Japan Fine Print is a weekly briefing for people who are about to visit Japan and would rather not learn the rules the hard way.
Most Japan travel content is either a beautiful itinerary or a list of things to do. Very little of it tells you what actually trips people up: the restaurant that charges a no-show fee, the bus you can’t board with a suitcase, the shrine where photos are banned, the tax-free refund that changed in November 2026, the neighborhood that has asked tourists to stop coming. That is the fine print. It changes every month, and it is what this newsletter is about.
Every issue is checked on the ground in Tokyo and carries a last-checked date. Where there are numbers, you get the numbers: visitor counts, wait times, prices, the actual wording of the rule. Where something went viral for the wrong reasons, you get what happened, why it broke a rule, and how to not be that person.
What you get for free: one short issue a week with the latest changes, a rule explained, and one thing worth knowing before you land.
What paid subscribers get: the full weekly briefing with checklists and the Japanese phrases to use, seasonal city guides for Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka that are revised every season, and every PDF guide at no extra cost.
I’m Kaz. I’ve lived in Tokyo for more than ten years and run a small company here. I write this from the Japanese side of the counter: what we actually expect, and why.
