[{"title":"Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Dome: What the Structure Survived and Why It Was Kept","date":"2026-08-08","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/atomicbombdome/","content":"The A-Bomb Dome survived because the blast came from almost directly above—not from the side. Understanding the geometry of August 6, 1945 changes how you stand in front of it. A guide to visiting with full context.","image_path":""},{"title":"Akihabara: How Japan's Electric Town Became the Capital of Obsession","date":"2026-07-18","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/akihabara/","content":"Akihabara rebuilt itself from wartime rubble as a radio parts market, then became the global center of otaku culture. Understanding that history changes how you experience the streets.","image_path":""},{"title":"Kagurazaka: The Tokyo Neighborhood That a Hill Kept Intact","date":"2026-06-13","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/kagurazaka/","content":"Kagurazaka developed as a geisha district on a steep hill whose narrow streets resisted redevelopment. French diplomats, active ochaya, and Kengo Kuma's glass shrine coexist in a neighborhood geography protected.","image_path":""},{"title":"Hiroshima: A Complete Guide to the City That Rebuilt Itself Around a Message","date":"2026-06-07","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/hiroshima/","content":"Hiroshima rebuilt from zero in a decade and chose to keep one building standing in ruins. Here's how to understand the city—its food, its neighborhoods, the Peace Park, and how to connect it with a Miyajima day trip.","image_path":""},{"title":"Fukuoka Travel Guide: Japan's Most Livable City Has Better Food Than Tokyo","date":"2026-05-23","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/fukuoka/","content":"Fukuoka consistently tops Japan's livability rankings—and it has the best ramen, the only surviving yatai street-food culture, and a directness of character that feels unlike anywhere else in the country. A complete guide.","image_path":""},{"title":"Mount Takao: Tokyo's Most Visited Mountain and How to Experience It Properly","date":"2026-05-03","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/takao/","content":"Mount Takao receives more visitors than Mount Fuji—around 2.5 million a year. Here's how to use that fact against itself: the trails, temple, food, and seasonal timing that make Takao worth the trip.","image_path":""},{"title":"Kinkakuji, Kyoto: What You're Actually Looking At (and What Happened to the Original)","date":"2026-04-25","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/kinkakuji/","content":"The Golden Pavilion was burned to the ground by a monk in 1950. What stands today is a 1955 reconstruction—and understanding that fact changes everything about how to experience Kinkakuji.","image_path":""},{"title":"How to Use Suica in Japan: IC Cards, Mobile Wallets, and What No One Tells Tourists","date":"2026-04-18","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/suica/","content":"Suica and PASMO work on nearly every train, bus, and convenience store in Japan—but foreign card setup differs. Here's what actually works in 2026, including Welcome Suica for short visits and Mobile Suica for iPhone and Android.","image_path":""},{"title":"Kenrokuen: The Garden That Was Built Instead of an Army","date":"2026-04-13","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/kenrokuen/","content":"Kenrokuen in Kanazawa is one of Japan's three great gardens — but most visitors photograph it without reading it. A local's guide to what the garden actually means, and how to see it differently.","image_path":""},{"title":"Kanazawa: The City That Survived Japan's Wars and Kept Its Soul Intact","date":"2026-04-04","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/kanazawa/","content":"Kanazawa was never bombed. That accident of history left behind a city where samurai districts, geisha quarters, and 400-year-old craft traditions exist not as reconstructions, but as living continuations. A Japanese perspective on what makes Kanazawa irreplaceable.","image_path":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/kanazawa.png"},{"title":"Dotonbori, Osaka: Why Japan's Loudest Neighborhood Is Also Its Most Honest","date":"2026-03-29","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/dotonbori/","content":"Osaka has a word for its food philosophy—kuidaore—that reveals something deep about how this