4 months ago
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Posted On: March 16th 2026, 04:26 am
South To North
That summer I left Japan for a while.
I went to London thinking maybe it was time to reconnect with the European art world. An old friend was running a gallery and we spoke about working together. The space had an independent spirit, but it didn’t feel like my lane. I spent my time drawing, visiting museums, cycling the city — but the disaster Japan was still going through stayed on my mind.
Hackney was just starting to move then — you could feel a new art scene forming, but I never found the groove that made me want to stay.
After about four months I went back to Japan.
When I returned, I didn’t go straight back into Tokyo. Instead I travelled south first.
Kyushu.
I wanted to visit places people in Japan call power spots — locations tied to older mythologies and natural, sometimes supernatural energy. I visited Takachiho, a place deeply connected to the Japanese creation story — where the sun goddess Amaterasu is said to have hidden herself in a cave before being lured back out.
Guided by a spiritualist friend, we visited those caves.
Mostly I moved slowly.
Seeing friends.
Taking part in small community art gatherings.
Trying to relax, trying to absorb — maybe even project — some calm.
After Kyushu I travelled north.
For the first time I went to Miyagi — the region hit hardest by the 3.11 disaster.
The destruction was still visible everywhere. Entire areas looked like time had stopped halfway through being rebuilt.
But the people felt different.
Strong.
Calm in a way that only comes after surviving something that big.
That energy stayed with me.
I wanted to remain close to it for a while.
That’s when I arrived on the island of Oshima in Kesennuma, visiting a friend who ran a small place called Voice Café.
Kesennuma Oshima.
#Kesennuma
#Tohoku
#Takachiho
#Japan
#ArtistJourney
That summer I left Japan for a while.
I went to London thinking maybe it was time to reconnect with the European art world. An old friend was running a gallery and we spoke about working together. The space had an independent spirit, but it didn’t feel like my lane. I spent my time drawing, visiting museums, cycling the city — but the disaster Japan was still going through stayed on my mind.
Hackney was just starting to move then — you could feel a new art scene forming, but I never found the groove that made me want to stay.
After about four months I went back to Japan.
When I returned, I didn’t go straight back into Tokyo. Instead I travelled south first.
Kyushu.
I wanted to visit places people in Japan call power spots — locations tied to older mythologies and natural, sometimes supernatural energy. I visited Takachiho, a place deeply connected to the Japanese creation story — where the sun goddess Amaterasu is said to have hidden herself in a cave before being lured back out.
Guided by a spiritualist friend, we visited those caves.
Mostly I moved slowly.
Seeing friends.
Taking part in small community art gatherings.
Trying to relax, trying to absorb — maybe even project — some calm.
After Kyushu I travelled north.
For the first time I went to Miyagi — the region hit hardest by the 3.11 disaster.
The destruction was still visible everywhere. Entire areas looked like time had stopped halfway through being rebuilt.
But the people felt different.
Strong.
Calm in a way that only comes after surviving something that big.
That energy stayed with me.
I wanted to remain close to it for a while.
That’s when I arrived on the island of Oshima in Kesennuma, visiting a friend who ran a small place called Voice Café.
Kesennuma Oshima.
#Kesennuma
#Tohoku
#Takachiho
#Japan
#ArtistJourney
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