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Baking Ginza concrete, rice balls, and jingles on the train platform. Oceans of browsing tourists in the shopping district. Two-day showers. Sun and humidity on your neck like a sweaty tag-team. The gently overwhelming charm of Tokyo’s cluttered curiosities.

Anyone who’s been here knows what I’m talking about...

I came to Japan in 2004, worked for 9 years as an English teacher, and learned the language fluently. It took a while to get down as the grammar, vocab, and everything else are totally different to English. I was employed, after that, by a Japanese company, working in an office. That’s what really taught me the culture: a 9-6 gig as a salaryman in Kawasaki.

And then I quit the wage cage. For a while I did odd jobs: warehouse work, documentary subtitling, admin at an old folk’s home. I even cleaned train stations for a few months, which was one of the happiest times of my life.

Now I’ve been here 22 years. I know the language, the culture, and a chunk of the history. I started Lantern because I love people, and I like to be outside. I enjoy hunting things down, talking to shop owners, finding out what customers want.

Japan is full of second-hand stores, antiques, and interesting snacks and cosmetics.
What I’m hoping is that you’ll tell me what you want, and let me find it and send it to you!!