YJPT Japan travel news & blog post index
Going to Japan, in many ways, is like going to another planet. The French, believe it or not, refer to Japan as "Planet Japon!" Going to a challenging and extremely exotic destination like Japan requires preparation. The more you know in advance the better. Most of what you need is easy enough to find & book on the internet: hotels in big cities, tickets for major events, etc. But there are other things worth reading up on and learning about. Did you know that Japan was first society in history to fire ceramics and produce a narrative novel? Learn more!
I have been writing for over 40 years. Everything from books and newspaper articles to poetry and startup culture handbooks. And as a Japan travel designer, I am always tring to publish great new deep content for foreign travelers interested in Japan. Learn more!
My Japan news & travel blog, see posts & articles below, is worth checking out for new Japan travel ideas and also, of course, to learn more about Japan!
And I have posted many essays on Japanese society and culture on this website. And season by season there will be more! To see them all go to my old-new Japanese culture essays index.
Enjoy the reads . . . Best, Ian Martin Ropke
Content by Ian Martin Ropke Japan travel expert since 1990. I have been planning, designing, and making custom Japan private tours on all five Japanese islands since the early 1990s. I work closely with Japan private tour clients and have worked for all kinds of families, companies, and individuals since 1990. Clients find me mostly via organic search, and I advertise my custom Japan private tours & travel services on www.japan-guide.com, which has the best all-Japan English content & maps in Japan! If you are going to Japan and you understand the advantages of private travel, consider my Japan travel services for your next trip. And thank you for reading my content. Learn more!
- Japan private tour insights into new Japan travel technologies
- Japan private tour insights into Japan favorite food: ramen!
- Japan private tour insights into miso or fermented soybean paste
- News about taka hawk attacks and Japanese coin and bill info
- Japan private tour insights into Japan's unique inventions
- Japan's Sui Collection of luxury crafts and world's first typhoon wind turbine
- Japan private tour tips for dealing with travel stress and information overload
- Japan private tour insights for Kyoto's and Japan's latest wave of coffee culture
- Japan private tour overtourism insights and Nagasaki Prefecture travel tips Part 2
- Japan private tour travel tips for Nagasaki Prefecture Part 1
- Japan private tour travel tips for Fukuoka Prefecture Part 3
- Japan private tour insights: trending Jimbocho in Tokyo & Fukuoka Prefecture Part 2
- Japan private tour insights about unagi eels and Fukuoka City
- News about Japan's lost Chinese tourism revenue & and the attractions of Shimane Prefecture
- News about Kyoto's Edo theme park & Tottori Prefecture travel attractions
- Japan private tour insights for Yamaguchi Prefecture, the western tip of Honshu
- Japan private tour insights for Hiroshima Prefecture
- Japan private tour ideas for avoiding overtourism & Okayama Prefecture Part 2
- Japan private tour insights for Okayama Prefecture Part 1
- Japan private tour insights for Hyogo Prefecture Part 2
- Japan private tour tips for Hyogo Prefecture Part 1
- Osaka Prefecture travel tips Part 2: Sakai City & the Tempozan waterfront
- Japan private tour insights for Osaka Prefecture's Osaka City
- Japan private tour insights for ancient and new Wakayama Prefecture
- Japan private tour travel tips for Mie Prefecture
- Japan private tour insights for Shiga Prefecture, just east of Kyoto
- Japan private tour insights for tiny but ancient Fukui Prefecture
- Japan private tour insights into overtourism & Ishikawa Prefecture
- Tourist-perfect Ishikawa Prefecture rivals crowded Kyoto and Takayama
