THE TOKYO BIBLE
BY @MATTJHANNAN
10 years of traveling to Japan and 3 years of living in Tokyo. Everything I know about Tokyo - built so you don't have to read all of it. Load the map, screenshot the cheat sheet for today, walk out the door.
Launching shortly · $59 at launch · No charge now
100K+ on Instagram · 8,800+ on my email list · 28,000+ people have messaged me. This is the full version.
PROOF
What the free guides did for them
Real messages from real trips - and the free guides are just the highlights. This is all 147 pages and all 137 spots. Names used with permission.
“I really enjoyed the bar suggestions… the highlight was Music Bar in Shibuya, I would never find it without your guide :D Place is lit”— Vlad, after his May Tokyo trip
“Because of matt we're staying in Nakano, eating at tiny izakayas in the backstreets, celebrated our 1-year wedding anniversary at Grandfather's.”— Franziska, in Tokyo for her anniversary
“Matt's guide helped me finding great authentic spots in Tokyo. It was super useful saving the spots on Google Maps to help me walking around Tokyo.”— Stefani, first Tokyo trip
“We discovered The Bellwood from matt's guide. It was a great experience.”— EBA, after her Tokyo trip
“I went to the thrift shops and coffee places matt recommended - the trip was absolutely incredible.”— Ibrahim, after his Tokyo trip
“I used matt's guides to help build my own japan itinerary for me and my friends.”— Ekaterina, trip planner
“I really loved reading all those helpful sheets you made. They are a valuable piece of my trip preparation… a big plus are your Tokyo bar recommendations as I usually avoid the hyped places to find the normal life.”— Andrea, planning her Japan trip
You're about to spend $3K-$8K on this trip. $59 so you don't waste a single meal on a tourist trap.
THE SYSTEM
Everything you get
Buy it once and you're done - every update after this is free.
- The Tokyo Bible - 147 Page PDF
14 chapters going deep on everything: neighborhoods, food, drinking, nightlife, shopping, day trips, budget breakdowns, cultural rules, scams, apps, your first 24 hours. Every recommendation is a place I actually go to.
- Matt's 3-Day Itinerary
Don't want to plan anything? Follow my exact 3-day route through Tokyo - morning to midnight, every meal, every bar, every train. Just do what I do.
- The Tokyo Autopilot Map - 128 Pinned Venues
One link. Every spot pinned on your Google Maps. Walk around Tokyo and the nearest recommendations pop up on your phone. This alone replaces 40 hours of research.
- Tokyo Radar - the what's-good-near-me app New
All 126 spots on your phone - search, filter by neighborhood, save favorites, see what's near you right now. Works offline. No app store, no login. Try the demo below.
- 5 Daily Cheat Sheets
Phone-friendly reference cards: Morning Routine, Afternoon Moves, Night Mode, Emergency Japanese, Budget Tracker. Screenshot these and you don't even need to open the guide.
- Before You Fly Checklist Bonus
eSIM, Suica, cash strategy, offline maps, packing. Do this before you leave and your first 24 hours are stress-free.
- The One-Hour Setup
Do these six things tonight and you're done planning: load the map, screenshot the five cheat sheets, book the three places that actually need a reservation, sort your eSIM and Suica, read the scams chapter. One hour, and the rest of the guide is there when you want it.
- Free Lifetime Updates Bonus
Buy once, get every update free. I verify venues and update prices. Spots close, new ones open - you always have the current version.
Morning Routine - one of the five daily cards.
One payment when it opens. No subscription, nothing else to buy later.
Join the waitlistLaunching shortly · $59 at launch · No charge now
You can't lose money on this
Go to one restaurant in this guide and don't love it - or don't end up making the trip at all - email me and I'll refund you. Keep the guide, the map, the app, all of it. You've got a full year, which is long enough to actually go.
Not ready today? I'll tell you when the price or the book changes - nothing else.
LIVE DEMO
Try the companion right now
This is the actual app buyers get, showing 10 of the 126 spots. Search it, filter it, tap a spot to open it in Google Maps.
SAMPLE
Read before you buy
From the drinking chapter - a place you would walk straight past.
The Bar That's Been Pouring Since 1880
If you've got room for a second stop, make it Kamiya Bar in Asakusa. It's been pouring since 1880 - yes, eighteen-eighty, Japan's oldest Western-style bar - and the whole place is built around one drink: Denki Bran ("electric brandy"), a strange, sweet, herbal cocktail invented on-site that still runs 270 yen a glass. Draft beer is 480 yen.
The entire ground floor is a proper tachinomi-ya - order at the counter, post up at a tall table, no seats, no menu theatrics. Go around 3pm on a Saturday and you'll be standing next to retired ojisans who have probably been drinking Denki Bran at this exact bar since before you were born.
That's one bar from one of 14 chapters. (The scams chapter is in there too - it's the one that keeps you out of a ¥30,000 bar bill.)
INSIDE
14 chapters. Zero filler.
- First 24 HoursAirport to hotel. Suica, cash, first meal, jet lag strategy.
- Neighborhoods11 neighborhoods decoded. Where to go, what to skip.
- Food Playbook5 meal tiers from $2 konbini to $100 omakase.
- Drinking CultureIzakayas, standing bars, whiskey bars, late-night ramen.
- NightlifeClubs by genre, music bars, karaoke, midnight-to-5am.
- ShoppingVintage, electronics, tax-free, Akihabara floor-by-floor.
- Day TripsBest shit an hour outside Tokyo. Worth the train ride.
- Seasonal TimingWhen to go. Cherry blossoms vs. fall vs. winter.
- Budget$53/day to $333/day, every yen accounted for.
- Cultural RulesHow to not be that foreigner. What locals actually notice.
- Scams & TrapsRoppongi touts, bottakuri bars, tourist-priced restaurants.
- Apps & Tech4 apps you need, eSIM, Suica, Tabelog.
- Random EssentialsToilets, earthquakes, laundry, tattoo onsen rules.
- Matt's FavoritesMy rotation: restaurants, bars, konbini order, 3-day itinerary.
FROM MATT
No kickbacks
This isn't some Lonely Planet corporatized bullshit. I don't get any kickbacks from a single recommendation in this guide - I only care about authenticity and giving you a real experience.
I want you to have the same experience I had when I first went to these spots and learned these lessons.
- Matt (@mattjhannan)
QUESTIONS
Common questions
$59 for a PDF?
Can't I just Google all of this?
I already have the free guides - do I need this?
Will this be outdated by the time I go?
What format is it?
Buying for a couple or a group trip?
What if it's not for me?
Is this just a restaurant list?
Launching shortly · $59 at launch · No charge now
THE WAITLIST
Be first to know
One email the day it goes live. Nothing else, ever.