A personal archive · Japan

MY JAPAN.

Not a guidebook. Not a bucket list.
Just the places that stayed with us.
旅
Japan
記憶
Scroll / 旅の記憶

Years of
little memories.

We started documenting Japan long before we imagined this page. The old posts are imperfect, personal and sometimes wonderfully random — which is exactly why they belong here.

Photographs & journals by @jrvacation · originals preserved on Ecency
TOKYO ✦ KYOTO ✦ YAMAGATA ✦ SENDAI ✦ OKINAWA ✦ NIIGATA ✦ JAPAN ✦ TOKYO ✦ KYOTO ✦ YAMAGATA ✦ SENDAI ✦ OKINAWA ✦
01 / Selected memory

The stories
behind our photos.

A few entries from the old journal, chosen because they feel like memories rather than tourist attractions.
Sendai 3.11 Memorial Community Center
Tohoku · Sendai

A quieter
memory.

We visited the Sendai 3.11 Memorial Community Center at Arai station. It is a small place, but the stories, timeline and handwritten wishes on the walls stayed with us.

Read the original Ecency journal →
02 / The archive

Fifteen little
chapters.

Fifteen small memories from our Japan years — deliberately mixed, so food, city, family, maps and scenery keep crossing paths.
Yamadera winter
01 · YAMAGATA

The icy climb

One thousand snowy steps at Yamadera. Slow, slippery and completely worth it.

Open journal →
Ritsurin Garden
02 · KAGAWA

Garden of water

Ritsurin Garden, with ponds, bridges and a slower rhythm in the middle of our Shikoku road trip.

Open Shikoku story →
Hello Kitty Cafe Tokyo
03 · TOKYO / AWAJI

The kawaii stop

Hello Kitty, themed spaces, latte art and a giant cafe companion.

Open journal →
Hanayashiki Asakusa
04 · ASAKUSA

A tiny theme park

Hanayashiki: old-school rides, a little pond and a family afternoon in the middle of Tokyo.

Open Hanayashiki story →
Iya Valley vine bridge
05 · IYA VALLEY

Across the vines

Kazurabashi in remote Iya Valley — a vine suspension bridge hanging above the forest.

Open Shikoku story →
Melon pan ice cream Kyoto
06 · KYOTO

Number two?

Hot crispy melon-pan, cold ice cream and one unanswered question.

Open journal →
Japan magnet map
07 · OUR MAP

The magnet map

The little map that turned Japan into a long-running family mission.

Open journal →
Sugi-no-Osugi giant cedar
08 · KOCHI

The giant cedar

Sugi-no-Osugi — a sacred cedar said to be more than 3,000 years old, with a small shrine beneath it.

Open Shikoku story →
Kokusai-dori Okinawa
09 · OKINAWA

Two kilometres

Kokusai-dori, colourful shops, local music and an irresistible cheese tart.

Open journal →
Chichibugahama sunset
10 · KAGAWA

Mirror beach

Chichibugahama at sunset, where shallow tide pools can turn the beach into a natural mirror.

Open beach story →
Doraemon Museum
11 · KAWASAKI

Anywhere door

Doraemon, childhood memories and a museum that felt like stepping into the manga.

Open Doraemon story →
A&W Okinawa
12 · OKINAWA

Rooty joined us

A&W nostalgia: burgers, curly fries, root beer and the famous mascot.

Open journal →
Shikoku waterfall
13 · SHIKOKU

Behind the bridge

A waterfall tucked behind Kazurabashi — one of those small discoveries that made the drive worthwhile.

Open Shikoku story →
Hanayashiki family ride
14 · ASAKUSA

Small rides, big day

Another little frame from Hanayashiki — exactly the kind of ordinary family memory we want to keep.

Open Hanayashiki story →
Kochi statue
15 · KOCHI

Roadside discoveries

A quick stop in Kochi during the Shikoku drive — proof that the road itself can become part of the memory.

Open Shikoku story →
03 / The photographs

A wall of
Japan.

A denser contact sheet of the archive — deliberately different frames from the chapter cards, so the page keeps revealing new details.
Ritsurin GardenKagawa · Ritsurin
Kazurabashi bridgeIya Valley · vines
Shikoku waterfallShikoku · waterfall
Giant cedar treeKochi · 3000 years
Kochi statueKochi · Ryoma
Awaji IslandAwaji · roadside Japan
Hanayashiki ferris wheelAsakusa · Hanayashiki
Hanayashiki carouselAsakusa · carousel
Doraemon MuseumKawasaki · Doraemon
Doraemon busKawasaki · Doraemon bus
Hello Kitty Smile CafeAwaji · Hello Kitty
Chichibugahama sunsetShikoku · mirror beach
Hanayashiki family rideAsakusa · family ride
Ritsurin Garden detailKagawa · garden detail
Hello Kitty Smile anniversaryAwaji · Hello Kitty Smile
04 / The journey
日本

A map of places is nice.
A map of memories is better.

01
Tokyo

Odaiba, Hello Kitty and the wonderfully unnecessary things that make Tokyo fun.

02
Kyoto

Golden temples, shopping streets and a suspiciously competitive melon-pan shop.

03
Yamagata

Winter, snow and one thousand slippery steps at Yamadera.

04
Sendai

Tohoku memories that became quieter and more reflective.

05
Okinawa

Colour, tropical streets, local food and a little piece of Singapore nostalgia.

05 / Our favourite

Half the map
was still blank.

One of our earliest Japan trips gave us a simple idea: buy a magnet map and slowly conquer it. Years later, the shaded areas became a record of where we had actually been.

At the time of the original post, we had covered roughly half. Kyushu and Shikoku were still waiting.

Read our original magnet-map story →
Our Japan magnet map
旅
Doraemon Museum
06 / A little nostalgia

Some places take us straight back to childhood.

Doraemon was part of our childhood, so walking into the museum in Kawasaki felt less like visiting a museum and more like stepping inside something we already knew.

Read the full Doraemon story →
07 / Japan through YouTube

Japan through
Youtube.

Two of our own Japan films, kept here as part of the archive.
Road Trip Shikoku
Another Japan journey

Two of our own Japan films, kept here as part of the archive.

Watch film 01 on YouTube →Watch film 02 on YouTube →