Some hiking
Aogashima: Double Volcano Island
Aogashima is a very mysterious island. Online, always the same photos taken from a helicopter, sometimes photoshopped. But what’s really hidden behind these lava walls?
Easy walk
Among the Groves of Takayama
I had the chance to live in Takayama for three weeks. So, of course, I can share my experience with you.
Some hiking
Rebun: The Flowered Floating Island
Frantically I put my foot down, driving along the incredible Route 106 (the last stretch of road to the north of Hokkaido) through a storm where the sky and the ocean are as one.
Hidden
Futuro House in Japan
I just had to get close to the rusty old flying saucer spotted from above.
Easy walk
Niijima: The Island of Lava Cascades
An overnight ferry from Tokyo, a mountainous island of white rhyolite and the lava cascades of Koga: a day on Niijima, in the Izu archipelago, between cliffs, beaches and volcanic rock.
Haunting
Best Abandoned Places in Japan (2017–2018)
"Jordy, did you give up the haikyo?" Here’s my answer, distilled into a new Best Of covering the past two years.
Some hiking
G-Cans: Japan’s Underground Temple
Hidden below the Tokyo streets is a true superhero – a bitumen-washed facility with state-of-the-art technology and an architectural beauty to put a Corbusier or two in the shade. This is G-Cans, also known by the unlikely name of Metropolitan Area Outer Underground Discharge Channel.
Easy walk
Soho Odaiba: 13 Floors of Ultra-Colorful Shared Offices
A fan of modern architecture? You'll love taking a stroll on Odaiba Island! Besides the Fuji TV headquarters designed by the Japanese Metabolist king Kenzo Tange, you'll also find some gems for photography and architecture enthusiasts, notably the Soho Odaiba.
Easy walk
A UFO at Sea: The Ashizuri Aquarium
A playful pink lighthouse-like aquarium on the sea, offering a unique island paradise and marine exhibits.
Ethereal
Ogi Rice Terraces: Infinity in an Open Field
At Ogi, the terraced rice fields climb 820 metres above sea level. The sixteen terraces form giant mirrors that reflect the sky and clouds, creating a world upside down. When the sun rises, the flooded plots transform into XXL mirrors, making you feel like you’re walking above the clouds.
Easy walk
Abashiri Prison: A How-To for Not Escaping
In the late 1800s, prisoners were sent to Abashiri to build their own jail and open up northern Japan with chains, picks and snow. Today it's a museum. The mood has stayed.
Easy walk
Hagi, the Calm Before Meiji
An old castle town on the Sea of Japan: empty lanes, white walls, and citrus in the samurai gardens, in the place where Japan tipped into the Meiji era.
Nostalgic
Sotodomari Ishigaki-no-sato: Village of Outsiders
A scenic coastal village nestled in a lush landscape, home to outsiders and rich in character.
Easy walk
The Arimaston Building: A Handcrafted Corps Buzié
The Arimaston Building, a unique architectural masterpiece in Tokyo, erected by Keisuke Oka with patience and passion over nearly 20 years.
Off the map
Château Sampo: A Medieval Castle in Japan?
This mysterious Spanish-insired medieval castle is thought to be haunted ...
Easy walk
Fujimori’s Tea houses In Nagano
Terunobu Fujimori is an architect and historian of architecture. He began his building career relatively late, in his early forties. Before that, he had forged a solid reputation as an academic.
Lively
Osaka Great Peace Tower
This oddly designed tower is a cenotaph, in other words a funerary monument that doesn’t contain human remains but was erected in memory of a person, or group of people.