city differs from Tokyo. A Japanese perspective on what Dotonbori actually means, and how to eat your way through it correctly.","image_path":""},{"title":"Akasaka, Tokyo: The Neighborhood Where Japan's Political Power Lives Behind Quiet Walls","date":"2026-03-28","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/akasaka/","content":"Akasaka sits between the Prime Minister's residence, the National Diet, and some of Tokyo's oldest Edo-period shrines. A local's guide to what this unusual geography produces—in food, culture, and silence.","image_path":""},{"title":"Ikebukuro: Nightlife Guide","date":"2026-03-21","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/ikebukuro/","content":"A practical, first-time-friendly guide to Ikebukuro’s nightlife and anime culture—what to do, eat, and see in one of Tokyo’s busiest hubs.","image_path":""},{"title":"The Alley That Refused to Become Modern: A Guide to Omoide Yokocho","date":"2026-03-15","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/omoide-yokocho/","content":"A guide to Omoide Yokocho, exploring its history as a post-war black market and its present-day atmosphere as a hub for yakitori and local culture.","image_path":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/omoide-yokocho.png"},{"title":"Miyajima: The Japanese Island Where the Ordinary World Is Not Permitted to Enter","date":"2026-03-14","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/miyajima/","content":"Itsukushima Island was declared sacred in the 6th century—meaning no births, deaths, or burials have occurred here in 1,400 years. That rule changes how you experience everything about Miyajima.","image_path":""},{"title":"Tokyo's Most Useful Contradiction: A Half-Day Guide to Korakuen","date":"2026-03-08","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/korakuen/","content":"A half-day guide to Tokyo's Korakuen: explore the historic Koishikawa Korakuen Garden alongside the modern thrills of Tokyo Dome City.","image_path":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/korakuen.png"},{"title":"Dazaifu Tenmangu: The Shrine Built Where a Grieving Scholar Died in Exile","date":"2026-03-07","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/dazaifu/","content":"Dazaifu Tenmangu was built over the grave of Sugawara no Michizane—a 9th-century scholar exiled by political rivals who died in Dazaifu and was later deified. Understanding his story changes everything about the shrine.","image_path":""},{"title":"Climbing Mount Fuji: The Spiritual Logic Behind Japan's Most Physical Challenge","date":"2026-02-28","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/fuji-yoshida/","content":"Japanese people don't climb Mount Fuji for the views. They climb it for what the climb does to you—the discomfort, the altitude, the 3 AM darkness, the moment the sun rises over a country that feels impossibly small below.","image_path":""},{"title":"Ueno, Tokyo: Where Japan's Greatest Museums and Its Most Honest Bars Share the Same Block","date":"2026-02-22","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/ueno/","content":"Ueno holds Tokyo's densest concentration of museums—including a UNESCO World Heritage building—and two blocks away, the city's last great standing-bar culture. A guide to experiencing both halves.","image_path":""},{"title":"Meiji Jingu: The Engineered Forest at the Center of Modern Japan","date":"2026-02-21","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/meiji-jingu/","content":"100,000 trees were planted in 1920 to create an artificial ancient forest—and it worked. A Japanese perspective on the ambitious experiment and what Meiji Shrine actually means to the people who worship there.","image_path":""},{"title":"Golden Gai, Tokyo: The Complete Guide to 200 Bars in Six Alleys","date":"2026-02-14","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/goldengai/","content":"Golden Gai survived urban redevelopment, the economic bubble, and a deliberate arson attempt. Here's how to navigate its 200 tiny bars—what the entry fees mean, how to choose a bar, and the social logic that makes it work.","image_path":""},{"title":"Shibuya Sky Guide 2026: Tickets, Sunset Views \u0026 Tips","date":"2026-02-14","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/shibuya_sky/","content":"Complete 2026 guide to Shibuya Sky: best sunset times, ticket booking tips, and photography spots at Tokyo's most iconic open-air observation deck.","image_path":""},{"title":"Toyama Travel