“However persuasive they might be as facsimiles, shokuhin sampuru are subjective interpretations, seeking not only to replicate dishes but to intensify the feelings associated with the real thing.”
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Posted inEditor's Pick
On Japan’s Post Office For Letters to the Dead
“Sally Hayden explores the ways we cope with loss in times of crisis.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Work
“One year spent on the independent professional wrestling circuit in the Pacific Northwest, where the only thing that’s faked is the outcome of the match.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
My Quest to Find the Owner of a Mysterious WWII Japanese Sword
“When I was a kid, I was fascinated by a traditional katana my grandfather had brought home from Japan in 1945.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Zero Zen
“A great exchange rate, ChatGPT, and kimono-wearing bros have turned Kyoto into the loveliest tourist trap on earth.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Eastern Promises
“In a Tokyo of tourists, the citizens have become strangers.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Joy of Clutter
“The world sees Japan as a paragon of minimalism. But its hidden clutter culture shows that ‘more’ can be as magical as ‘less.’”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Studio Ghibli’s Deepest Secret Is What Comes Next
“The ambiguous future of Japan’s most prestigious group of animators won’t get clearer anytime soon.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Balthazar, 1997
“The noise between the world in which we had known each other and the world I occupied now went silent, or maybe only hushed.”
