Things Become Other Things
A Walking Memoir
Published by Random House — May, 2025.
Available for pre-order:
About the Book
A transformative 300-mile walk along Japan’s ancient pilgrimage routes and through depopulating villages inspires a heart-rending remembrance of a long-lost friend, documented alongside remarkable photographs.
Kissa by Kissa
A thousand kilometer walk from Tokyo to Kyoto and beyond.
128 pp., 40 full-color photographs, printed and hand-bound in Japan, 1st ed. (2020): 1,000 signed copies. Current edition: 5th.
I'm the author of several books including Things Become Other Things (SP 2023, Random House 2025), and Kissa by Kissa (SP 2020).
Much of my writing chronicles my giant walks across Japan, a country that has been my home since 2000.
Just to prove I'm not some total nudnik: I also write for The New York Times, The Atlantic, Eater, and other "big, fancy" publications.
Want even more dorky, formal status callouts? Sure: I've been a MacDowell, VCCA, Tin House, and Ragdale writing fellow.
(In the end, the only thing that matters is the quality and care of work you put out into the world.)
My books are investigations into the intersection between "classic photography books" and narrative non-fiction extended essays. But really, they're just meant to be beautiful crafted, curious windows onto our world.
My rules: Lightness above weightiness, elevate everyone you encounter.
Anyway, thanks for visiting my little nook on the web. And please consider subscribing to my newsletters:
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Published Essays
I publish a bunch of essays and articles on this site, but also elsewhere. A selection:
- "A Long Walk in a Fading Corner of Japan", The New York Times (2022)
- "Last of the Kumano Kodō Kissaten", Japan Times (2021)
- "The Glorious, Almost-Disconnected Boredom of My Walk in Japan", WIRED, (2019)
- "The Healing Power of Code", WIRED (2021)
- "How I Mastered the Art of Ventilating my Home", The Atlantic (2020)
- "The Facebook-Loving Farmers of Myanmar", The Atlantic (2016)
Pizza Toast
I made a little film on pizza toast and kissaten culture:
Preceding that film, the 1st ed. of my new book, Kissa by Kissa (2020), sold out in 48 hours. The 2nd ed. sold out in May, 2021. The third edition is also sold out (August, 2022). And now, unbelievably, we're on a fourth edition!
You can watch a short documentary I made on the making of this book:
The campaign was run on Shopify using my open source crowdfunding templates — Craigstarter. Please let me know if you use them!
I run a membership program called SPECIAL PROJECTS and it provides the emotional and financial backbone for almost all of the work I do. SP members get access to all sorts of SPECIAL stuff (work livestreams, "board member" meetings, members-only podcasts, and more).