The English Speaker’s Guide to Japan
This Substack is aimed at sharing the tips, quirks, and insights, that can be found as someone who lives and travels in Japan.
1. The Substack
I plan on sharing the best ways to navigate a seemingly well understood country. There will still be posts about the typical food, language, culture, shopping, but also documenting real local life in a medium sized town.
What I can promise is that you’ll be able to see Japan from a perspective outside of the “Big Three Cities”, Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto.
2. The Community
Really, all I can hope for is that I can build a community who finds the same things I find interesting!
3. SUBSCRIBE
All this is to say- Subscribe and you’ll be able to know a different Japan than just the tour guides.
Am I the only one who finds telegraph poles in narrow streets (with no effective lighting at night), and the hideous spaghetti of cables that they support, not only crazy but also dangerous? Almost every photograph one ever sees of Japan is spoiled by these monstrosities. Why don't they bury the cables? Is it cost reasons? It all just seems puzzling and contrary to the otherwise finely tuned Japanese aesthetic sensibilities.
I read a lot of historical novels about life in japan around the 1500, 1600's. I plan on doing 2 weeks in Japan at some point getting off the tourist track and finding some locations, artefacts from this time. It would be great to see a post about the old Tokaido Road. Though i think only very small parts of it remain.