A geography teacher’s guide to Japan
See why Japan looks the way it does
Walks through Tokyo, the Kanto countryside and beyond, from a teacher who grew up in Kyoto, lives in Asakusa, and has visited all 47 prefectures.
Latest walks
New routes and stories, starting from my home base in Asakusa.
-
Ueno Park History Walk, Part 2: From Battlefield to Museum Hill, with Le Corbusier
Walk the north side of Ueno Park: how a burned temple ground became Japan’s museum quarter, with Le Corbusier’s museum, the Tokyo National Museum,…
-
Ueno Park History Walk, Part 1: Edo’s Sacred Hill, a Battlefield and a Racecourse
Walk the south side of Ueno Park through history: an ancient shoreline, the shoguns’ temple of Kan’ei-ji, the Battle of Ueno, Hiroshige’s Moon Pine…
-
Kengo Kuma’s Wooden Walk: From the Nezu Museum to the Forest of Meiji Jingu
A half-day walk from Aoyama to Meiji Jingu through three Kengo Kuma buildings: the Nezu Museum, SunnyHills and the Meiji Jingu Museum, plus One…
-
Nihonbashi Walk: Where Japan’s Roads Begin, Under an Expressway About to Vanish
Walk Nihonbashi, the bridge where Japan’s old highways began: Hiroshige’s view then and now, the first fish market, Mitsukoshi, the Bank of Japan and…
-
Riding the Yurikamome Over Rainbow Bridge: Odaiba to Shimbashi on Tokyo’s Driverless Train
Ride Tokyo’s driverless Yurikamome from Odaiba across Rainbow Bridge to Shimbashi, with tips on getting the front seat, avoiding event crowds and walking across…
-
Sakai, Ibaraki: A Kengo Kuma Town on the Tone River, One Bus Ride from Tokyo
Kengo Kuma, Part 2: take a highway bus from Tokyo Station to Sakai, an old river-port town in Ibaraki, and walk between his wooden…
Reading the landscape
Most guides tell you where to go. I want to show you why a place looks the way it does. Once you can read the story written into the land, a simple walk turns into something you remember.
- Why did the city grow along this river? Rivers, canals and old shorelines still shape how Tokyo works.
- Why is this street curved? Old paths, slopes and buried streams hide under modern roads.
- Why did this neighborhood survive? Earthquakes and war changed Tokyo, but not everywhere in the same way.