A journal of Japan, bicycles, craft, and the roads in between.
Eastbound Journal
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Bicycle Framebuilding
I talk here about the art and craft of bicycle handmade framebuilding
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Cherubim: Original Japanese Custom Bike Builder
Some places are interesting because of what they sell, while others become interesting because of what still happens inside them. Cherubim belongs firmly to the second group. It is not simply a bicycle shop, and it is not a museum either. It is one of those increasingly rare places where you can still walk in and see a traditional craft being practiced as part of everyday work. It is a custom bike builder. Have you ever thought about owning a bicycle made specifically for you? And I am not talking about bike fit. I mean choosing the geometry, the tubing,…
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Tokiwaso Manga Museum
The most famous manga museum is undoubtedly the Kyoto International Manga Museum. And it is really awesome. But it’s not the only one, of course. It couldn’t be only one in the land of manga and anime. But allow me to introduce the Kyoto museum as a reference. When you arrive, the first thing you see is an outdoor artificial lawn, usually covered with groups of students eating, talking, sitting around, or simply lying in the sun. Kyoto Int. Manga Museum At the entrance, you stop at the ticket counter and receive the usual Japanese explanation — detailed, organized, and…
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My first Tokyo’s Two Days Itinerary
When our work commitments were over, my colleague and I tried to make the most of Tokyo. The result was a frantic journey that is difficult to reconstruct in exact order. So I organized my memories by theme: temples and shrines, the city and its infrastructure, food, and museums. Temples and shrines Sensō-ji is a cacophony of colors, the smell of incense, and people bowing and making wishes. In front of it, a shopping street offers an enormous variety of very cool tourist trinkets—a temptation to spend money. Don’t do it. Things there are much more expensive and less original…
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First Encounters with Asia – Part III: Japan
I made this trip alone. Or at least I arrived alone. My colleagues would be arriving a few days later.I went through immigration very quickly at Haneda Airport. Then I did what I usually do first: stopped for a coffee. There was an amazing coffee shop waiting for me, where I had a cappuccino and a chocolate croissant. I went to the ATM to check my credit card. Didn’t work. Panic! I had left Brazil with enough money for the first few days, but made a mental note to call the bank manager and sort it out. After getting lost…
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First Encounters with Asia – Part II: South Korea
As soon as I arrived in Seoul, with the temperature around 5°C, something immediately amazed me in the small hostel where my colleague and I were staying: the floor was warm. I later learned that it was heated by hot water circulating through pipes beneath the surface. That might not impress a European very much, but for a Brazilian it felt both extremely curious and unexpectedly comfortable. The next morning, work came first. We headed to our first shipyard. This time there were no photos, since military vessels were under construction. The experience was quite different from China. We were…
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First Encounters with Asia — Part I: China
My first trip to China was also my first real encounter with Asia, and it could hardly have started in a more unfamiliar place. I arrived there for work in 2014, beginning in Dalian, without really knowing what to expect from the country beyond the images and stories I had seen from afar. The ground floor of the restaurant featured a huge display filled with aquariums housing just about every marine creature, reptile, or amphibian one could imagine. There were eels, fish, frogs, and I could swear there were a few Pokémon in there as well. They were not there…
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@ the Beginning
The beginning of Eastbound: a personal journey toward Japan, bicycles, craftsmanship and a slower way of travelling.