Tokyo is where this site is written from, and where every guide is walked in person. But the history it covers spilled across the whole country — and some of the most important sites are nowhere near the capital.
Two tiers, clearly marked
Guides on this site fall into one of two categories, and every page says which one it is:
- Walked — Tokyo and the surrounding area. Visited in person, photographed on site, opening hours and prices checked at the door.
- Researched — everywhere else. Built from official sources, museum records and published history, with every claim sourced. No pretending to have been there.
That distinction matters. Plenty of travel sites blur it. This one won’t.
What’s coming
- Nikko — Tōshō-gū, where Tokugawa Ieyasu is enshrined. The single most direct link between Edo Tokyo and the rest of Japan.
- Himeji Castle — the best-surviving original castle keep in the country, never destroyed, never rebuilt in concrete.
- Kanazawa — intact samurai and geisha districts that escaped wartime bombing.
- The Nakasendo — the inland highway between Kyoto and Edo, still walkable between Magome and Tsumago.
- Sekigahara — the 1600 battlefield that decided who ruled Japan for the next 250 years.
- Miyamoto Musashi’s Kyushu — for readers who arrived via Vagabond, Ghost of Tsushima or the Book of Five Rings.
Edo Japan Guide 