If you collect spots, plan trips, or just love exploring, you’ve probably hit the limits of Google Maps. I know I did. As a photographer living in Japan, I’m constantly saving locations — hidden temples, seasonal viewpoints, tiny ramen shops a friend told me about. Google Maps was my go-to for years, but it slowly turned into an unmanageable mess. So I built something better.
Ikuzo (“Let’s go!” in Japanese) is a map editor I’ve been building and using since 2019. It’s a side project of Meow Apps — not a WordPress plugin, but a standalone web app born from the same itch to build tools that actually work the way you think. Let me walk you through what it does and why it exists.
The Problem with Google Maps
Google Maps is great for getting directions. But for managing a collection of spots? It falls apart quickly. Here’s what frustrated me:
- No real organization. You get starred places, a few custom lists, and that’s it. No types, no statuses, no tags. When you have hundreds of spots, you can’t find anything.
- No notes or photos. You can’t attach your own photos or detailed notes to a saved place. The information is whatever Google gives you.
- Terrible for trip planning. There’s no way to say “I want to visit this in cherry blossom season” or “This is a 2-day trip with these 8 spots.” You end up juggling Google Maps, spreadsheets, and messaging apps.
- No collaboration. Sharing a list with friends means sharing everything. There’s no way to selectively share spots for a specific trip while keeping the rest private.
I tried a few mobile apps too, but they were either too simple, too cluttered, or just not available on desktop. I needed something fast, powerful, and accessible everywhere.
How Ikuzo Works
Ikuzo is designed around one idea: your spots are yours. You own them, you organize them, you decide what matters. Everything revolves around spots and the maps that contain them.
Adding Spots
There are several ways to add spots to your map:
- Search — Just like Google Maps, you can search for any place and add it with one click.
- Click on the map — See an interesting area? Click to drop a spot right there.
- Drag and drop photos — Drop a photo with GPS data onto the map and Ikuzo creates a spot at the exact location where the photo was taken.
- Import from Google Maps — Export your saved places from Google and import them into Ikuzo. No need to start from scratch.
Rich Spot Details
Every spot in Ikuzo can have much more than just a pin on a map. You can add your own photos, write descriptions with #hashtags for easy searching, set a type (Nature, Food, Photography, Hotel, Temple…), and track its status: Want to Visit, Visited, or Ikuzo! (your favorites).
You can also attach moments — dates for time-sensitive events like festivals or seasonal scenery. This is incredibly handy if you’re a photographer chasing cherry blossoms or autumn foliage.
Spots List and Filters
When you have dozens (or hundreds) of spots, the visual map isn’t always the best way to browse them. Ikuzo has a full spots list — a sortable table with all your locations, their types, statuses, and tags. Press S on your keyboard and it pops up instantly.
The filter system lets you narrow down what’s visible on the map. Filter by status (show only favorites), by type (only food spots), by season, or by moments. Filters can be combined, so you could show “Food spots I haven’t visited yet in Kyoto” in just a couple of clicks.
Travel Plans
This is where Ikuzo really shines. A travel plan lets you pick spots from your map and organize them into a trip. You can share the plan with friends by email — they can add their own spots too, but only the spots shared in the plan are visible to others. Your full map stays private.
Plans also support routes, so you can visualize walking or driving paths between your spots. Combined with the focus mode that highlights just your planned locations, it makes on-the-ground navigation much easier.
Keyboard-Driven and Fast
One thing I’m particularly proud of: Ikuzo is keyboard-friendly. Press Space to search, A to add a spot, F for filters, S for the spots list. When a spot is selected, press E to edit, 1/2/3 to change its status, and arrow keys to jump between nearby spots. It’s built for people who use it every day and want to move fast.
Works Everywhere
Ikuzo runs as a web app on desktop and also has a native iOS app. Whether you’re at home planning your next trip on a big screen or on the ground checking your spots on your phone, everything stays in sync.
AI-Powered with MCP
One of the more recent additions to Ikuzo is MCP (Model Context Protocol) support. This means you can connect AI agents like Claude or ChatGPT directly to your maps. The AI can search for spots, add new ones, organize your collections, and help you plan trips — all through a conversation.
If you’ve read our posts about using MCP with WordPress, you know how powerful this kind of integration can be. With Ikuzo’s MCP support, you could ask your AI assistant to “find all the best ramen spots in Osaka” and have them added to your map automatically, or to build a 3-day itinerary from your existing spots. It turns your map into something you can have a conversation with.
A Side Project with Heart
I should be transparent: Ikuzo is a side project of Meow Apps. It’s not a WordPress plugin — it’s a completely separate product with its own stack and its own identity. But it comes from the same mindset: build tools that solve real problems, keep them clean and fast, and enjoy using them yourself every day.
I’ve been using Ikuzo for all my photography trips across Japan since 2019, and many friends and fellow travelers have joined along the way. It’s free to use with a generous set of features, and there’s an Explorer plan for power users who want extras like weather forecasts and smart reminders.
If you’re tired of the limitations of Google Maps and want a proper tool to organize your spots, give Ikuzo a try. And if you have feedback or ideas, I’d love to hear them — that’s how the best features get built.
