Nemutabi: Japan Before Sleep

Inspiration

At the end of the day, there is that quiet space just after you close your eyes, right before drifting off to sleep.

Nemutabi began with a simple idea: what if that quiet time could turn into a gentle journey through Japan?

When you listen with your eyes closed, the sounds and stories naturally paint the scenery in your mind. It feels as if you are truly walking along the path—until, before you know it, you fall asleep. We loved the idea of that hazy border between dreams and reality, where winding down for the night also leads to discovering a side of Japan you never knew.

What it does

Nemutabi is an audio travel experience designed for the quiet moments before falling asleep.

Simply start the story, put your phone aside, and close your eyes. As you listen to the footsteps and the ambient sounds of the journey, the landscapes unfold naturally in your imagination, gently guiding you into sleep.

After each journey, the experience is compiled into an illustrated diary with warm, colored-pencil sketches. It is fun to open it the next day and look back on what you heard alongside the actual places—discovering things like, "So that's what the place I heard about last night looks like!" It gives you a whole new way to appreciate hidden corners of Japan.

How it was built

The mobile app was built with React Native, Expo, and TypeScript. The experience brings together audio playback, dynamic storytelling, and illustrated travel records.

Firebase supports authentication, while Cloudflare Workers, D1, and R2 handle the backend, data storage, and media delivery.

An AI-assisted workflow supports script writing, narration, and illustration production. However, to keep the journeys grounded in reality, we carefully research and curate the content: mapping out realistic walking routes, checking local geographical details, and weaving in contextual touches like the weather or local seasonal events. Human editing and fact-checking ensure that every journey feels authentic and immersive.

Challenges

One of our biggest creative challenges was content authenticity and route design. Because these journeys take place in real parts of Japan, the routes had to feel completely natural—down to realistic walking distances, accurate geographical transitions, and subtle details like local weather or seasonal happenings. Balancing this realism with a relaxing bedtime rhythm required careful research and constant tweaking.

Another challenge was crafting audio that vividly paints a picture in the listener's mind. The narration needed gentle pacing and quiet observations, leaving plenty of room for imagination so users can drift off without distractions.

Ensuring completely reliable background audio playback was also technically essential, allowing the sound to flow smoothly as listeners fall asleep with their screens off.

What we learned

We realized how much the realism of a place relies on small, honest details—the turn of a street, the sound of rain, or a small festival happening down the road.

We also learned the unique charm of separating the audio and visual moments. Leaving the visuals for later encourages listeners to fully disconnect from their screens at night, while looking at the diary afterward sparks a fresh curiosity about Japan in the real world.

What we're proud of

Nemutabi brings a simple concept to life: discovering the charm of Japan through audio as you drift off to sleep.

By combining realistic, well-researched routes with imaginative storytelling and warm illustrations, we've created a space where listeners can genuinely connect with new places in Japan—and wake up with a pleasant little discovery.

What's next

We want to expand the journeys to more regions across Japan, constantly refining the routes, local details, and pacing based on listener feedback.

Our goal is to create a peaceful nighttime ritual—one where you can drift off to sleep while stumbling upon a part of Japan that sparks your curiosity.