The Institute: The Silence of the Cages
An abandoned Japanese institute: rows of rusted cages, operating tables, rooms for animal experimentation. A place where the emptiness keeps everything rather than erasing it.
Namu Daishō Fudōson: Fire at the Edge of the Fields
In Tsuruoka, Yamagata Prefecture, a small Fudō altar stands at the edge of the rice fields, right before the forest takes everything back. A red torii, a wooden pavilion: behind the calm watches Namu Daishō Fudōson, deity of fire.
Off the map
The Stuck Toyota Land Cruiser
Along an abandoned road in the Boso Peninsula mountains, a rare Toyota Land Cruiser Cygnus rests in silence — a true haikyo-car slowly reclaimed by the forest.
Behind the Bars of Nara Prison
Red brick, star-shaped wings, tiny cells and a future luxury hotel: at Nara, confinement simply changed its clientele. A visit to the empty prison before its next life.
Ogijima, the Crooked Island
Ogijima, a tiny Seto Inland Sea island off Takamatsu: a steep village clinging to the slope, sovereign cats, Setouchi Triennale art and an 1895 granite lighthouse.
Megijima: The Demons Have Retired
Megijima, the oni island of the Seto Inland Sea: a beach, an ageing village, stone walls and a startling retro American cinema, 20 minutes by ferry from Takamatsu.
Off the map
Kyu-Sento-ji: At the Crossroads of Beliefs
Discover the mysterious ruins of Kyu-Sento-ji, an ancient mountain temple blending Buddhism and Shinto on the Kunisaki Peninsula.
Eiheiji: Silence in the Ranks
I came to Eiheiji expecting a sleepy mountain temple. I found the opposite: a living Sōtō Zen monastery, taut with discipline, wrapped in cedar, wood and moss.
Hidden
The Mysterious Game Boy Mailbox
Somewhere in the Japanese hills, a giant grey Game Boy sits by a country road, wedged between bamboo and moss. Press Start, and nothing happens.
Cinematic
Akiyoshidai: Lunar Landscape of Jagged Rocks
Perched at 300 meters in the mountains of Yamaguchi, the Akiyoshidai plateau presents a breathtaking karst landscape of towering limestone formations, majestic cliffs and expansive grassy plains.
Easy walk
Sado Mine: The Mountain That Bleeds Gold
Off Niigata, the Sado gold mine: frozen tunnels, the industrial ruins of Kitazawa and the giant gash of Dōyū-no-wareto. A spectacular, uneasy UNESCO site.
Some hiking
Jinjo-ji: Ancient Shrine Lost in the Mountains
Dans le fin fond de la campagne rurale japonaise, on tombe parfois sur des endroits qui semblent figés dans le temps. Le temple Jinjoji à Shimonoseki en fait clairement partie.
