Everyday Japan, from someone who lives here
Trains, food, manners and the small rules of daily life, explained by a Japan-based editor. Some articles are things the editor has done here — climbing Tokyo Tower's outdoor stairs, walking the whole Yamanote Line loop — and the rest cover the situations visitors run into most.
Tried in Japan
The editor's own trips, with the practical details that turned out to matter.
Tokyo · bike about 4 hours, on foot about 9 hours 40 minutes
I cycled the Yamanote Line loop, then walked it
Dead ends near Shin-Okubo, a near-quit at Ikebukuro, and legs that hurt for days afterwards. Why following the line on foot is harder than the map suggests.
Day trip from the fifth station · about 11 hours
Mount Fuji, once
The hardest part was near the summit, a bag of chips had puffed up at the top, and one climb was enough. The 2026-season rules sit in a separate section.