2, 2026

Travel Tips, Experience, Nature, Seasonal Travel, Weather & Seasons

How to Photograph Sea Sparkle: A Local Photographer’s Settings

Wide long-exposure night photograph of a Japanese bay under a star-filled sky, with town lights along the far shore and a faint blue band of bioluminescent sea sparkle glowing at the wave line.

How to photograph sea sparkle: a local photographer's camera settings, the phone trick, why it looks fainter in person, and where to shoot it in Japan.

Nobu
May 31, 2026

Nagano, Chubu, Culture, Location, Travel Tips

Matsumoto Castle: Tickets, Hours & the Alps View (2026)

The black five-storey keep of Matsumoto Castle in Nagano reflected in the still water of its inner moat under a clear sky, with the stone base rising straight from the water and bare early-spring trees along the far bank.

Matsumoto Castle admission is 1200 yen (e-ticket, 2026) and the keep is open 8:30 to 17:00. A guide to one of the five National Treasure castles in Japan: tickets, hours, the Northern Alps view, and how to get there from Tokyo and Nagoya.

Nobu
May 30, 2026

Kyoto, Culture, Events & Festivals, Kansai, Location, News & Updates, Seasonal Travel, Shrines & Temples, Weather & Seasons

Gion Matsuri 2026: Yoiyama Dates, 33 Floats & Tsuki Hoko Guide

Two illuminated yamaboko floats with golden paper lanterns stacked vertically into glowing towers on Shijo-dori during Gion Matsuri Yoiyama in central Kyoto with a dense crowd of festival visitors walking between them at night the Naginata Hoko in the foreground and another hoko in the distance

A Yoiyama night during Gion Matsuri 2024 — the Tsuki Hoko, the Naginata Hoko, the chochin lantern arcade, and the yatai food stalls that anchor the experience. Practical route, food list, and 2026 dates from a Kyoto local.

Nobu
May 28, 2026

Mie, Chubu, Culture, Location, Seasonal Travel, Shrines & Temples, Travel Tips

Ise Jingu Guide 2026: Naiku, Geku & 1707 Akafuku Honten

Massive wooden torii gate at the entrance of Ise Jingu Naiku, with visitors crossing the Uji Bridge under a clear blue late-autumn sky, the sacred crossing point into Japan most important Shinto shrine, low afternoon sun raking across the bridge planks

Ise Jingu in late November — pre-koyo blue skies, the vast Naiku cedar forest, the 101.8 m Uji Bridge torii, and Akafuku Honten on Oharaimachi where the same recipe has been made since 1707. A Japanese pilgrimage guide in Nobu first-person.

Nobu
May 28, 2026