Using Claude Code to Build a Japan Travel Blog with AI-Generated Art and Video
A developer documented their workflow using Claude Code to create a complete personal essay website about Japan, handling everything from writing to visual art direction and deployment.
Workflow Details
The project involved multiple AI tools integrated through Claude Code:
- Writing: Claude helped refine essay structure and tone, serving as an editor while the author maintained their own writing voice
- Image Generation: Personal travel photos were transformed into watercolor paintings using Nano Banana Pro (Google's image model), with one of the author's existing paintings used as a style reference
- Video Animation: The hero image (an oil painting of the author in samurai robes based on a photo from sword training) was animated using Veo 3.1, featuring drifting cherry blossoms and a swinging katana
- Additional Videos: Three other videos in the article were generated from watercolor paintings depicting a philosopher's path, forest spirits, and hot springs
- Technical Implementation: The entire site was built and deployed through Claude Code using an Express server, markdown rendering, and Railway hosting
Tool Selection Insights
The developer discovered that the most powerful model isn't always optimal for every task. Veo 3.1 worked well for the dynamic samurai sequence but "completely ruined the subtle forest scenes by over-animating everything." For those scenes, Veo 3.0-fast with more constrained prompts produced better results.
Claude Code Integration
Claude Code handled the technical orchestration including:
- Calling the Gemini API for images
- Calling the Veo API for video generation
- Stripping audio with ffmpeg
- Deploying to Railway
The final project is available at joostboer.com/a-love-letter-to-japan.
📖 Read the full source: r/ClaudeAI
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