Guide: What to Do, Eat, and See","date":"2026-02-11","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/toyama/","content":"A local's guide to Toyama — Tateyama's snow walls, Toyama Bay seafood, Unazuki Onsen, and what makes this Hokuriku prefecture worth the detour from Kanazawa.","image_path":""},{"title":"7, 10, and 14-Day Japan Itineraries: Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka for First Visits","date":"2026-02-07","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/japan-itineraries/","content":"Practical itineraries for first-time Japan visitors built around the Tokyo–Kyoto–Osaka route, with honest guidance on what to cut, what to protect, and how to use the Shinkansen effectively.","image_path":""},{"title":"Tokyo Tower: Why Japan's 'Outdated' Landmark Still Matters More Than the Skytree","date":"2026-02-07","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/tokyotower/","content":"Tokyo Tower was built in 1958 as proof Japan had survived. A Japanese perspective on why this red lattice structure carries an emotional weight no newer tower can replicate.","image_path":""},{"title":"Hokkaido: Japan's Last Frontier, and Why That Phrase Actually Means Something","date":"2026-01-31","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/hokkaido/","content":"Hokkaido was only settled by mainland Japanese 150 years ago. The island still carries the quality of a place that hasn't finished becoming itself—and that incompleteness is its greatest appeal.","image_path":""},{"title":"Ginza, Tokyo: How to Experience Japan's Most Expensive Address Without the Price Tag","date":"2026-01-24","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/ginza/","content":"Ginza has the highest land value in Japan—and some of its best free afternoons. A local guide to the architecture walk, Depachika food halls, Kabukiza, and the kissaten culture tourists miss.","image_path":""},{"title":"Asakusa Guide: What Tokyo's Oldest District Reveals About Japan's Soul","date":"2026-01-17","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/asakusa/","content":"Beyond Senso-ji's famous gate lies an Asakusa only locals know. A Japanese insider's guide to the rituals, food, and hidden philosophy of Tokyo's most layered district.","image_path":""},{"title":"GALA Yuzawa: The Only Ski Resort in the World with Its Own Shinkansen Station","date":"2026-01-11","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/gala-yuzawa/","content":"GALA Yuzawa has a bullet train platform inside the ski resort—you board in Tokyo and step off at the base of the slopes 77 minutes later. Here's how the engineering works, and how to manage a day trip without wasting it.","image_path":""},{"title":"Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park: What Japanese People Feel That Travel Guides Don't Say","date":"2026-01-11","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/hiroshima-peacepark/","content":"Every Japanese person learns about August 6, 1945 in school. Visiting Hiroshima Peace Park as a Japanese person is not tourism—it is something else entirely. This is that perspective.","image_path":""},{"title":"Akita: Deep Snow, Demons, and the Tohoku Most Travelers Never Reach","date":"2026-01-06","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/akita/","content":"A local's guide to Akita in northern Tohoku—the Namahage demons of Oga, the original samurai streets of Kakunodate, the secret hot springs of Nyuto, and the loyal Akita dog.","image_path":""},{"title":"Tokyo Daijingu: The Shrine That Invented the Japanese Wedding","date":"2026-01-01","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/tokyo-daijingu/","content":"Tokyo Daijingu in Iidabashi is the shrine where Japan's first modern Shinto wedding was held — and where locals still come to pray for connection. What it actually is, and how to visit it properly.","image_path":""},{"title":"Gotanda: The Unglamorous Tokyo Neighborhood Where Locals Actually Drink","date":"2025-08-30","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/gotanda/","content":"A Tokyo local's guide to Gotanda—the Shinagawa-ward district tourists skip and salarymen love, with honest, affordable izakaya nightlife on the Yamanote Line.","image_path":""},{"title":"Miyazaki: The Sunny Coast Where Japan's Creation Myth Begins","date":"2025-08-28","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/miyazaki/","content":"A local's guide to Miyazaki on Kyushu's southeast coast—the sacred