- Japan private tour tips for seeing & exploring the best of Gifu Prefecture
- Japan private tour tips for Toyama Prefecture travel
- Japan private tour insights for Mount Fuji's Yamanashi Prefecture & Kofu City
- Japan private tour insights for Tohoku's Fukushima Prefecture
- Japan private tour insights for Niigata Prefecture's rice-snow-onsen worlds
- Japan private tour insights for Tohoku's Miyagi Prefecture
- Japan private tours insights for Iwate Prefecture Part 2
- Iwate Prefecture, Tohoku region, Japan private tour insights Part 1
- Japan private tour insights for Tohoku's Akita prefecture
- Aomori Japan private tour advice: Hirosaki castle town & wilderness
- Japan private tour insights for the Tohoku region and Aomori
- Japan private tour insights: steam trains & Wakkanai, Hokkaido
- Japan private tour insights, personal & professional: new perspectives
- Japan private tour tips for Hokkaido Obon & the Shiretoko Peninsula
- Japan private tours in south-east Hokkaido: birding & nature immersion
- Japan private tours: Hakodate City, Noboribetsu's onsen & lakes & Ainu
- Japan private tours: Japanese Walking, and Hokkaido's Otaru City & Niseko
- Japan private tour tips for central Hokkaido: flower fields & big park
- Japan private tours insights for Hokkaido Island Part 1
- Japan private tours' tips for Shikoku's Kagawa Prefecture Part 2
- Japan private tours' tips for Shikoku's Kagawa Prefecture Part 1
- Japan private tours' insights: Tokushima Prefecture Part 2
- Japan private tours: Shikoku Island's Tokushima Prefecture Part 1
- Kochi Pref. Part 2: two rivers, Cape Ashizuri, Ryugado Cave
- The off-the-beaten-track wonders of Kochi Prefecture on Shikoku Island
- Ehime Prefecture Part 2: Old towns, parks, and porcelain
- The amazing attractions Ehime Prefecture Part 1: Matsuyama City
- Oita Prefecture & its ancient ceramic, castle town hinterlands
- Kagoshima Prefecture Part 2: Yakushima, the Satsunan islands, Edo rebellion
- Kagoshima Prefecture Part 1: subtropical, volcanic, mythological
- The best of Kumamoto Prefecture for great Japan private tours
- Saga Prefecture, Kyushu: ceramics & 6000-BC Japanese life
- Nagano Prefecture: Tokyo's cool hot spring summer getaway
- Nagano summer travel: the Nakasendo & Snow Monkeys
- The green, seaside, satoyama nature landscapes of Chiba Prefecture
- Shizuoka's old Shuzenji hot spring town, wasabi, tea plantations, Part 2
- The natural wonders of Shizuoka Prefecture just west of Tokyo, Part 1
- Tokyo day trips for fresh air, hiking, forest bathing and quiet & a feature section on Nikko
- Tobacco pipes, summer outdoor dining, tansu chests, chochin lanterns, juzu rosaries
- Tokyo's origins & weekday rhythms, and Tokyo's Kamakura by the sea
- Japanese gold crafts & great old-new Japan craft-design shops
- Tokyo secret spots off the beaten track & Mount Fuji's many faces
- May flowers, Uji City, Kyoto Prefecture spots & events
- Cells hear sounds, Tokyo's sustainability movement, Kyoto's pandemic detection program
- All about Osaka's tourism treasures, history & chronology
- Osaka Expo 2025, Kibune to Kurama hike, Kyoto roof tiles
- Two celebrated Kyoto statues, Kyoto Station, and Kyoto's Kamogawa River
- Nihonga painter, Kibune Village, Japanese religions from start to finish
- Tiger books, spring food themes, Ayu river trout, Kyoto geomancy
- Japan's kitchen gizmos & Kyoto April cherry blossom events
- Osaka's Dotonbori Canal, Japanese things & tea ceremony museums
- Ikebana flowers, elegant Nonomiya Shrine, Nara's gardens, Hikone Castle
- Cherry tree, superstitions & protections, Tea, vinegar, landscaping
- Japan's haberdashery, textiles, wedding kimono, ribbons and braided tassels
- Less workers, Nishiki Market, hanko seals, koromogae fashion changeups
- Ryoan-ji Zen wow, Kasagi's Buddha boulders, high-value spring events
- Tourism revenue, gift giving, an artist, Buddha's death, and rafting!
