Guides

Practical guides

• What changed in Japan, 2025 to 2026

  8 price and attraction changes that most guides have not caught up with.

• How much a trip to Japan costs

  A real breakdown in yen and dollars: flights, lodging, food, shinkansen and attractions, and the JR Pass maths before the October price rise.

• Kosher and vegan in Japan

  Chabad houses, a kosher restaurant in Tokyo, deliveries between cities, and Japanese phrases with audio.

• eSIM, Suica and cash

  Data on your phone before the flight, Suica in the iPhone wallet or a credit card at the gate, and how much cash you really need and where to get it.

• Ryokan and onsen: the practical guide

  What it really costs and what the price includes, why the evening runs on a clock, bath etiquette, tattoos, and what to do if you will not bathe with strangers.

• Seasons and festivals: when to actually go

  The calendar month by month, sakura and autumn colour dates, the three weeks to avoid, and Sukkot and Pesach against the Japanese calendar.

• Sakura in Japan: when, where, and what to do at Pesach

  Bloom dates in each city, where to see it and what costs money, and a route for sakura at Pesach 2027.

• Autumn colour in Japan: when, where, and what there is at Sukkot

  When the colour reaches each place, where to see it in the city and the mountains, night lighting, and where there is colour at Sukkot 2027.

• Festivals in Japan by month

  41 festivals worth building a trip around, from the Sapporo Snow Festival to Gion in Kyoto: when, at what hour, and what costs money.