Forty-six thousand people, beer served from a backpack, and a player on the scoreboard called Trey Cabbage. Japanese baseball is unmissable.
Christmas is not a public holiday in Japan. It is also, somehow, one of the best places in the world to be in December.
Forty thousand people, a gyudon at 11am, and a horse called Vodka. You don't need to understand horse racing to have a great time here.
You put in 300 yen. A plastic capsule drops out. Inside is a small figure of an animal sitting in a sauna. You have no idea what you expected.
A neighbourhood that operates at its own frequency. Electronics, anime, gacha machines, and a full-size Godzilla in a shop. You either get it or you don't.
Koyo season, temple crowds, and why the most photogenic city in Japan is still worth the effort every single time.
The fabric dividers hanging in Japanese doorways tell you more about a place than any guidebook. Here's how to read them.
Most people treat Nagoya as a blur out the train window. We got off and it turned out to be one of the best decisions of the trip.
You understand Tokyo at street level. You understand its scale from above. The second one you can't get anywhere else.
Skytree is taller. Shibuya Sky has the better outdoor deck. Tokyo Tower is still the one you can't stop looking at.
You've seen the photo so many times it almost doesn't feel real. Then you're standing in front of it and it's more striking than the photo ever made it look.
Osaka has a different energy to Tokyo — louder, more chaotic, less self-conscious. Dotonbori at night is where that energy concentrates.