Journal

The otaku’s passion is all-consuming. Whether it be cosplay, gothic, or rockabilly, when the Japanese embrace a subculture, they do it like no other. From Lolita fashion and latex couture to neon-drenched big-rigs, anime-plastered vans, and chrome-heavy hot rods, subcultures in Japan are as varied as they are fascinating.

Coffee can act as a common denominator when learning about cultures or time periods that are not our own—a familiar thread through the unfamiliar. While coffee may look different in Vietnam than it does in Yemen, it has the same unmistakable taste beloved worldwide, a taste which helps bind us together.

Could you live on the road, powered by nothing but your own two legs? When all of your belongings fit in a few bags, your office is a roadside diner, and your home is a meandering route from Canada to the southern tip of Argentina? Two Years on a Bike photographer and travel writer Martijn Doolaard puts this to the test.

The countryside is calling. Already palpable before the pandemic, interest in the possibilities of rural living has now grown beyond what many of us could have ever imagined.

How does one pitch a book idea to gestalten? Or perhaps how to choose what aesthetic style the characters should be depicted in? Following the release of Sun and Shiro and the Polka-Dot Snake, we caught up with the author and illustrator Hiyoko Imai to discover her creative processes and inspirations.

What does it take to awaken a 19th-century brand that fell behind with the times into a newfound source of inspiration to others? Ramdane Touhami lays bare his story in the foreword of The Beauty of Time Travel.