Japan. by Japanese.Japan, judged by a Japanese

Japan. by Japanese.

The Japan you can look up,
and the judgment you cannot.

Everything here is information you could verify yourself. What you cannot look up is the part that comes after it — where we take a position, and where a Japanese person takes one under their own name.

The storiesThe Japan you can't look up.See the collection

Explore Japan

The same country, two ways of looking at it. Switch between the Japan people travel for today and the Japan that is still standing and still open.

Showing Modern Japan.

Click a region on the map — or the Okinawa inset — to explore it.Kyushu and Okinawa are one region.

Coastlines and prefecture boundaries from Natural Earth (public domain). Okinawa is shown in an inset. Simplified for display.

Hokkaido

The northern island — wide open, cold, and unlike the rest of Japan.

Modern Japan

  • SapporoThe largest city in the north.
  • Winter sportsDeep snow through the winter season.
  • SeafoodA region known across Japan for what comes out of its waters.

Historic Japan

  • Goryokaku Fort, HakodateJapan's first Western-style star fort, now a public park you can walk.

Nothing written about this side of Hokkaido yet. The places above are orientation — none of them links to a page that does not exist.

Tohoku

The quiet north of the main island. Mountains, hot springs, deep winters.

Modern Japan

  • SendaiThe largest city in the region.
  • Onsen townsHot spring towns scattered through the mountains.

Nothing written about this side of Tohoku yet. The places above are orientation — none of them links to a page that does not exist.

Historic Japan

  • Chuson-ji, HiraizumiA temple complex in Iwate, inscribed by UNESCO in 2011 and open to visitors.

Nothing written about this side of Tohoku yet. The places above are orientation — none of them links to a page that does not exist.

Kanto

Tokyo and everything within reach of it. Where most first trips begin.

Modern Japan

  • TokyoThe capital, and the usual entry point to the country.
  • YokohamaA large port city next to Tokyo.
  • Day tripsMuch of the region is reachable and back within a day.

Historic Japan

  • Shrines and Temples of NikkoA UNESCO site in Tochigi. The individual religious sites are open to the public.

Chubu

The mountainous middle. Between Tokyo and Kyoto, and often skipped.

Modern Japan

  • NagoyaThe largest city in central Japan.
  • The Japanese AlpsHigh mountains running through the region.

Historic Japan

  • Historic Villages of Shirakawa-goGassho-style farmhouses in Gifu, inscribed by UNESCO in 1995.

Kansai

Kyoto, Osaka, Nara. The densest concentration of old Japan still standing.

Modern Japan

  • OsakaKnown within Japan for its food and its street life.
  • KyotoA city where the historic sites are inside the city itself.

Historic Japan

  • Kiyomizu-deraOne of the UNESCO-listed sites in and around Kyoto.
  • Todai-ji, NaraHouses the world's largest seated bronze Buddha statue.
  • Himeji CastleIn Hyogo. A National Treasure and one of the first Japanese UNESCO sites, listed in 1993.

Chugoku

The western end of the main island, along the Seto Inland Sea.

Modern Japan

  • HiroshimaThe largest city in the region.
  • Seto Inland SeaIsland-dotted water between three of the four main islands.

Historic Japan

  • Itsukushima Shrine, MiyajimaOn an island off Hiroshima, known for its "floating" torii gate.

Shikoku

The smallest of the four main islands, and the least travelled by visitors.

Modern Japan

  • MatsuyamaThe largest city on the island.
  • Coastal routesThe island is small enough to circle.

Nothing written about this side of Shikoku yet. The places above are orientation — none of them links to a page that does not exist.

Historic Japan

  • Matsuyama CastleIn Ehime. One of the twelve original castle keeps, reached by ropeway, chairlift or on foot.

Nothing written about this side of Shikoku yet. The places above are orientation — none of them links to a page that does not exist.

Kyushu & Okinawa

The south. Volcanoes and hot springs, then a subtropical island chain.

Modern Japan

  • FukuokaThe largest city in Kyushu.
  • OkinawaA subtropical island chain far to the south.

Historic Japan

  • Dazaifu Tenmangu, FukuokaA major shrine with extensive grounds planted with plum trees.
  • Kumamoto CastleDamaged in the 2016 earthquake; the main keep reopened to visitors in 2021.

Nothing written about this side of Kyushu & Okinawa yet. The places above are orientation — none of them links to a page that does not exist.

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Where to start

Five subjects, each covered the same way: the information first, then a stated position on it — ours, or a Japanese person's own. The page always says which.

The stories

The Japan you can't look up.

The awkward silences.
The distance people keep.
The things everyone seems to understand without saying them.

Why Japanese people do this? is a collection of short stories about the parts of everyday Japan that usually go unexplained.

See the collection