About Japan is Nippon

Japan is Nippon explains Japan for people who love it: people planning a trip, people living here, and anyone curious about Japanese culture. You do not need to read any Japanese to use it.

What you will find here

• Places: the places people in Japan love most, prefecture by prefecture, on maps and rankings, along with each prefecture's food, dialect and history.
• Why Japan?: why there are so few bins, why trains are so quiet, why nobody tips. The answers to the things that puzzle visitors, with the history behind them and practical tips.
• Japan Essentials: what to do first when something goes wrong (earthquakes, illness, lost things), the Japanese you will see on signs, and etiquette for hot springs, shrines and more.
• Japanese word of the day: every page has one word you will actually see or hear in that place or situation.

About the information

At the end of each page you will find its sources, mostly official websites. Use them to read more or to check the latest details.

We leave out opening hours, prices and timetables because they change often, so please check the official site before you go. When we learn that something has changed, we update the page and show the date of the update.

In an emergency

Call 110 for the police and 119 for fire and ambulance. For other problems, see When things go wrong.

Language

The site is in English and Japanese. Use the button at the top right to switch.