Easy walk
Unrin-ji: A Meow-istic Trip
A Zen temple overrun with carved wooden cats, an otherworldly legend, and me standing in the middle, ready to meow with joy.
Easy walk
Futatsumori: Ogres and a Shot of Vegetation
Two forests, ogres, a poetess, and me in the middle, tiny but curious.
Easy walk
Miyako-jima: Island Cocktail
Miyako-jima, an island of Okinawa between turquoise sea, traditions and tropical sweetness. A journey in rhythm with the wind and silence.
Iwaya-Iwakage: The Sun Beneath the Rock
In the woods of Gero, huge blocks of stone shelter a tiny shrine and a whole stack of stories: Jōmon traces, a monster legend, a solar calendar hypothesis. At Iwaya-Iwakage, the rock is the setting, the archive and the question mark. Here, stones have long memories, and possibly the exact time.
Some hiking
Wakaura Tenmangu Shrine: The Perched Sanctuary
Discover the Wakaura Tenmangu Shrine, perched over the bay, between legends, marine beauty and Japanese spirituality.
Some hiking
Taikodani Inari Shrine: Vermilion Night Dive
263 steps, nearly 1000 torii, and a red that stays in your eyes. Taikodani Inari Shrine leaves an imprint; its vermilion arches align as a visual protective charm.
Off the map
Nagano with Friends: Onsen and Nakayoshi
We reach the end of our Nagano adventures, told in drawings by Sophie Dreamy: a manga café, a snowbound haikyo, and one last onsen with friends.
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.
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.
