Japan travel
Practical guides on speaking, grammar, pronunciation, listening, and study planning, written for learners who want to use Japanese in real life.
Japan travel · Page 15
Jinbōchō Book Town Guide: Used Bookshops, Curry and Japanese to Use
Jinbōchō is Tokyo's book town, with well over a hundred second-hand and antiquarian bookshops around one crossing in Chiyoda. It is a paradise for anyone who loves old prints, photo books or manga, and a very good place to read real Japanese signs and ask booksellers for help.
12 min readKōenji Guide: Vintage Shops, Awa Odori and Japanese to Use
Kōenji is a low-rise neighbourhood west of Shinjuku known for vintage clothing, used records, tiny live music venues and cheap izakaya. It is also where the JR rapid train skips the station at weekends, so a little Japanese on the platform and in the fitting room goes a long way.
11 min readOsaka Aquarium Kaiyūkan Guide: Whale Sharks, Tickets and Japanese to Use
Osaka Aquarium Kaiyūkan is one of the largest aquariums in Japan, built around a giant central tank where a whale shark glides past you again and again as you spiral down the building. It is an easy half day from central Osaka, and every zone is labelled in Japanese you can learn to read in an afternoon.
12 min readCup Noodles Museum Yokohama Guide: Design Your Cup and Japanese to Use
The Cup Noodles Museum in Yokohama's Minato Mirai tells the story of instant ramen and lets you design and seal your own cup of noodles to take home. It is cheerful, hands-on and full of short, practical Japanese, from numbered tickets to choosing a soup and four toppings.
12 min readKyoto Railway Museum Guide: Roundhouse, Steam Rides and Japanese to Use
The Kyoto Railway Museum, a short walk from Kyoto Station, is one of the largest railway museums in Japan, with bullet trains, a working turntable and a steam train you can ride. It is a joy for train fans and a surprisingly good place to learn the railway Japanese you use every day of a trip.
12 min readKyoto International Manga Museum Guide: Wall of Manga and Japanese to Use
The Kyoto International Manga Museum is a manga library and museum in a 1920s primary school, where you can pull any of around 50,000 volumes off the shelves and read them anywhere on site, even on the lawn. For a Japanese learner it is the best reading room in the country.
11 min readUzumasa Eigamura Guide: Kyoto's Edo Film Village and Japanese to Use
Uzumasa Eigamura is a film set turned theme park in western Kyoto, where Edo-period streets built for samurai dramas are now the stage for live shows, ninja attractions and kimono strolls. It reopened in March 2026 after its largest renewal, under a new name, and it is full of chances to hear and use Japanese.
11 min readHozugawa River Boat Ride Guide: Kameoka to Arashiyama and Japanese to Use
The Hozugawa Kudari is a wooden boat ride of about sixteen kilometres through the gorge between Kameoka and Arashiyama, steered through rapids by boatmen with bamboo poles and oars. It is one of Kyoto's great outings, and the whole trip, from the ticket window to the boatmen's banter, happens in Japanese.
12 min readSagano Romantic Train Guide: Seats, The Rich Car and Japanese to Use
The Sagano Romantic Train is a slow, open-windowed sightseeing train that rattles along the Hozu River gorge between Saga-Arashiyama and Kameoka. Every seat is reserved, so the trip starts with a short conversation at the ticket window, and the ride itself is one of the prettiest half hours in Kyoto.
12 min readKitano Tenmangū Guide: Shrine of Learning, Plum Blossom and Japanese to Use
Kitano Tenmangū is the Kyoto shrine of Sugawara no Michizane, the scholar worshipped as Tenjin, god of learning, where students come to pray before exams and rub the heads of bronze and stone oxen. It is free to enter, famous for plum blossom and a monthly flea market, and a lovely place to use your shrine Japanese.
12 min readShimogamo Jinja Guide: Tadasu Forest, Mirror Ema and Japanese to Use
Shimogamo Jinja is one of Kyoto's oldest shrines, reached by a long path through the ancient Tadasu no Mori forest. It is free, calm and full of small sub-shrines, each with its own blessing and its own short piece of Japanese to learn.
12 min readTakarazuka Revue Guide: Tickets, the Grand Theater and Japanese to Use
The Takarazuka Revue is an all-female musical theatre company whose women play every role, from dashing heroes to leading ladies, ending each show with a glittering revue on a grand staircase. Seeing it at its home theatre in Takarazuka is a unique Japanese night out, and the whole evening runs in Japanese.
11 min readPractical guides
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