- Keihoku-cho's 2m26 architecture studio & six great Kyoto museums
- Amazing bamboo, the charms of NW Kyoto Prefecture, Kansai Science City
- Kyoto March events & insider tips when low, and Kyoto fairytale essay
- Tourist stamps, Izumo Shrine, the Kiyamachi canal, music tool interview
- Kyoto's Kyotamba district, Kyoto Pref. cherry viewing, painted fans
- Less passports in Japan, crafted bows & arrows, biwa player interview
- Sansai wild herbs, buckwheat noodles, and a mod washi maker interview
- Poetess & Buddha tale, Tokyo | Kyoto design shops, eco priest interview
- Machiya photo gallery, sento bathing, and Tokyo shopping from A to Z
- Winter winds blow, more Japanese tales, kaiseki master chef interview
- Bamboo foot massage, more Kyoto museums, interview with Soren Matz
- Daruma, Feb. Kyoto events, a talk with priestess Jakusho Setouchi
- Chinese New Year, Kyoto and Shiga museums, Japan's top doll maker
- Bento box lunches, Arashiyama walking tour, doll maker interview
- “Shogun” Toyotomi, the Shinsengumi samurai squads, David Kidd interview
- Overtourism, yakitori lingo, winter soups, kimono, and biz mogul interview
- Kawara roof tiles, Kyoto's incense industry, antique shop owner interview
- Old ways to keep winter warm, Kyoto's woodworking industry, interview with a cafe owner
- Hibachi, camellias, graveyards, bonsai, Kyoto gardens, librarian interview
- Kyoto's January event calendar in detail and an interview with a religious scholar
- Chestnuts daikon radishes, special after New Year events, poet Steven Gill interview
- Yuzen dyeing, stones for gardens, woodwork, pro lute musician interview
- Shoki gaurdians, nuka bran scrubs, kendo dojo, psychologist interview
- Japan’s Xmas love, wagashi tea sweet art, tea master interview
- Japan #1 in 2025, the amazing Tango Peninsula, and an actor interview
- Japan's tropical winter destinations, tabi socks, and a writer interview
- Japanese Alps winter basecamps, pachinko, Zen musician interview
- Hokkaido winter wonders, hot spas in and near Kyoto, and a ryokan family interview
- Hibachi, Shinto gates, winter-spring flowers, sword sharpener interview
- Nara winter highlights, and two great interviews
- Textile magicians, Kyoto's unique veggies, religious ritual crafts
- New Tokyo movie tower, Japanese sake and vinegar, and old tales
- Japan's tourism boom, imperial temples, oni demons and power pagodas
- Arashiyama, chestnuts and tempura, Nara fire ritual, Ninna-ji Temple
- New rice terrace teamlab, Kawai Kanjiro, pickles, Kyoto craft shops
- Sushi love, and a 98-yr-old kimono maker & Canadian tech guy interview
- Uji City: from religious power center to tea & tourism
- 2024 Hokuriku bullet train advantages & two old personal interviews
- Shinto guardians, Jonangu Shrine, Anraku-ji Temple, plum blossoms
- Maach Ecute retro mall, manga comic books, kendo, maneki neko
- Okazaki district, Teramachi Street, Shuzan village, and Shimabara
- Lanterns, the obi sash & more people & tales
- Shirakawa stream interlude, Japanese folklore & gardens
- Ohara village, Kyoto secret spots, fall foods, Shiga & Otsu
- Kameoka castle town, Sennyuji to Tofukuji walk, old Fushimi town.
- Interviews with a geisha teahouse owner & a Buddhist sculptor.
- The worlds of ikebana, washi paper & wax paper umbrellas.
- New temple decoration & architect in training interviews.
- Tofu treats, Ajiro high-class veg, fu wheat gluten.
- Kura storehouses, Kyoto geomancy, Rakkudo Temple, Heian poets.
- Kyoto's thatch houses, Kamigamo, Honganji, 5-yen coins, Daitokuji.
- Architecture, talismans, early samurai, soroban, Zen meditation temples.
- Learn all about the Japanese language from odd to poetic.
- Four famous Japanese people: a poet, a playwright, a tea master, and a stowaway!
- Three Kyoto area temples & one shrine that are different or super special!
- Japanese art restoration interview & an essay on the Japanese elderly!
- Japanese handicrafts for your home & kitchen, and antique shopping expressions!
- Basho haiku & Zen master Dogen; a ryokan tale; Ryoanji Zen garden; Lady Chiyono; tea ceremony.
- Kyoto's Imamiya Shrine; izakaya restaurants; sumo wrestler stews; harvest moon; Daigo-ji Temple.
- Trad footwear; foreign words; furoshiki wrapping cloths; the world of Go or Othello.
- Japan's new entry system, farming, moss, bonsai, marathon monks, Kyoto's oldest buildings!
- Travel news, sumo wrestling, Japanese combs & hairstyles.
- The history and evolution of private travel & how it is misunderstood.
- Irises, Kamigamo Shrine, samurai armor, Tenryuji Zen temple
- An overview of May seasonal themes
Content by Ian Martin Ropke Japan travel expert since 1990. I have been planning, designing, and making custom Japan private tours on all five Japanese islands since the early 1990s. I work closely with Japan private tour clients and have worked for all kinds of families, companies, and individuals since 1990. Clients find me mostly via organic search, and I advertise my custom Japan private tours & travel services on www.japan-guide.com, which has the best all-Japan English content & maps in Japan! If you are going to Japan and you understand the advantages of private travel, consider my Japan travel services for your next trip. And thank you for reading my content. Learn more!