In 1992 I first visited Japan. I actually lived in Japan in the early 2000s. Then in 2016 I was invited to Japan again. So my trip in March of 2026 marks the fourth decade I have travelled to Japan…

Two years after touring whisky distilleries in Scotland, and almost ten years after touring Yoichi Distillery in Hokkaido Japan, I returned to Japan to tour twelve more distilleries to learn more about how whisky, shochu and even gin is made…

This is either the most anticipated portion of my trip to Japan or the least. I lived and worked in Toyohashi over twenty years ago as an English teacher. Now after I finally return the only person who still lives in Toyohashi, remembers me, and kept in touch is a bartender…

Having landed in Tokyo, taken a brief sojourn to Chichibu and then travelled all over Kyushu with Rascal + Thorn, I said my “goodbyes” and travelled alone by train to Nara, Japan’s oldest capital…

I’ve been back from Japan for little over a week. It is a testament to jet lag and how busy we are at work that I’m just getting around to typing the first of a series of blog posts on my triumphant return to Japan after a decade…