The letter

One letter a week, in your inbox.

The week in Japan: what opened, where to go this weekend, and the editor's route. No tracking, no ads, nothing else.

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Routes

16 routes by Sora Nakamura: every stop names its source, every price says who printed it and when, and the times are a plan. Pick a city, a length, a mood.

Where
How long
Mood
Tokyo · 3 days · 12 stops · 32 kmTokyo in three days, at the middle priceThree days for a first visit, one side of the city a day: the national museum and Senso-ji in the east, Meiji Jingu and Shibuya in the west,…first-timecityeatingKyoto · 1 day · 7 stops · 15 kmKyoto in a day: temples by daylight, obanzai at nightThe Kyoto of the postcards in one long day, taken from Jalan's one-day model course, with its prices and hours as of 3 September 2026: coffe…first-timeeatingTokyo · 1 day · 4 stops · 2 kmShibuya after dark: two standing bars and a basementAn evening within a short walk of Shibuya station: a doughnut to start, Chinese food standing up from four o'clock, the standing bar that ke…nightfriendsfirst-timeTokyo · 1 day · 4 stops · 5 kmMeguro to Yutenji: three cheesecakes and a Korean dinnerThree of the cheesecakes Hanako wrote up, in three cafés between Meguro and Yutenji, and a Korean dinner to finish. A slow afternoon for two…slowromancesweetsTokyo · 1 day · 4 stops · 5 kmKichijoji: a menchi-katsu, the pond and a cave of a kissatenA day out west on the JR Chuo line: a menchi-katsu eaten on the street, a walk round Inokashira pond, a basement kissaten built by puppeteer…slowkissateneatingKyoto · 1 day · 4 stops · 7 kmFushimi Inari before eight, then two temples and a coffeeA morning that starts under the torii while they are quiet, crosses to Tofuku-ji when its gates open, stops at To-ji's pagoda, and ends with…morningfirst-timeSapporo · 2 days · 8 stops · 28 kmSapporo in two days: ramen at six, crab at night, then JozankeiSapporo the way people there eat it: a bowl of ramen when the first shop opens at six, the university museum when it opens at ten, a clear-s…first-timeeatingonsenKamakura · 1 day · 5 stops · 4 kmKamakura: breakfast at eight, sushi at noon, the sea, and an aubergeKamakura from the list Hanako's Kamakura locals made: breakfast when EENY opens at eight, sushi and sake at a counter at noon, coffee after …romanceslowseaYokohama, Kamakura, Atami · 3 days · 7 stops · 76 kmA weekend south of Tokyo: Yokohama, Kamakura, AtamiThree towns in two nights along the coast south of Tokyo. Friday: ramen in Noge, by Sakuragicho station in Yokohama. Saturday: breakfast and…weekendseaonsenAtami · 2 days · 8 stops · 5 kmAtami: two days by the water, a ryokan dinner between themAtami as a slow weekend: the station street's sweets on arrival, dried fish and a chocolate sablé near the beach, the hotel on the rocks, an…onsenromanceseaKobe · 1 day · 3 stops · 2 kmKobe: a warm cheesecake, a room in the old settlement, a bar with a fireAn afternoon and a night in Kobe for two: the city's cheesecake since 1975 in Motomachi, a room at The Orient in the old foreign settlement,…romancenightslowKusatsu · 1 day · 6 stops · 3 kmKusatsu: once round the Yubatake, eating as you goA morning around Kusatsu's steaming Yubatake, eating as you go: cookies and cider, an onsen egg cooked in the spring itself, a brown-sugar m…onsensweetsslowIzumo · 1 day · 5 stops · 2 kmIzumo Taisha: the great shrine, soba in five bowls, and zenzaiA day at Izumo Taisha with Jalan's visitors' guide as a map: the shrine in the morning, soba from a house that has made it for more than 240…sloweatingKitakata · 1 day · 4 stops · 6 kmKitakata: four bowls of ramen before lunch, at the weekendKitakata eats ramen for breakfast, and on Saturdays and Sundays several shops open at seven for it. Four bowls in a morning, from Jalan's li…eatingmorningsoloNiseko · 2 days · 5 stops · 14 kmNiseko: two days in the greenNiseko out of the snow season: a café in the green, a distillery with gin and whisky, a jingisukan house three generations old, a condominiu…natureromanceslowHakodate · 1 day · 7 stops · 6 kmHakodate: the market, Motomachi's slopes and the mountain at duskOne day in Hakodate: a rice bowl you build yourself at the locals' market, coffee in an old office building in Motomachi, salt ramen, tea wi…first-timeseanight