Japan, by what you love

Japan Atlas is a multilingual, interest-led discovery website for Japan. We help travelers, residents, and enthusiasts find what to do in Japan starting from a passion — Pokémon, photography, watches, ukiyo-e, JDM, food, ramen, anime — rather than a generic tourism menu, and route them to the relevant places, city guides, editorial dispatches, and outbound resources across eight languages (English, Japanese, Korean, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, French, Spanish, German).

Who we are

Japan Atlas is operated by a Japan-resident editorial team based in Tokyo. The product is the work of one editor with substantial input from local contributors across each city and interest vertical. We are independent — not affiliated with the Japan National Tourism Organization, any prefectural tourism board, or any of the brands we cover.

How we choose what to cover

• Fourteen interests as the spine — anime, art, architecture, collectibles, fashion, food, gaming, history, JDM, nature, photography, ramen, ukiyo-e, watches.
• Eight anchor cities with dense neighborhood guides — Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Fukuoka, Sapporo, Yokohama, Kobe, Nagoya.
• All 47 prefectures covered for context, with depth proportionate to the number of places we have verified.
• Place pages describe museums, shops, restaurants, landmarks, galleries, workshops, and experiences — each verified against at least one independent source and (where applicable) the operator's own visit notes.

Editorial standards

• Source-first. Every place page lists at least one independent source link (official website, museum collection page, press coverage). Affiliate links are clearly labeled(ad) per FTC and Japan Stealth Marketing Act 2023 requirements.
• Trademark-respectful. Brand names (Pokémon, Studio Ghibli, Nintendo, individual JDM marques) are referenced factually; we do not claim affiliation. Trademark notices are published in the site footer.
• Legal-framing for sensitive categories. Sword and knife coverage is constrained to museum, craft, and collector framing; we never facilitate acquisition or use.
• Freshness disclosure. Operating hours, prices, and access conditions change. Each page carries a "verify before visit" reminder; we do not warrant point-in-time accuracy.

How we make money

Japan Atlas is supported by display advertising (Google AdSense), affiliate partnerships (clearly disclosed), and editorial sponsorships (clearly labeled 広告 / PR per Japan Stealth Marketing Act). We never accept payment to alter editorial judgments. Sponsorship slots are visually segregated from editorial and do not influence place selection.

Sister site

Nippondex at nippondex.com is the discovery-app counterpart to this editorial site. Same data layer, different surface — a faceted browse and command-palette experience aimed at on-the-ground travel planning. Both sites are operated by the same team.

Reach us

For corrections, place submissions, partnerships, or legal matters, see the Contact page. We reply to most inquiries within five business days.

Technical

Japan Atlas is built on Next.js 16 (App Router, React Server Components), TypeScript, Tailwind CSS v4. Content is authored as MDX + JSON, validated at build time via Zod 4 schemas. The site is statically generated, with translations driven by a DeepL + LLM pipeline. Analytics is privacy-first via Plausible. Cookie consent is managed by Funding Choices CMP (TCF v2.3 compliant). Hosting is on Hostinger's Node.js Web Apps platform.