Easy walk
The Strange Stone Sculptures of Takanabe Daishi
Located on the north coast of Miyazaki Prefecture, the small town of Takanabe is home to an unusual collection of stone sculptures.
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.
Alone at Dōgo Onsen: The Empty Bathhouse
One of Japan's oldest baths, in Matsuyama, with its Spirited Away looks. I got to stand inside the Dōgo Onsen Honkan alone during COVID, photographing a bath with no bathers.
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.
Easy walk
Fukiware Falls: The Echoes of Water
Tucked in Gunma's countryside, the "Niagara of Japan." A powerful story of water carving rock, with local snake legends to discover.
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.
Shōrinzan Daruma: The Market and the Flames
Every 6–7 January, Shōrinzan Daruma-ji in Takasaki holds its great daruma market, before returning the past year's wishes to the flames in the otakiage fire.
Comiket: A Day at the World’s Biggest Manga Fair
Comiket is the world's largest doujinshi fair: half a million fans, twice a year, at Tokyo Big Sight. What it is, the next dates, and how to actually go.
