Tetsuko's Travels - S01

This seinen manga by Kikuchi Naoe and Yokomi Hirohiko, originally serialized in "IKKI", follows a manga artist who is tasked by her editor to join him and a train-obsessed travel writer on a series of rail journeys across Japan. The twist? It’s all true-the creator actually took these trips, and the manga documents them without fictional embellishment. A small note at the beginning warns, "This is non-fiction, so I apologize for the lack of drama," and true to form, it mostly captures the mundane rhythm of train travel: waiting on platforms, riding from place to place, and so on. The travel writer is a hardcore train enthusiast who meticulously plans every second of their trips, prioritizing schedules and quirky goals-like visiting stations in an odd order to catch rare trains. The artist, meanwhile, couldn’t care less about trains; she’s sarcastic, lazy, and mostly in it for the next station lunchbox. Their clashing personalities-his obsessive enthusiasm, her dry indifference-make for amusing friction. Despite the low-stakes premise, it feels authentic, especially if you’ve experienced Japan’s rail system firsthand. The artist’s pacing and subtle touches keep it engaging, and there’s even a meta-layer where real-life people pop up in the story after reading earlier installments. Along the way, you’ll glimpse obscure train lines and stations, some genuinely striking. Yet there’s an underlying surreal tone, as the trips are orchestrated by the train guy-who’s fixated on checking off all 9,843 stations in Japan-treating the journey more like a spreadsheet than an adventure. The story also quietly explores train-otaku culture, with the protagonist’s companion embodying its quirks while the broader subculture lingers in the background.