2026-02-11 08:00:00
Roden Readers —
Hello from the backside of some Tokyo snow. It was purty. I miss snow. Maybe not as much snow as New York’s been gettin’, but still — I wish we had a good five or six snow days in Tokyo each year. As is, we’re lucky to get one, and then it’s all gone in twenty-four hours. I still remember a Valentine’s Day night some thirteen years or so ago — a mega blizzard hit Tokyo. I popped out of a restaurant with a friend and we just laughed and laughed at all the snow, everywhere.
2026-02-04 08:00:00
Hello there. I’m Craig Mod. And we just entered Year Eight of my SPECIAL PROJECTS membership program. Time passes, things get done. Here we are with seven giant years under our belt. Seven of the biggest years of my life, by far. Much of it thanks to this membership program. Truly, I wouldn’t have done a fraction of what I’ve done without the support (financial and spiritual) of members. Membership programs aren’t for everyone, but they seem to be (at least in part) for me.
2026-01-24 08:00:00
Ridgeline subscribers —
I like “eras.” That is, named chunks of time.
Japanese history tends to periodicize based on locus of power. The Tokugawa Shogunate reigned for hundreds of years, and so: Edo, where the power was, becomes the period (a big sweeping one). Post-Shogunate, power was restored to the emperor, and so we get: Meiji (1868–1912), Taishō (1912–1926), Shōwa (1926–1989), Heisei (1989–2019), Reiwa (2019-). Periods aligning with imperial reign. (It’s a bit wacky though: The era name is not the emperor’s name while he’s alive; upon death, the emperor is posthumously renamed the era name (which was chosen by a governing body of scholars); so the Shōwa Era emperor was named Hirohito (but just called “Emperor” while alive), but is known as “Emperor Shōwa” historically.)
2026-01-09 08:00:00
Ridgeline subscribers —
Nagasaki pivots around its harbor, into which flows the Uragami River. Mountains covered in small homes and shops rise alongside; at night, the whole valley sparkles like a jewel. An easy ropeway ride up Inasayama lets you take it all in. In the afternoon, the city bustles with locals.
It’s because of these reasons and many more, that I selected Nagasaki for my 2026 New York Times “52 Places to Go” destination. I’m delighted to see it make the list! (We don’t know if our picks have made it or not until the list is published.) I’ve been to Nagasaki five or six times over the last twelve years, and it’s always felt like a special place, but it wasn’t until I was having coffee with Sam Holden a few years ago, that his passion (he’s a verifiable Nagasaki (and Onomichi) maniac), for the city inspired me to take an even deeper look. So I went back, and it was, indeed, great.
2026-01-01 08:00:00
Ridgeline subscribers —
Hello from Denny’s. Happy new year. You can tell it’s January first, because I’m at Denny’s. I woke up and made a nice coffee and did some accounting (as one does) and went to my local shrine in Tokyo and bowbowclapclapbow’d and then I was off! Tramping across a city bathed in that classic January first crystalline sunlight. I can’t remember the last time it wasn’t like this one January first. When it wasn’t pure blue up above and the city itself splashed by a golden hour that seems to last all afternoon.
2025-12-26 08:00:00
Roden Readers —
Hi there from Sweatpantsland, population: me. Merry Christmas! I almost forgot it was Christmas. This is emblematic of my recent days, and maybe even my recent years — a disembodiedness in which, if not reminded, I seem to fall out from the flow of time. It’s foggy and kinda weirdly warm here in Japan today; the Christmas surfers are out, bobbing in the water, Mt. Fuji is somewhere out there in the distance. My sweatpants are cozy. (Now sending this out the day after Christmas and it’s freezing and crip and Fuji was plainly visible all day; “real” Japan December is finally here.)