Experience Ancient Cities
Hiroshima Alone: The City That Keeps Rebuilding
Hiroshima has a gravity that is unlike any other city in Japan. A solo traveler's account of what to see, where to eat, and how to approach the city honestly.
Experience 
Experience Morning Markets
Sapporo Alone: Miso Ramen, Sapporo Beer, and a City Built for Winter
A solo trip to Sapporo — the miso ramen district, the Sapporo Beer Garden, and the particular pleasure of a northern city in the cold.
Experience Morning Markets
Osaka Alone: Eating in the City That Cooks for You
Osaka is Japan's most food-generous city — cheap, direct, and designed around eating. A solo traveler's account of the best way to spend two days.
Experience Izakaya & Sake
Fukuoka Alone: Ramen, Yatai, and the City That Feeds You Well
Fukuoka is Japan's most food-centered city and one of its best for solo travelers. A first-person account of eating alone through Hakata.
Experience Nature & Landscape
Matsushima: Japan's Scenic Bay, Alone
Matsushima — one of Japan's three officially scenic views — is best experienced alone and slowly. A morning visit and what the bay offers a solo traveler.
Experience Cafes & Bars ★★★★★
Café de l'Ambre, Ginza: One Hour, Coffee Only
Founded in 1948, the menu is coffee alone. An hour spent sitting alone in Tokyo's oldest remaining kissaten, thinking about nothing at all.
Experience Onsen & Ryokan ★★★★☆
Gora Kadan, Hakone: A Night of Stone Baths and Stillness
A former imperial villa, now one of Japan's most refined ryokan. Stone baths carved from the hillside, kaiseki served in silence, and the particular solitude of Hakone.
Experience Regional Cuisine ★★★★☆
Joban-mono: Eating Fish in Iwaki, Fukushima
Joban-mono is the collective name for seafood caught off the coast of Fukushima and Ibaraki. Fishermen who fought against reputation damage after the disaster to protect the quality of their catch. I went to Iwaki to eat their fish.
Experience Morning Markets ★★★★★
Omicho Market, Kanazawa: Why You Should Go at 7 a.m.
Kanazawa's kitchen — the Omicho Market — is also a tourist destination. But after 8 a.m. it fills with visitors, and by 9 it becomes a tourist market. At 7 a.m., Omicho is something different.
Experience Onsen & Ryokan ★★★★★
A Temple Stay in Ohara, Kyoto: Morning Sutras and Rice Porridge
A night at a shukubo near Sanzen-in in Kyoto's Ohara. Waking to the sound of sutras, eating shojin ryori alone in the morning quiet.
Experience Ancient Cities ★★★★★
Walking Nara Alone at Dawn: Deer, Todai-ji, and an Empty World
Nara before the tourists arrive has a different character. I left the inn at 5 a.m. and walked to the reflecting pond of Todai-ji. This is what I found.
Experience Nature & Landscape ★★★★★
Oirase Gorge in Late November: After the Leaves, the Silence
Late November, after the foliage season ends and the tourists have gone. I walked the Oirase Gorge trail alone for three hours. On the sound of water and the path of fallen leaves.
Experience Kappo & Kaiseki ★★★★★
Oryori Eigetsu, Hongo: A Night of Ingredients at Their Best
In a converted machiya one street back from the main road — Furano Wagyu from Hokkaido, fresh fish from Karatsu, Tadao Gold pineapple from Okinawa. Eight counter seats, reservation only.