My name is Sam, and I have finally decided to start a blog to post my meanderings through my corner of Japan.

My husband and I have been living in Japan for since 2012, so over 10 (!!!) years now, and all of it has been on the island of Kyushu. Kyushu is the South-Western most of the main Japanese islands, and is considered to be quite “backwoods” by most Japanese. However, once people of all walks spend some time in our famous onsen, mountain streams, and coastal waters, they soon discover that it is home to some of the most beautiful, untouched parts of the country, and a history just as interesting as the mainland. The people here are friendly and warm, even to foreigners, whom many may have very little experience with outside of television. That does not stop people from being enthused to talk with you and share their lives.

We spent our first four years in Nakatsu （中津市）, a city on the north of Kyushu, which boasts a spectacular castle, great food, and many close friends. In April of 2017, we moved further south and east, to Saiki（佐伯市）, a small city center and a large countryside on the Pacific ocean known for it’s fantastic catches of fish (we legit have the best aji, or horse mackerel, in the country). We went from the relative flatness of Nakatsu to being snuggled in mountains, and every morning waking up to an ocean breeze.

While my husband is the actual teacher (he was a teacher in the US before we moved to Japan, too), I sometimes teach English classes at Elementary Schools and Kindergartens, as well as private lessons on occasion. For the most part, however, I’m an artist who used to specialize in sewing, embroidery, and jewelry making until some health issues make that a little difficult to manage.

After acquiring an iPad Pro, I have been drawing pretty much non stop, though, and that has become my artistic outlet and most of what you’ll see here from late 2019 onward.

When we lived in the US, I ran a successful costuming business before I got very sick and had to close it up. Moving to Japan has helped me refocus and center myself, while teaching and experiencing so many different things, from participating in festivals to learning to play the koto. When we were planning the move to Saiki, we specifically looked for apartments where I could have a dedicated sewing space to try to start making things again.

So in a way, this blog is a way to help me get creative again, and hopefully share some of my ideas, art, patterns and designs with others.