Kim | Japan-based freelance travel/culture writer

Feeling very motivated and cannot believe how much the pitch ideas are flowing through my head today! watch out editors

Wrote about and took some pics of zines for this Japan Times piece. It's a fascinating scene that has a life of its own!

Forget AI: This Tokyo robot cafe is all about human connection In a world where it can seem that AI is taking place of real-life connections, this robot cafe flips the script.

Visited Tokyo's avatar cafe and had a wonderful, real-life conversation for Intrepid:
www.intrepidtravel.com/adventures/t...

Not my usual "beat."

I met Magoro Yoshihira during a food drive around Sumida River, when we prepared bento boxes and delivered them directly to rough sleepers: a new type of Uber Eats.

Yoshihira is working to change Sanya's old reputation. She's also recruiting!

My story on Takuro Takayama was originally supposed to be a short article about his exhibition, but it got bumped up to a feature and a front page mention!

We had such a great interview I overwrote, and messaged my editor apologising, indicating all the bits that she could cut. It all stayed :)

Yuri Horie: The Glittering, Maximalist Vision of a Star Photographer How Yuri Horie went from casually snapping street style photos of her friends to releasing her own book and photographing Megan Thee Stallion

(minor) throwback to my interview with Yuri Horie, a Japanese photographer who doesn't do half-measures. I think she's one of the best photographers capturing "gyaru" and similar all-or-nothing subcultures in Tokyo right now.
www.tokyoweekender.com/art_and_cult...

Interviewed AMKK three years on For JT. When we first spoke back in 2022, Azuma mentioned his excitement at X-raying flowers. Buzzing that the team achieved this!

In the in a different way this time! (far right)
Has been so wonderful to teach writing and ethics with this gorgeous group of people and Megumi is really a super conscientious, fabulous colleague and friend

Have been on both sides of this

Wrote about DIG Shibuya for Japan Time. Felt nostalgic revisiting my old XR/AV (audio visual) stomping ground.

I co-ran an AV event series back in the UK and dipped my toes in 3D visuals myself. Joelle Snaith was a previous guest, so it was nice to see her name pop up performing here too

Unfortunately I'm not an academic but what a great article idea!

If only I was in US! Would love to meet travel editorial people in person

How Japanese Rap Went Global In 2024: Behind The Rise Of Awich, Yuki Chiba & Others | GRAMMY.com From features with Megan Thee Stallion and production by RZA to performances on the Coachella stage, J-rap has had a moment in 2024. This past year's successes are anything but a fluke — Japanese rap ...

Sharing my piece for Grammy (yes, as in The Grammys), about Japanese rap. Spoke to big names like Awich and Koshy, Japanese hiphop professor Ega; Mamy, the designer from Canteen and even Yuki Chiba's manager:
www.grammy.com/news/japanes...

My heart goes out the the people of Noto. They were so lovely when I met them

Tokyo and Kyoto Make Fodor's 'No List' for 2025 One of the world’s most respected travel guides has listed two Japanese cities — Tokyo and Kyoto — on its list of "destinations to reconsider in 2025."

I loved the Fodor's No List, it's such a good idea... wrote this response under a pen name www.tokyoweekender.com/japan-life/n...

Kim Kahan Tokyo Based Freelance Writer

Popping this up here for now and hoping some commissions magically fly into my inbox (do we even have inboxes on here?)
Writer w bylines in Lonely Planet, The Japan Times, Huck Magazine, Mixmag & loads more!
Mainly upon Japan, sometimes further afield.
Website/portfolio: www.kimjakahan.xyz