Japonica recently held its first-ever travel writing contest. The winner of the gold prize is Joshua Bewig, who mesmerized and enthralled us with his entry, Omizu Okuri: Festival of Fire and Water.

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Joshua is originally from a small town in New England and moved to Japan in 2016.

Today, Japonica sat down with Joshua for a deep and thoughtful discussion of Japanese culture, rural tourism, and what foreign travelers should be aware of if they wish to venture off the beaten path.

Thank you, Joshua, for joining us.

I grew up in a homogenous little town in New England, but I was introduced to Japan at an early age through the photos and stories of a family friend. He had spent a year in Kyoto studying kendo and Zen, and everything about this exotic land seemed fascinating: houses made of paper, minimalist gardens of rocks and sand, castles and samurai and ninja.

The fascination stuck, and I traveled to Kyoto myself shortly after graduating from high school. I ended up living there for 3 years even though I had only planned on spending a trimester at a Japanese language school.

Fast forward 27 years and my Japanese wife (who I met while living in San Francisco) and I decided to sell up and move to Japan permanently. That was about 6 years ago. Although the move entailed a fairly major economic sacrifice, it was well worth it.

Perhaps what I appreciate most about life in Japan is the connection, tenuous yet ever-present, between the modern and the ancient. It is this connection that I tried to convey in my article.