Our Method

The Core Rule

We only write about places we've been. That's it. That's the whole method. Every coastal drive, every harbor, every onsen town, every wind city on this site has been visited by one of our contributors in person. We don't write about places we've only read about. We don't rewrite press releases from tourism boards. We don't aggregate reviews from other sites and present them as original content. If it's on Kaze View, one of us has stood there, soaked there, or eaten there.

Our Research Process

Each article begins with a trip. One of our contributors (Dylan, Aiko, or Liam) travels to the location, usually spending 3-7 days on the ground. During that time, we drive the roads, visit the harbors at dawn, soak in the onsen, eat at the restaurants, and talk to the people who live and work there. We take notes, photos, and GPS coordinates. We record details that don't make it into the final article but help us verify accuracy later.

We pay our own way. No sponsored trips. No press discounts. No complimentary ryokan stays. No free ferry rides. We rent cars at standard rates, buy ferry tickets at the window, and pay the same price for dinner that any other traveler would pay. This ensures that our experience matches what our readers will experience. If a hotel room is $120 when we visit, we tell you it's $120. If a ferry is delayed and we wait three hours, we tell you ferries can be delayed.

After the trip, we write the article. The first draft is usually completed within a week of returning, while the details are still fresh. The draft then goes through a fact-checking process where another team member reviews it against our notes, photos, and receipts. We verify specific claims: driving times, prices, opening hours, distances. If we can't verify something, we remove it or qualify it with language like "as of our visit" or "check current schedules."

Updates and Corrections

Travel information goes stale. Roads close. Restaurants change their hours. Hotels renovate and raise their prices. Ferry schedules change with the seasons. We know this, and we have a system for keeping our content as current as possible.

We revisit each location on a rotating basis, typically every 12-18 months. When we revisit, we update the relevant article with new prices, new conditions, and any changes to roads, markets, or facilities. Between visits, we monitor for major changes by reading local news, following social media accounts from the areas we cover, and receiving tips from readers.

When we learn of an error in our content — whether from our own revisits or from reader tips — we correct it promptly. All corrections are documented on our fix list with the date of the correction and a brief explanation of what changed. We don't hide our mistakes. If we said a road was open and it's now closed, we fix it and tell you we fixed it.

Photos

All photos on this site were taken by our contributors. We don't use stock photography. We don't pull images from Instagram or Wikimedia Commons. The photo of the Noto Peninsula coast was taken by Dylan from the exact viewpoint described in the article. The photo of the tuna auction at Katsuura was taken by Aiko at 5:30am while standing on the auction floor. If a photo shows a specific location, one of us was there with a camera.

We don't heavily edit our photos. We adjust exposure and color balance to match what we saw, but we don't remove objects, change the weather, or otherwise manipulate the image to make a place look better than it is. What you see in our photos is what you'll see if you go there at the same time of day in similar conditions.

Affiliate Links and Partnerships

We have affiliate relationships with exactly two companies: Toyota Rent-a-Car and Times Car Rental. When we mention these companies in our articles, the links are clearly marked as partner links. If you click one of these links and make a booking, we may receive a small commission. This does not affect the price you pay.

We only recommend these companies because we've used them ourselves and had good experiences. We don't have affiliate relationships with hotels, ryokans, restaurants, ferry companies, or any other travel service. If we recommend a place to stay or eat, it's because we liked it, not because we're getting paid to promote it.

Our Japan Coastal Drives Map is our only source of direct revenue. It costs $17. That's it. No ads, no sponsored content, no paid placements. We make enough from map sales to cover our hosting costs and travel expenses, and that's all we're trying to do.

Reader Tips

We welcome tips from readers. If you've visited a harbor we wrote about and found that the hours have changed, or if you drove a road we recommended and found it closed, or if you know about a coastal town we haven't covered, we want to hear from you. Email us at crew@kaze-view.com.

When we receive a reader tip, we evaluate it the same way we evaluate our own observations. If it's a minor change (price increase, new opening hours), we'll update the article and note it on the fix list. If it's a major change (road closure, business closure), we'll prioritize a revisit to verify the information in person. If it's a tip about a new place, we'll add it to our travel queue and visit when we can.

We don't publish reader-submitted content as our own. If you send us a detailed report about a place we haven't visited, we'll read it with interest, but we won't publish it until one of us has been there ourselves. The core rule — we only write about places we've been — is non-negotiable.

What We Don't Do

We don't use AI to write our articles. Every word on this site was written by a human being who was physically present at the location being described. We sometimes use AI tools for minor editing assistance (checking grammar, suggesting clearer phrasing), but the content, structure, and voice of every article is entirely human.

We don't accept payment for coverage. No amount of money will convince us to write about a place we haven't visited or to say something positive about a place we didn't like. We don't accept free trips, free meals, or free accommodation in exchange for coverage. We don't participate in "press trips" organized by tourism boards or travel companies.

We don't delete negative information. If a road was bad, we say it was bad. If a restaurant disappointed us, we don't recommend it. If a harbor smelled terrible (some of them do), we mention the smell. We trust our readers to handle honesty.

Why This Matters

The internet is full of travel content written by people who haven't been to the places they're writing about. It's cheaper and faster to aggregate information from other sources, slap a new headline on it, and publish. But that kind of content is unreliable, often outdated, and ultimately useless to someone who's actually planning a trip.

We do things the slow way because the slow way produces better results. When you read an article on Kaze View, you're not reading a compilation of TripAdvisor reviews and tourism board brochures. You're reading the direct experience of someone who drove that road, ate that fish, soaked in that bath, and is telling you exactly what it was like. That kind of writing takes time and costs money, but it's the only kind worth reading.

If you believe in this approach, the best thing you can do is buy our Japan Coastal Drives Map. It's $17, and it's the only thing we sell. The revenue from map sales funds our travel, our writing, and our commitment to keeping this information accurate and current. If you don't need the map, just reading our content and sharing it with people who might find it useful is enough.

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