We want you to trust what you read here. This page explains how we write our guides, what the labels at the top of each guide mean, and how we make money.
The three labels
Every guide has one of these labels at the top, so you always know where the information comes from.
We’ve been here
We went there ourselves. Times, costs and opinions come from our own visit.
Researched guide · Checked on Sep 29, 2026
We have not been there, or not recently. The guide is based on official information, such as the operator’s own website, and the date (for example, Sep 29, 2026) shows when we last checked it. Our sources are listed at the end.
Practical guide
A how-to guide that is not about one place, such as Japanese phrases, money or luggage. Where it includes rules or prices, we link to the official sources.
What we promise
- We never pretend to have visited a place we have not.
- We never publish reviews or quotes that are not real.
- We check prices, opening hours and rules with official sources, and we do not write a number we could not confirm. When we cannot confirm something, we send you to the official site instead.
- We update guides when things change, and the “Checked on” date shows when we last checked.
Our images
We use photos, plus maps and charts we made ourselves. Photos are our own, or openly licensed photos from Wikimedia Commons, with the photographer and license credited under each image. Some hotel photos come from booking partners. We do not use AI-generated images.
If you want to see what a place looks like today, check the official website linked in each guide’s Sources.
How we choose hotels
We list only a few hotels in each area, not every hotel. A hotel makes our list when:
- We would send our own family or friends there for a first trip to Tokyo.
- The location makes sense for sightseeing: a short walk to a station, and an easy ride to the places in our area guides.
- It is easy for visitors: English information or booking, and facts we can check on the hotel’s official website.
- It is a clear choice for someone: we say who each hotel suits and who should look elsewhere.
Each hotel shows whether we have stayed there or we chose it from research (official website, maps and access). We never pretend to have stayed somewhere we have not. We do not list prices: rates change daily, so check them on the booking site. Hotels do not pay to be listed. If you book through our links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
How we make money
Some booking buttons are affiliate links: if you book through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. They are marked “Affiliate link”, and guides that contain them say so at the top. Commissions do not decide what we recommend. Read the full Privacy Policy & Affiliate Disclosure.
Found a mistake?
Things in Tokyo change quickly. If something in a guide is wrong or out of date, please let us know and we will check and fix it.