Skip to content
Japan Travel Guide
Bullet trains and bamboo forests, neon-drenched cities and centuries-old temples — Japan rewards planning as much as spontaneity. Start here for ground-truth guides, including every port on our own 14-day Tokyo-to-Seoul cruise.
Our Japan guides are built from real trips, not recycled listicles — including a full cruise port series written port by port as we complete the journey ourselves.
Whether you’re stepping off a ship at Nagoya or Shimizu, piecing together a Tokyo-to-Kyoto itinerary, or just deciding what’s worth the queue, start with what’s live below — more is being added as we finish each guide.
The Cruise Port Series
Shimizu Cruise Port Guide
Chasing Mount Fuji on a DIY day from port — the taxi problem nobody warns you about, and the tours worth booking instead.
Read guide
Nagoya Cruise Port Guide
The day a tsunami alert kept us on the ship — plus the local highlights tour worth booking if yours actually goes ashore.
Read guide
Kobe Cruise Port Guide
Too many good options for one port day — Kyoto, Osaka, Universal Studios or Kobe itself. Here’s how we chose, and what we skipped.
Read guide
Tokyo Cruise Port Guide
DisneySea or stay central? Plus the Statue of Liberty replica, a legendary Gundam statue, and everything else worth doing before your ship leaves Tokyo.
Read guide
Hakodate Cruise Port Guide
We rode the famous Mount Hakodate ropeway at the wrong time of day for the view everyone photographs — plus Motomachi’s churches, Hachimanzaka Hill, and the red brick Kanemori warehouses.
Read guide
Otaru Cruise Port Guide
A slower kind of port day — a quiet hillside walk over the harbor, the historic canal, glass shops on Sakaimachi Street, and a music box picked out by hand.
Read guideFour more ports from the same 14-day Tokyo-to-Seoul cruise — Sakata, Kanazawa, Nagasaki and Hiroshima — are in progress and will appear here as each guide goes live.
More Japan Guides, Coming Soon
Beyond the cruise series: standalone guides to Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka, full itineraries, cultural guides, and practical travel tips — all in the works.
Plan Your Trip
Compare accommodation across every stop on this itinerary on one map, and sort out mobile data before you land — cruise ports move fast, and you’ll want maps working the moment you’re off the ship.
Get a Japan eSIM Before You Land
Skip the airport SIM queue — instant data plans for Japan, activated before you leave home.
Going beyond Japan?
Explore curated guides for Malta, Rome, Paris and more — same no-fluff approach, every destination.