Why do they call them deadlines? Is it because they are a metaphorical line between life death? Or maybe in the past it wasn’t metaphorical. Deadlines are simultaneously the best and the worst thing you can have on creative projects. They are the best thing because they help keep you in check, and they help …
Here’s a relaxing video of the summit of Mt. Haguro in the early hours for you. Every time I go there, I feel a very strong energy unlike anywhere else. I assume it is because of all the history of worshipping there, and the fact that the cedar forest is essentially its own eco-system, at …
When I started my 100 famous mountains of Yamagata project, to be honest I didn’t think about writing in-depth articles about the places. I thought that video would be enough. What happened was, when I got home from climbing Mt. Kinbo way back in February, I was full of energy and I wanted some way …
Fleshing out ideas to fish out interest: How to find the interesting stuff to share Read More »
Besides academic articles like the 60-odd page thesis I wrote for my MA, I just wrote the longest thing I’ve ever written, my new article on the Dewa Sanzan’s mountain of death, Mt. Gassan. I promise it’s not full of padding, but rather in-depth explanations of aspects of the mountain I think people would find …
This is going to sound obvious, but having and remembering to take photos with my mirrorless camera has already made a huge difference to my blog. If you take a look at the photos in the Nihonkoku and Takadate posts, and compare that with the updated Kumanonagamine and Shogadake posts, the difference is stark. I …
I’ve discussed my issues using Wix to try and use a spreadsheet to set up a website, and to be honest, I kinda gave up on it. It’s quite a bit of effort to get the blog posts you want to show up where you want them to, way more difficult than it should be, …
Although I know I am in an unusual situation, a Kiwi Yamabushi living in rural Japan, I really don’t think I am unusual. Rather, I think it’s the situation I find myself in that is the unusual thing. I was listening to Master Hoshino talk yesterday, and he said that he doesn’t actively go after …
I was watching a presentation this morning and the presenter stopped part way through to ask one of the viewers to stop yawning. Teaching, I have always thought it is your job as the teacher to keep people engaged. If they aren’t engaged, they aren’t learning. Then there’s no real point to being there. So …
This morning I witnessed something I knew was happening, but just hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. Walking home from the convenience store (which I despise, but we ran out of milk for my daily cold brew), there was a man probably about the same age as me who had left the convenience store …
I am by no means a professional photographer, I think the work of the professionals is simply stunning sometimes, and well worth the money it takes, but there is one thing that I think professional photographers would struggle with a lot; knowing when to photograph, and knowing when to experience something. I wrote about my …
