(after travelling it slowly, repeatedly, and from the margins) The longer I spend in Japan, and the more slow and solo travel I do, the more I realise how much I need to unlearn: the assumptions you carry before you arrive, and the ones that linger long after. Forty-seven prefectures. Thirty-nine by bicycle. Twenty by sailboat. Many repeat visits and months of immersion. Two years spent seeking out longevity hot spots. Unlearning, I’ve discovered, is often the precursor to di

Lessons in interdependence from Japan’s longevity communities and a boat in Buren Bay. This week I watched something unexpectedly instructive. After some time moored in the middle of the bay, I moved my boat to a small fishing port and tied her against the wall. On the way in, she felt slower than usual. From the dock, I could look down and see why: a thin layer of marine growth had formed along the hull. Not dramatic. Just enough to create drag. Then a school of fish appeare

A rabbit hole I fell into after finishing a book on longevity in Japan I’ve just finished writing a book on longevity lessons from Japan, and the manuscript is now in my agent’s hands. For various reasons, I can’t share much from the book itself at the moment. But since submission, I found myself down a rabbit hole. Before writing it, I spent fifteen months moored in Okinawa, long celebrated as one of the world’s most famous “Blue Zones.” While there, I made an uncomfortable

Men and Women and the Shape of Decline in the RED ZONE For the past year, I have been researching and writing a book about longevity hot spots in Japan.  The project was triggered after spending 15 months moored in Okinawa from late 2023, immersed in what has long been described as the world’s most famous Blue Zone .  It was there that I ran into an uncomfortable truth.  Statistically, Okinawa has lost ground in the longevity tables compared to the rest of Japan.  That meant

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