Takachiho Gorge, the shrine islands of Aoshima and Udo, world-class surf, and Japan's best chicken.","image_path":""},{"title":"Hakata Sumiyoshi Shrine: 1,800 Years of Quiet a Few Minutes from the Station","date":"2025-08-10","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/hakata-sumiyoshi/","content":"A local's guide to Sumiyoshi Shrine in Hakata, Fukuoka—one of Japan's oldest shrines, its rare ancient architecture, how to visit respectfully, and how to fit it into a half-day in Hakata.","image_path":""},{"title":"Tottori: Japan's Desert by the Sea, in Its Least-Populated Prefecture","date":"2025-08-03","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/tottori/","content":"A local's guide to Tottori—the vast sand dunes on the Sea of Japan, the radium hot springs of Misasa, the Uradome coast, snow crab, and the myth of the White Rabbit.","image_path":""},{"title":"Nagasaki: The Japanese City That Spent 200 Years Facing the Outside World","date":"2025-08-01","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/nagasaki/","content":"A local's guide to Nagasaki—the only port open during Japan's isolation, its Chinese and European layers, the atomic-bomb sites, and the food that exists nowhere else in Japan.","image_path":""},{"title":"Niigata: Japan's Rice Bowl, Where the Best Sake Is Born","date":"2025-07-29","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/niigata/","content":"A local's guide to Niigata on the Sea of Japan—the home of Koshihikari rice and 90 sake breweries, the gold-mine island of Sado, deep powder snow, and fresh coastal seafood.","image_path":""},{"title":"Chiba: The Prefecture You Land In—and the Reasons to Stay a Day","date":"2025-07-20","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/chiba/","content":"A local's guide to Chiba—the thousand-year-old Naritasan temple by the airport, the flower fields of Hitachi-adjacent coast, surf beaches, and why Tokyo Disney is actually here.","image_path":""},{"title":"Tochigi: The Best Day Trip North of Tokyo, and Why Nikko Earns the Trip","date":"2025-07-20","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/tochigi/","content":"A local's guide to Tochigi—Nikko's lavish UNESCO shrines, Kegon Falls and Lake Chuzenji, the gyoza city of Utsunomiya, and how to plan it as a day trip or overnight from Tokyo.","image_path":""},{"title":"Shinjuku Gyoen: The Garden Tokyo Built to Forget Itself In","date":"2025-07-18","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/shinjyuku-gyoen/","content":"A Tokyo local's guide to Shinjuku Gyoen—why this former imperial garden is the city's best escape, when to go, which of its three gardens to prioritize, and the rules that keep it calm.","image_path":""},{"title":"Mie: The Prefecture That Holds Japan's Most Sacred Shrine","date":"2025-07-15","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/mie/","content":"A local's guide to Mie—why Ise Jingu is the spiritual core of Japan, how to read the shrine properly, plus the pearls, ninja, and coast that make Mie worth more than a day.","image_path":""},{"title":"Shiga: The Giant Lake and Original Castle Right Next to Kyoto","date":"2025-07-15","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/shiga/","content":"A local's guide to Shiga—Lake Biwa, Japan's largest lake, the original Hikone Castle, the mountaintop monastery of Enryakuji, and an easy escape from the Kyoto crowds.","image_path":""},{"title":"Wakayama: Where Japan Goes to Walk Toward the Sacred","date":"2025-07-15","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/wakayama/","content":"A local's guide to Wakayama—sleeping among monks on Mount Koya, walking the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage trails, and standing beneath Nachi, Japan's tallest waterfall.","image_path":""},{"title":"Shimane: Where Japan Keeps Its Oldest Gods","date":"2025-07-14","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/shimane/","content":"A local's guide to Shimane—Izumo Taisha and the month the gods gather, the original black castle at Matsue, Japan's top-ranked garden, and a World Heritage silver mine.","image_path":""},{"title":"Fukui: Zen Temples, Dinosaurs, and the Cliffs at the Edge of Japan","date":"2025-07-10","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/fukui/","content":"A local's guide to Fukui on the Sea of Japan—the great Zen monastery of Eiheiji, the world-class dinosaur museum, the Tojinbo cliffs, and Japan's freshest winter crab.","image_path":""},{"title":"Oita: Japan's Onsen Capital, Where the Ground Itself Steams","date":"2025-07-07","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/ooita/","content":"A local's guide to Oita in Kyushu—the steaming hot-spring city of Beppu, the refined onsen town of Yufuin, and the temples and samurai streets most visitors never reach.","image_path":""},{"title":"Yamanashi: The Best Place to Actually Look at Mount Fuji","date":"2025-07-06","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/yamanashi/","content":"A local's guide to Yamanashi—the Fuji Five Lakes, the famous Chureito Pagoda view, Japan's original wine country in Katsunuma, and the hot springs west of Tokyo.","image_path":""},{"title":"Shizuoka: The Prefecture You Pass Through—and Shouldn't","date":"2025-07-05","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/shizuoka/","content":"A local's guide to Shizuoka—the best Mount Fuji views, real tea-country experiences, the hot springs of Izu, and why the place everyone speeds past on the Shinkansen rewards stopping.","image_path":""},{"title":"Kanagawa: The Day-Trip Prefecture That First-Timers Underrate","date":"2025-07-04","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/kanagawa/","content":"A Tokyo local's guide to Kanagawa—how to actually plan Yokohama, Kamakura, Enoshima, and Hakone as day trips, what to combine, and what to skip on a first visit to Japan.","image_path":""},{"title":"Gifu: The Prefecture Where Japan's Old Mountain Life Is Still Lived","date":"2025-07-03","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/gifu/","content":"A local's guide to Gifu—Shirakawa-go's thatched villages, Takayama's preserved old town, Gero's hot springs, and how to route the mountains without wasting a day on the road.","image_path":""},{"title":"Gunma: The Onsen Prefecture Two Hours from Tokyo","date":"2025-07-03","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/gunma/","content":"A local's guide to Gunma—Kusatsu, Japan's greatest hot-spring town, the stone-step onsen of Ikaho, the marshlands of Oze, and the UNESCO silk mill, all an easy escape from Tokyo.","image_path":""},{"title":"Okayama: The Sunny Castle Town with One of Japan's Three Great Gardens","date":"2025-06-29","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/okayama/","content":"A local's guide to Okayama—the Korakuen garden and Crow Castle, the canal town of Kurashiki, the Kibi Plain cycling route, and the gateway to the Seto Inland Sea art islands.","image_path":""},{"title":"Saga: Japan's Porcelain Heartland and the Onsen Kyushu Keeps to Itself","date":"2025-06-24","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/saga/","content":"A local's guide to Saga in Kyushu—the porcelain towns of Arita and Imari, the beauty hot springs of Ureshino and Takeo, the Yayoi ruins of Yoshinogari, and the autumn balloon fiesta.","image_path":""},{"title":"Saitama: The Day Trip That Proves You Don't Need to Go Far for Old Japan","date":"2025-06-24","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/saitama/","content":"A local's guide to Saitama—Kawagoe's preserved 'Little Edo' streets, the Railway Museum, Nagatoro's river gorge, and the Chichibu Night Festival, all an easy ride from Tokyo.","image_path":""},{"title":"Aomori: Japan's Far North, Where the Festivals Burn and the Apples Are Best","date":"2025-06-02","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/aomori/","content":"A local's guide to Aomori at the top of Honshu—the fiery Nebuta Festival, Lake Towada and Oirase Gorge, Hirosaki's cherry blossoms, and the best tuna and apples in Japan.","image_path":""},{"title":"Kabukicho: A Tokyo Local's Honest Guide to the Sleepless Town","date":"2025-04-19","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/kabukicho/","content":"A Tokyo resident's guide to Kabukicho—how Shinjuku's nightlife district actually works, which streets to walk, the touts to ignore, and where to eat and drink after midnight.","image_path":""},{"title":"Privacy Policy","date":"2025-01-01","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/privacy-policy/","content":"","image_path":""},{"title":"Hie Shrine: The Monkey-Guarded Shrine Hidden Above Tokyo's Power District","date":"2024-01-15","permalink":"https://sakurauki.com/posts/hieshrine/","content":"A Tokyo local's guide to Hie Shrine in Akasaka—its monkey guardians, the red torii tunnel up the hillside, the escalator entrance, and why business people stop here before work.","image_path":""}]