A hermit crab, when confronted with potential danger, seeks safety inside its outer shell. As the crab grows, it needs to move into larger empty shells to survive, exposing it to danger with each change. “Maybe hermit crabs are my spirit animals,” I said to my husband, Julien, who humored…

According to the United Nations, World Bicycle Day is all about “acknowledging the uniqueness, longevity, and versatility of the bicycle… And that it is a simple, affordable, reliable, clean and environmentally fit sustainable means of transportation.” Our reasons for cycling are as varied as the bikes we ride.

I’m on my 35th birthday two years ago, my wonderful husband Julien surprised me with a class in “kintsugi” — the ancient Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with lacquer and metallic powder. I didn’t know where we were going as we winded a little street in the quirky Suginami…

When I first met filmmaker Eiji Han Shimizu two years ago, it was at a screening for his 2012 film “ Happy,” an uplifting documentary that explores the roots of happiness around the world. …

In the sunny, pre-pandemic summer season that now feels like a distant dream, I had joined the Future Food Institute on a special field trip to Brown’s Field , an organic farm, café, shop and guesthouse on the Boso Peninsula. After an 80km-long train ride from central Tokyo, our group…

My first taste of a language has always been through food. “Arroz con leche, me quiero casar con una señorita de Portugal…” These playful lyrics and their accompanying melody bring back memories of a childhood in my beloved Bolivia. I can still taste the warm, comforting canela, pasas, and sweetened milk and feel how the “Rs” rolled fluidly off my tongue…

This was the sensation I felt in lockdown while looking out the window of a 23rd-story apartment in Hong Kong. I could hear the haunting chants of pro-democracy protesters echo from the streets below, but the raised umbrellas and pain remained hidden from my view. I wondered, ‘What am I…

When author and illustrator Mariko Shinju’s son was 4 years old, he left food on his plate. Like many Japanese mothers, Shinju said to him, “ Mottainai.” “What is mottainai, Mom?” he asked innocently. Although she grew up hearing her mother and grandmother say “mottainai,” she couldn’t find the right…

Originally published at https://holatomorrow.com/face-mask/ on May 21, 2020. I vividly remember my first time in Tokyo: the scramble of black and white masks dotting the Shibuya Crossing in the warm rain. …