Private Japan Itineraries
The Japan trip a guidebook can’t write.
Days in Japan, shaped around you — your pace, your tastes, the quiet things only you would think to look for. I build each one by hand, from years of actually living here, and give it back as a guide that lives offline, on your phone.
Tokyo · Kyoto · Osaka & beyond · First version in 48 hours
The name
栞 (shiori) is the Japanese word for a bookmark — the slip of paper that holds your place. And 私径: your own private path — the way through a place that belongs to you alone, off the official route.
That’s the trip I plan. The internet has buried Japan under the same fifty stops. Shiori quietly takes them away — and hands back the ones that were always meant to be yours.
Every itinerary is crafted and delivered by me — from places I’ve walked, not researched.
The problem
You’ve read twenty itineraries. They’re the same twenty stops.
The same recycled route. Every blog, AI, and agency funnels you to the same handful of crowded sights — you come home having seen the tourist's Japan, not Japan.
An hour in line for ten minutes inside. Places optimized for photos, not for your day — you leave having queued more than you lived.
Days that zigzag the map. Two hours lost on trains before you've seen a thing, because nobody routed it around real geography.
“Vegetarian in Japan?” Generic advice that collapses the moment you're facing a menu you can't read — and a fish stock you didn't know was in it.
Itineraries that assume 25,000 steps. No room for a recovery, a condition, a slower morning, or a body with limits.
A body with its own rules. Tattoos the onsen will turn away, a training diet that needs real protein, the hygiene a multi-day hike demands — a generic plan doesn't even think to ask.
Who it’s for
For travelers who won’t settle for the default.
You don’t need a “special” reason. Caring how you travel is reason enough — but if any of these is you, this is exactly who I built Shiori for.
What makes it different
Three things a generic plan can’t do.
Routed around your body, not the map.
Dietary needs, mobility limits, a recovery in progress, an energy budget — most plans treat these as problems. I treat them as a filter. The kitchens that can truly meet a strict requirement are often the most careful in the city. And your day is paced to how far you can actually go.
Medical · dietary · mobilityChosen by taste, not by ranking.
Edo-era backstreets, an old-establishment kissaten, a garden on no list, a counter with no English sign and no queue. No algorithm rankings — every stop is a judgment call, verified in person, with a reason I can tell you.
First-hand curationA guide that works offline, in your pocket.
Not a PDF you open once. A guide you add to your iPhone home screen and open like an app — route maps, a timeline for each day, exact transit, reservation phrases in Japanese — all of it, no signal required.
Offline iPhone guideNo two alike
Every guide is coloured for one traveler.
Same city, two very different people, two completely different trips — because a Shiori is read for one person, coloured to their character, then delivered offline to your phone. See two real samples — one on a phone, one on a laptop.
How it works
How a Shiori is made.
Crafted by hand, one at a time — first version in your hands within 48 hours of purchase.
- 01
Purchase, then share your wishes
After you purchase, you send your details and wishes — the trip's shape, who's coming, the constraints that matter, and what you're drawn to.
- 02
I craft it, and deliver it offline
Your itinerary is crafted personally by me, then delivered as an offline guide you add to your home screen.
- 03
Refine it — up to three rounds
Three rounds of refinement are included. A round is one consolidated set of feedback, so gather your changes into a single message — piecemeal notes count toward your rounds.
- 04
Ask anything for three days
Async Q&A for three days after delivery, for any clarifications. I reply at a considered pace — thoughtful, not instant.
And after — only if you’d like
Completely optional: if a place I sent you to stayed with you, share a photo or a few honest words. I’ll send 30% off your next itinerary — yours to keep, or to pass to someone you’d want walking the same streets.
Field notes
The kind of call that goes into every plan.
A vegetarian traveler, worried about hidden fish stock. I booked a shōjin — Buddhist vegetarian — table in advance: no katsuo dashi, no surprises, instead of hoping a menu would oblige.
Day three after oral surgery. Every restaurant on the plan was checked for zero-chew difficulty — and the unagi wasn't random; it was chosen for its anti-inflammatory fats.
One day's route formed a star across Tokyo — nearly 2.5 hours on trains. I rebuilt it: east and west split across two days, one direction, no doubling back.
