With the explosion in popularity of shows like RuPaul’s Drag Race in the US, Canada and even in the UK, too, the art of drag has never been more celebrated.

Drag in Japan has been alive and well for centuries across its big cities like Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, Sapporo and even Kyoto, but one drag queen recently snatched a headline with her innovative approach to social distancing amidst the global COVID-19 pandemic. 

On March 11th, 2011, the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami brought unprecedented damage to the Pacific coast of Tohoku region. It was a major turning point: faced with the fury of nature in a disaster said to happen at this scale once in a thousand years, many people in Japan and throughout the world were forced to consider how we should relate to nature.

As we approach (what should be!) summer's peak, we earlier sat down with Ota Mitsue, a 4th generation maker of Boshu ‘Uchiwa’ fans, to find out just what goes into creating them, how the past few months have been in Chiba Prefecture, and what the Japanese concept of 'Kizuna' means to her. Read on for more! 

Located in the northeast of the Tohoku region, Iwate overlooks the Pacific Ocean via the Sanriku coastline and is buttressed by the Ou Mountains, home to some of Japan's best ski resorts and hot springs. Roughly divided into four distinct regions, Iwate is also marked by common themes of nature worship and traditional folklore, as well as samurai history and a long-standing tradition of high-quality metalwork craftsmanship. To find out more about this remote corner of Japan, we caught up with Oikawa-san to discuss all things Iwate and ferrous. 

Join us as we sit down with Takako Imai, a local lodge-owner in Fukushima's beautiful Oku-Aizu region, to find out what life is like in this idyllic and enigmatic part of rural Japan and how you too can experience its many charms.