The Navigatio

My brand new Nara itinerary is live! (ad / press visit)

I first visited Nara back in 2019 and loved it, but now I know so much more about Japan and travelling around Japan, I thought it was time to refresh this guide.

So at the end of last year, we spent a few days in Nara Prefecture to re-explore Nara city and surrounding areas with the help of the Nara Tourism board.

I'm so happy with how this guide has turned out, and I hope the extra and updated information will help you make Nara one of your Japan highlights!

After having stayed overnight in Nara for a few days, I would also highly recommend considering going for more than a day trip – I've added some day trip options FROM Nara in the guide below, and I'll be sharing more Nara Prefecture guides in the upcoming months!

But until then, please enjoy this new Nara day trip itinerary:

https://thenavigatio.com/nara-itinerary-one-day-trip/

The first cherry blossom predictions have been published!

Happy New Year!

A little late to the party but what a year 2024 has been! Richard and I got to spend nearly five months in Japan and travel to 14 new prefectures. Almost impossible to pick my top 10 experiences, but here are some of my favourite moments of last year:

1. Eloping in Kyoto with the love of my life
2. Stay overnight in an active Buddhist temple in Koyasan
3. Roadtripping through Shikoku
4. Walking 3 days on the Nakasendo in November
5. Watched my first sumo tournament in Osaka
6. Stay in the original Nintendo HQ
7. Cycling around the Mount Fuji area during sakura season
8. Making our own Japanese knives in the mountains of Kochi
9. Seeing Yuki no Ōtani on the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route
10. Attending a geisha evening at Lady Baba's in Kanazawa

Spending the next couple of months updating old content and writing a ton of new travel guides. I cannot wait to see what 2025 will bring!

If you have one day in Osaka, you can follow this route (and free itinerary) below:

https://thenavigatio.com/one-day-in-osaka-itinerary-japan/

Hakone is a popular day (or overnight) trip from Tokyo, around 100km from the capital city. It's a great spot to try Japanese hot springs (onsen) and enjoy the beautiful scenery.

Hakone has a special place in my heart, as my (now) husband proposed to me here

Not everybody has enough time in their Japan itinerary to spend multiple days in Nikko. While visiting on a day trip can be tricky (there is so much to see and do!), it is totally possible. This day trip itinerary is here to help!

Here is my one day Nikko itinerary including free self-guided walking tour you can follow!

https://thenavigatio.com/nikko-day-trip-itinerary/

One of my favourite bigger projects this year was completely rewriting my 2-week Japan itinerary.

Having spent nearly 5 months in Japan this year, exploring a TON of new places, I thought it was time for a big update – and I'm really proud of it! If you're planning your first trip to Japan in 2025, it can be a great place to start.

It includes:

🇯🇵 An interactive Google Maps with over 100 points of interest, restaurants, coffee shops, stores and bars.
🇯🇵 A full breakdown of recommendations of what to do every day of your 14 days in Japan
🇯🇵 Accommodation recommendations for your trip so you don't have to research them yourself.
🇯🇵 Information on transport within cities and between cities/
🇯🇵 Optional day trips that you can swap in and out to make this itinerary work for you.

Check it out below:

https://thenavigatio.com/japan-itinerary-two-weeks/

Tokyo itinerary for first time visitors!

I'm very excited to start writing my new guides for destinations off the golden route in the new year, but Tokyo still is my favourite place in the world

One of the coolest, most unique stays we did this year was the forming Nintendo HQ in Kyoto!

Even though it's transformed into a beautiful boutique hotel, there are lots of signs of Nintendo's history here. There is even a library with Nintendo artefacts! The full collection is owned by the Yamauchi family and all pieces have been curated by Banjo Yamauchi.

In the article below, I've written about my stay:

https://thenavigatio.com/marufukuro-nintendo-hotel-kyoto/

About to board the plane after another 6 incredible weeks in Japan 🥰🇯🇵 I’m so grateful we’ve got to spent nearly 5 months here this year across two long trips!

And what a trip this has been 🤩 I can’t even list all my favourite things because we’ve done SO much, but here are some highlights:

- Hiking part of the Nakasendo
- Making our own knife in the mountains of Kochi
- Driving around Shikoku
- Having coffee with Sabrina, who writes for The Navigatio, in a cafe that used to be an old sento
- Cycling around Asuka in Nara Prefecute, the official first capital of Japan ❤️

My Japanese classes are surely paying off, and I feel like having the ability to have small conversations here now has made this trip one of the best ones yet!

I cannot wait to share everything in more detail in the new year, with tons of new guides and articles 🥰🇯🇵

Thanks for all the support as always! Are there any travel guides you’re looking forward to most? 👀.

We’re staying in Roppongi this time, only a short walk away from the Christmas lights 🥰❤️ Had to go have a quick look before heading back to the hotel 😴

Shikoku is full of red leaves now 😍❤️

The most beautiful station in Japan 🇯🇵❤️

📍 Shimonada Station, Ehime Prefecture

Did you know you can make your own Japanese knife in Japan? 😍🔪

In the mountains of Kochi Prefecture in Shikoku, we joined a full day workshop making our own Japanese knives. Japanese knives are known for its incredible quality, so I’ve wanted to get myself one for a while - but what better keepsake than a knife you forged, sanded and tempered yourself?

The incredibly talented blacksmiths obviously helped us though the process (and fixed all the mistakes 😂), but I learned so much about Japanese knives and how their made.

There are so many steps involved!

Super proud of the end result! I can’t believe we made this out of a block of metal 🤯

They will be polished and sharpened by the blacksmiths before they ship the knives to our final hotel of this trip, so we can take it home 🥰

Cannot wait to use it at home 🔪!

Spent the day doing this incredible workshop making our own Japanese knives 😍🔪

As Japan is an island, it was isolated from other countries and cultures for centuries. This allowed it to create its own, unique customs and traditions. Even though Japan takes ideas and influences from other countries now, it remains to be one of the most unique places in the world.

If you’re dreaming of visiting Japan soon, here are 30 awesome things Japan is famous for.

https://thenavigatio.com/what-is-japan-famous-for/

3 Week Japan Itinerary 2024: The Perfect Trip | The Navigatio Plan your perfect trip to Japan with this 3 week Japan itinerary. From Tokyo all the way to Hiroshima with many stops along the way.

Woke up in Kashihara in Nara prefecture this morning, which is the hometown of Capcom founder Kenzo Tsujimoto!

Right outside our hotel, we found these two manhole covers and statues (I’ve got some more pictures on my camera!) to celebrate this 🥰

Love finding spots like this!