Stories
Half of these are barely trips at all — a morning, a train, one very good bowl of noodles.
旅というほどでもない、朝と電車と一杯のうどんの話。
Places I reached because of the job, and what they looked like on foot.
Anyone here curious about flying? You don't have to be trying to become one — "I wanted to be one as a kid" is plenty. パイロットに興味ある人っている？ なりたい人じゃなくてもいいよ。「昔なりたかった」でも「面白いの？」でも。 パイロット興味ある？ / If you want to fly →
I wanted to go abroad and make life easier for my parents. Getting there meant money worries, difficult nights, and keeping up with my classmates. A few things I'd tell someone starting out.
タダで海外に行きたかった。親に楽をさせたかった。そうやって始めたけど、お金も訓練も楽じゃなかった。これから目指す人に、あの頃のことを少し話しておきたい。
Those thin wings can look worrying when the ride gets bumpy. A pilot explains it with a bus and a fishing rod.
「あんなに薄い翼で大丈夫？」。よく聞かれる疑問を、バスの段差と、僕の好きな釣りの話で。
I watch baseball at Koshien and my MLB team is the Astros — but I'll always turn up for the two Japanese players. What I found was fifty thousand people all enjoying the same game separately.
ドジャースファンじゃないけど、由伸と大谷は応援したい。一丸にならない5万人と、日本から行く人向けの費用と足の話。
No tours, no hikes, no must-see list. A loco moco in Ala Moana, a twenty-minute walk to the lagoon, and free fireworks at eight on a warm Friday night that somehow felt like a Japanese summer.
観光の予定をゼロにした一日。ロコモコと、歩いて20分のラグーンと、夜8時の花火。かかったお金は全部で$35。
I've landed a plane about five thousand times. Two, maybe three of those were genuinely good. This is how a kid who couldn't hold a straight line ended up in the left seat.
5000回着陸して、会心の出来は2、3回。まっすぐ飛ぶことすらできなかった落ちこぼれが、25年かけてここまで来た話。
An introduction. Two kinds of trip end up in the same notebook, and I think they belong together.
自己紹介の記事。空から行く旅と、地上を歩く旅。同じノートに書いてる理由。
Hometown streets, small restaurants, and trips with no itinerary.
Planning a trip around here? Ask me anything — it's free. この辺に行くなら、旅の相談は無料で乗ってます。 旅の相談（無料）/ Ask me about a trip →
An off-season trip to Rishiri: quiet ponds, a sunset after a bath, wonderful food, and people who already felt like family.
昔の礼文の写真に誘われて、利尻へ。沼と山の静けさ、お風呂での出会い、美味しいごはん。オフシーズンの島を旅して、札幌に戻るまで。
A barbecue we planned along the way, apples in Fukagawa, sushi in Wakkanai, and a rainbow on the ferry to Rishiri.
松茸を持って友人たちと北海道へ。まぁぶでBBQ、りんごの寄り道、稚内の夜から利尻行きの朝のフェリーまで。
A walk near Vancouver airport, a Harry Potter box at Tim Hortons, and a few photos from an earlier visit to Victoria. Now I want to go back.
バンクーバー空港のそばを散歩して、ティムホートンズへ。そうしているうちに、以前フェリーで行ったヴィクトリアに、また行きたくなった。この前の写真と、前の旅の写真を少し。
A late convert to American football goes to look at an empty stadium on a Saturday afternoon, rides the light rail there and back, and buys supermarket wine on the way home.
アメフトはまだ初心者。なのにいきなり49ersの本拠地へ。サンタクララって、めーっちゃ落ち着いた街なんだよ。そこを歩いてたら突然ズドン。でもこっちの人にはこれが普通らしい。
The others went into the city. I went to Oakland to see if there was anything good to eat, ended up on a street I'd never heard of, and walked thirty-five thousand steps without meaning to.
サンフランシスコはもう目新しくないから、ひとりオークランドへ。うまいものでもないかな、くらいの気持ちで出たら、知らないおしゃれな通りに出て、気づいたら3万5000歩歩いてた話。
Two unplanned days in Sapporo: Nijo Market, wind chimes, miso ramen and a hotel stay I hadn’t planned on.
暑さから逃げて札幌へ。二条市場、風鈴、みそラーメンと、泊まるつもりのなかった宿。予定を決めずに歩いた二日間。
A walk back home by Lake Biwa in Shiga, with memories of lotus flowers, morning balloons and a little shaved-ice shop.
琵琶湖のある地元、滋賀の話。じいちゃんと見た蓮、朝の気球、もう閉まったかき氷屋さんのこと。
A tower, a sailing ship, some bricks, and a really good bowl of wonton noodles. One hour, no itinerary — the in-between hour is where the good stuff lives.
集合まで1時間あいたので、地図も持たずに歩いた。タワーと船とレンガと、雲呑麺一杯の話。
A night in a dome tent on Awaji Island, with marshmallows and an onsen meal. It started with wanting to sleep in a round house.
まあるい家に泊まりたくて淡路島へ。ドームテントで過ごした夜、マシュマロと、帰りの温泉懐石の話。
The school that produced the men who designed modern Japan looks like an old farmhouse. That's the whole point of it.
松下村塾は、ただの古い民家に見える。そこが一番おもしろいところ。
Read a sad poem in the morning. Get absurdly hungry by noon. Eat green noodles off a sizzling tile. That's the whole trip, and it was perfect.
詩で胸がぎゅっとなったあと、お腹がすいた。ただそれだけの話。銘板で立ち止まって、瓦そばで笑った半日。
Ten seats, a noren that has faded to exactly the right colour, and a bowl of chuka soba for 600 yen. I am not a neutral reviewer here.
滋賀・守山の小さな食堂。中華そば600円、水曜定休、現金のみ。身内なので贔屓します。
A rare day off, a small camp stove and a bag of instant coffee. Six hundred metres up a Hokkaido mountain, an ordinary cup tastes like something else.
急にできた休みに、コンロとインスタントコーヒーを持って樽前山へ。支笏湖を見下ろしながら淹れた一杯の話。
Some weekends you don't plan a trip — a craving plans it for you. Mine started with a Mt. Fuji tumbler at Starbucks and ended at the top of a very steep staircase.
スタバの富士山タンブラーを見た瞬間に「ほうとう」と思って、そのまま山梨へ。甲府の夜と、身延山の287段。
In January I drove north with no destination, got off the expressway in a town of five thousand people, and spent two days saying the same thing to myself.
目的地を決めずに雪を見に行ったら、奥会津・柳津だった。崖の上のお寺と、赤べこと、吊るし雛と、会津の地酒の話。