Mia Kim– Author –

Every year, on July 14th, a corner of the Kii Mountains in Wakayama Prefecture becomes a vision of a beautiful, terrifying hell. Twelve colossal torches, each weighing over fifty kilograms and blazing with ferocious intensity, are carrie...

Someone once asked me what the most “Japanese” thing I’d ever seen was. They were probably expecting an answer about a Kyoto temple, a perfectly plated kaiseki meal, or maybe some obscure village festival. I told them it was a grainy, bl...

Ask anyone to picture a classic Japanese night out, and they’ll likely describe an izakaya. You can probably conjure the image yourself: the warm glow of a red lantern outside, the rush of savory air as you slide open the door, the energ...

Walk into a restaurant in Tokyo on a Tuesday night. Look past the boisterous groups of colleagues and the couples sharing a bottle of wine. You’ll see her: a woman in her thirties, sitting by herself at a counter, meticulously grilling p...

We’re all feeling it. That low-grade hum of exhaustion that has nothing to do with physical labor and everything to do with the thousand tiny notifications, the endless scroll, the tyranny of the always-on inbox. It’s the signature ailme...

Walk up to any major temple or shrine in Japan, and you’ll likely see it. Someone, often a young woman but just as easily a middle-aged man or a visiting couple, stands patiently at a small windowed office. They hand over a beautiful, br...

You’ve probably seen the image, even if you couldn’t place it. A stadium pulsing with thousands of glow sticks, a roaring crowd, and on stage, a band is playing full-tilt. But the singer, the focus of all this adoration, isn’t there. Not...

If you’re of a certain age, you probably have a memory of the classic American arcade in its final, fading days. It’s a hazy, nostalgic image tinged with a bit of melancholy. The floors were sticky with ancient soda spills. The air was t...

So, your boss just cheerfully announced a company nomikai for next Friday. You’ve been in Japan long enough to know this means an after-work drinking party. In your mind, this translates to a casual happy hour, a chance to unwind with a ...

It happens like a dream. You’re deep into a late-night YouTube session, letting the algorithm guide you through a gentle river of 70s soul, lo-fi beats, or obscure funk. Then, a new video loads. The thumbnail is a grainy, candid-looking ...

You see them everywhere in Japan, once you know what to look for. Tucked away in a corner of a train station, laid out on a table at a roadside rest stop, or promoted on a flyer at a local museum. It’s the sutanpu rarī—the stamp rally. T...

Ask anyone who's spent time in Japan about cherry blossom season, and you'll likely get a familiar picture. Blue tarps spread under trees bursting with pale pink flowers. The happy chatter of friends and coworkers. The clinking of beer c...