Best Japan and South Korea Travel Blogs for Design, Architecture and Art Lovers (A Growing List)
Last updated: 4 Jan 2025
This is a growing list of my go-to travel blogs. There are a lot of travel blogs out there, and these days, I also follow quite a few travel accounts on Instagram. So this post is my attempt at compiling all of them into one page for my own use, but I think they might be useful for others as well.
Ben Richards
Destination: Japan
The blog includes travel guides for specific interests, such as architecture and art around Japan, and neighborhood-specific itineraries. It also covers less-known itineraries. All posts are accompanied by great photography to inspire your next travel to Japan.
Artarchi-japan
Destination: Japan
The blog focuses on architecture and art around Japan. If you are interested in these, this is an ideal blog for you. It is more of a travel journal and less of a travel guide but the information in each post is very useful to help you appreciate each destination even more. Also, the website is in Japanese, but you can use Google Translate to translate the entire website.
Tokyo Weekender
Destination: Japan
The blog, or magazine, covers almost all types of travel-related information about Japan, from the evergreen stuff, like Sakura viewing, etc, to more time-sensitive and unique events and pop-ups happening around Japan. It also covers destination towns and cities that are less common, which I really enjoy. Since it is a travel-lifestyle-culture magazine, you do get stories that are pretty niche as well, which is a good way to learn more about the various cultures in Japan.
Art of Travel Japan
Destination: Japan
This Instagram account is very much focused on art and architecture. A niche blog or account is good to have because, as an audience, I do not have to filter through the content too much to get to the stuff that are relevant to my interests.
Inner Japan
Destination: Japan
The focus on this blog is to explore the lesser known places around Japan to help combat overtourism in the well-known cities. You can browse blog post by prefecture which is ideal when planning your Japan travel. While the blog has more details on locations, it has not been updated recently. However, the Instagram account is still very active, the writer might have decided to focus on one media over another.
A friend who lives there
Destination: South Korea
This one is not a blog. A friend who lives there is a personal guide service that provides personalized itineraries and full concierge service, where a guide accompanies you for a whole day with a personalized itinerary. Read more about these services on the Instagram account, link below.
But I do follow the Instagram posts and reels for lesser-known activities, local shops, and other places around South Korea, especially Seoul and Jeju. Browsing through the Instagram content does feel like exploring South Korea with a knowledgable local, with similar interests.
Also, if you have special interest in coffee, this is the account to follow.
firefortysix.com
Destination: South Korea
This blog is a travel blog with multiple destinations and travel categories, and there is a special focus on food. It is personal with some humor which I appreciate. Travel should be fun and personal, right!
There are a lot of posts on South Korea travel experiences, from itineraries to trip planning tips and budgets that I find useful and the stories are also a nice read.