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…
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Walking the Brooklyn Bridge
One hour. That’s how long it takes to walk from Manhattan to Brooklyn. Or Brooklyn to Manhattan, depending on which side of the Brooklyn Bridge you stand. We were on the…
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Bushwick Street Art: A Visual Tour
Graffiti is dead. Or so we were told by a woman idling outside a Brooklyn art gallery. Yelled at, is more accurate. She was definitely yelling. “You’re wasting your time!…
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The High Line in Winter
“It’s a pity we’re doing this now. It must look so nice when its all green.” “It’s ok. You know how much I love dead things.” Danielle and I had…
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The World’s Biggest Bronze Statue (Probably)
Having your own little Kei car 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…
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Saga International Balloon Fiesta
“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.”…
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Onta 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…
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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…
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A Quick Guide to Tokyo’s Book Town
The ever-so distinctive smell of old books is a Floo powder that transports me to my childhood: the water heater in primary school that I spent most winter mornings propped up…
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In Pictures: The Art Aquarium
Bubble Eye. Pom Pom. Telescope. These are just three of the 25 varieties of goldfish, or kingyo [金魚], that are distributed in Japan today. The ornamental fish have been used as…
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Postcards from Okinawa
The rope of islands in the East China Sea that make up Japan’s southernmost prefecture once prospered as an independent territory before falling under the control of modern-day Kagoshima in…
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