I was standing semi-naked before of a completely featureless door with no handle and smelling of cat urine.
Read MoreThe hunt for Terrace House
"I erased him from my world," the girl sat with her friends in a restaurant, discussing a failed date with one of her housemates. The outing in question was with a guy named Yuudai who had the tenacity of wet spaghetti and wanted a girlfriend who would do everything for him, down to putting on his socks. I knew these details because I had watched the entire proceedings unfold the week before.
Read MoreI get (virtually) married
“So here we are.” The samurai was robed in black, his dark hair tumbling over one side of his face, partially concealing the eye patch. He looked around the small chapel. “I’ve never been to a wedding like this... I mean...” he clarifies awkwardly. “This is the first time I’ve been married.”
Read MoreBright bottomed bugs
I waited for the Sun to set over the rice paddy fields surrounding the Kumano Shrine just outside Yokohama. As darkness fell around me, the people poured in. We were here to see a lot of insect sex.
Read MoreThe art of dog samurai
A story goes that hundreds of years ago, the hand of a princess was offered to the warrior who could defeat the enemies of a certain clan. This doubtless seemed like a romantic ideal until the triumphant victor turned out to be a dog.
Read MoreThe next generation sake tasting experience
It is very hard to refuse an invitation to an exhibit that promises to be the juxtaposition of sake (yes, the Japanese alcohol), technology and art. Although I admit it was perhaps rather less necessary to illegally break in.
Read MorePolkadot pumpkins and phallic furniture mould
When I grow up, I want to be Yayoi Kusama. At 87, the Japanese artist wears her hair a shocking orange-red and paints psychedelic scenes of abstract polkadot landscapes you suspect you may once have seen in a high fever.
Read MoreHow free is Japan's press?
When it comes to historical truths, Japan does not have the best reputation. School textbooks are notorious for glossing over the nastier of Japan's wartime activities, while the government is periodically caught in verifiable lies worthy of Trump's inauguration numbers. But how does this feed into the daily news coverage in modern day Japan?
Read MoreThe cat who would be king
When Kishi Station in the Wakayama Prefecture of Japan was faced with closure, it took the only logical step: it employed a stray cat as station master.
Read MoreThere are fireworks and I lose all personal space
It was when I found myself clamped between two pairs of taut buttocks that it occurred to me this evening could have benefitted from more planning.
Read MoreBeautiful intelligence?
As I walked through Hokkaido University campus this morning, my peaceful reflections were brought to a screaming halt by the site of one gigantic poster.
Read MoreHafu
Today I caught a bus to a university I didn’t know existed and watched a film about a group of people who would not be considered a specific minority in my own country.
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