The Cape Toi Fire Festival
“I don’t see anything.” “Just wait for the next wave. Ok, now go! Move your hand around!” A tiny spec of blue suddenly appeared under the water. “Woah! I see…
-
-
Takanabe Sunflower Festival
At different times in my life, August has either represented the approaching autumn, or the coming spring. And as if to echo those transitions, it has marked my most exciting…
-
In Pictures: Miyazaki Cherry Blossoms
“Cherry blossoms in spring, they mean everything…” coos the Night Beds’ Winston Yellen on the sixth track of Country Sleep. A truer line could never be sung for Japan. Here, cherry…
-
The Garden of Love
In Shintomi Town, on the road from Takanabe to Saito, is a garden carpeted in bright, pink flowers. During spring, when the shibazakura (moss phlox) is in full bloom, the…
-
Kagoshima’s Art Forest
Charcoal skies and lime lawns – that’s how I remember my first visit to the Kirishima Open-Air Museum last June. Now, eight months later and in the last months of…
-
Nagasaki Lantern Festival
WELCOME TO NAGASAKI! I fist-bumped the air as we drove across the border into Kyushu’s westernmost prefecture – the only one I had yet to conquer on Japan’s third largest…
-
Inside One of Japan’s Abandoned Hotels
In Out of the Silent Planet, C.S. Lewis wrote, “The love of knowledge is a kind of madness.” I must be kind of mad, then, because everyone who knows me…
-
The World’s Biggest Bronze Statue (Probably)
Having your own little Kei in the inaka of Japan is gold – they’re cheap, easy on petrol and, like all cars, you can jump in on a whim and go…
-
The Saga International Balloon Festival Fail
“We’re going to miss the balloons.” “Stop being a Negative Nancy.” “I didn’t drive 4+ hours to miss the balloons. If we miss the balloons, I’m going to be pissed.”…
-
Ontayaki Pottery Village
In the final months of my last year at university, I took a trip to Hogsback, a small village in the Eastern Cape, to meet a potter named Anton. He…
-
Oita’s Old Merchant Town
“Simone! There’s even more back here! Come look,” Conor yelled from the other room. We were in the Mamedamachi district (豆田町商店街) of Hita City, browsing through what I thought was…
All posts are shown