Traveling Japan Freely, At Our Own Pace

Hi there!

I’m Shota, and together with my wife, Cory, we’ve taken nine trips to Japan in the last decade - with many more to come - even after an unexpected three-year pause during the pandemic.

What’s made that possible isn’t unlimited vacation time or extravagant spending. It’s points and miles - a hobby I started a couple of years before we got married in 2015, which slowly evolved into a way for us to travel more deliberately - and more often than we ever expected.

With the growing interest in Japanese culture - and the internet’s infatuation with traveling there in recent years - it’s always bothered me to see friends saving for months, if not years, just to take a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Japan.

With just a few credit cards and some thoughtful planning, our friends have saved thousands on their trips, often making it possible for them to return more than once - revisiting their favorite places and exploring deeper into Japan.

Through my passion for writing, traveling, and helping others understand points and miles, I hope to shed light on Japan travel through a unique cultural perspective as a Japanese American, blending cultural appreciation with practical strategy - and hopefully along the way, make you laugh, commiserate, and share in the sentiments behind our many crazy stories.