I cut every queue from the plan. The freed hours went to a long, quiet morning in a Minami-Aoyama garden café and a late yakitori counter. Twice the memory, half the rush.
Where I go deep
Japan, known on foot.
My core regions, where every pick is a judgment call rather than a database result. Elsewhere in Japan on request — just note it in the form.
Pricing
One flat price. No hidden fees.
Every price covers the whole job — research, routing, the guide, and your rounds of revisions. No “basic” tier, no pay-to-unlock.
Launch pricing — early clients get the full service at this price, locked in.
Single city · up to 3 days
$29.99USD · one-time
Less than a month of an AI subscription — and you don’t have to write the prompts, or know which parts to fix.
- Full day-by-day itinerary guide, offline on your phone
- Routes mapped around geography — no doubling back
- Dietary, medical & mobility fit
- Restaurant picks with reservation phrases in Japanese
- Up to 3 rounds of revisions
- One emergency update while you travel
Multi-city · 3 days and beyond
$59.99USD · one-time
- Everything in Standard
- Cross-city logistics — transit, luggage, pacing
- A realistic energy budget for each day
- Packing & pharmacy / supplies notes
- Two emergency updates while you travel
- Priority turnaround
Both plans are built with the same care and the same detail — Extended just covers more ground (more days, more cities, the cross-city logistics). You’re choosing scope, not quality.
Founding price — through August 2026. It rises after.
Plan my trip →Pay by secure card link · A 10% service fee is non-refundable · Everything else is refundable after your trip, if it didn’t move you
Secure payment via PayPal— you’re covered by Buyer Protection.
All major cards accepted · Visa · Mastercard · American Express
My promise
Take the trip first. Then tell me if I was wrong.
Almost no one in this business will say that — they take your money up front and hope you're happy. I'll do it the other way: walk the days I built for you, and if they genuinely didn't move you, just tell me you went and I'll refund you, less a 10% fee for the work. I write this fully expecting never to send it. Once you're standing where I sent you, I think you'll understand why — and if you turn out to be the rare exception, I'd still rather carry that than ask you to pay for a trip that fell flat.
Pass it on
Share what you found.
If a place I sent you to moved you — a corner, a light, an hour you didn't expect — I'd love to see it through your eyes.
Share a photo, a short video, or a few honest words from your trip, and let me feature them, and your next itinerary is30% off. The code is yours — keep it, or pass it to a friend, or someone in your family you'd want walking the same streets.
I only ever feature what feels right, and only with your blessing. This isn't a transaction. It's the same thing Shiori was built on: finding something quietly beautiful, and sharing it.
Questions
What you’re probably wondering.
A few days shaped entirely around you by someone who's actually walked these streets — every place chosen for you, routed for the real map, and re-checked before it reaches you. It's made for your trip alone; no two are ever the same. You're paying for judgment and care, not a list anyone could pull off a shelf.
No — on purpose. I don't stand between you and the places. I tell you exactly where to stay and why, and give you the Japanese phrases to book a table yourself. Your money and your dates stay in your hands.
Yes. Those are just the floor. The real work is taste — reading what you actually love and building days that feel like yours, not a top-ten list. The fit is the point, constraints or not.
It works on any phone. It's a fast web guide that loads once and stays with you offline — no app to install. iPhone is just where it feels best; Android opens it the same way.
You open one link. It lives on your phone like a small offline booklet — day by day, each stop with its story, map, hours, and how to get there. No signal needed once it's loaded.
First version in 48 hours. Then up to three rounds of revisions until it feels right — tell me what to change and I'll rework it. The days are yours; I keep shaping until they fit.
Before I send the first draft, you can cancel for a full refund. After that, a 10% service fee covers the work already done; everything else is refundable if the trip doesn't move you. I'd rather make it right than keep money I didn't earn.
That's what the emergency update is for — a closed shop, a rained-out day, a sudden free afternoon. Message me and I'll re-route you on the fly. Standard includes one; Extended, two.
Ready for the Japan that’s actually yours?
Tell me about your trip. I’ll reply within 24 hours — first version of your guide in your hands within 48.
Plan my trip →I only take on a handful of trips at a time. It’s the one way each stays truly yours.