Riding Japan maps Japan for people planning a trip there.

Who writes it

Adam Bognar edits Riding Japan, which The Still Brands Inc. publishes. Write to Adam through adambognar.com. Riding Japan shares its research methods with ridehokkaido.com, rideokinawa.com, ridingswitzerland.com, ridingbudapest.com and christmasineurope.com.

How we build it

The guide covers 144 towns and neighbourhoods, 283 places to stay, 248 places to eat and drink, 55 sights, 55 culture and history, 71 dishes and drinks, 86 tours, guides and rentals, 23 ways to get around, 51 events and seasons, 15 weather stations, 24 cycling routes, 5 ride days, 90 ski resorts, 9 resort groups, 5 lift passes, 83 hot springs, 2 sister guides and 1 collection.

Every page lists its sources and the month we last checked them. We say when a figure belongs to an operator and when it is ours, and we leave a field blank when we can't confirm it.

We compile the facts from each resort's, operator's, town's and road authority's own pages, and from the Japan Meteorological Agency, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, JR's operators and the Japan Avalanche Network. Prices carry the year they apply to, and every page lists its sources with the month we last checked them.

Run and route figures are our own measurements. Each ski run and lift comes from OpenStreetMap, and we sample Copernicus elevation data along it every 20 m for its length, vertical, steepest pitch and the way it faces. Bike routes follow the organiser's waypoints over OpenStreetMap. Where the organiser publishes a distance, a route appears only once our measured line comes within 10 percent of it. Climate figures are the Japan Meteorological Agency's 1991–2020 normals at the station nearest each valley, which sits below the lifts.

Hokkaido belongs to our sister guide Ride Hokkaido, and Okinawa with Yoron to Ride Okinawa. When a page here compares a Hokkaido resort, the Hokkaido figures come from Ride Hokkaido's pages and link to them.

Research is compiled from published sources with help from AI research tools, then checked and edited. Pages near sacred mountains, memorials and places still recovering from disaster follow the care rules in our culture notes, and we never publish a backcountry stash or a forecast of our own.

Where the photos come from

The 814 photos on the site come from photographers who publish under open licences on Wikimedia Commons, Unsplash and Flickr. Each one is credited by name with its licence beside it, and the full list is on the credits page.

How the site makes money

Some booking links pay us a commission when you book a stay, a tour or a rental through them. They sit under a “Paid links” label and cost you nothing extra. The same places appear whether a partner pays us or not, and no business can pay to change what we write. How the links work.

How we fix mistakes

Timetables, prices and opening hours change with the season. If something here is out of date, tell us through adambognar.com and we'll fix it and date the change.