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Tim Ferriss

Craig Mod — The Real Japan, Cheap Apartments in Tokyo, Productive Side Quests, Creative Retreats, Buying Future Freedom, and Being Possessed by Spirits (#802)

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“Part of what was great about Japan was that as soon as I landed, I felt a few things. One was society was taking care of people. I was walking past so many people every day in the street who were so much better taken care of than where I came from.”

— Craig Mod

Craig Mod is a writer, photographer, and walker living in Tokyo and Kamakura, Japan. He is the author of Things Become Other Things and Kissa by Kissa. He also writes the newsletters Roden and Ridgeline and has contributed to The New York Times, The Atlantic, Wired, and more. 

He’s walked thousands of miles across Japan, and since 2016, he has been co-running “Walk and Talks” with Kevin Kelly in various places around the world: the Cotswolds, Northern Thailand, walking across Bali, Southern China, Japan, Spain (Portuguese and French Caminos), and more. He’s a MacDowell fellow, Virginia Center for Creative Arts fellow, and Ragdale fellow.

In 2023 he wrote an impassioned recommendation of Morioka, Japan, to The New York Times, prompting the paper to rank the city number two (behind London) for “Places to Visit in 2023,” turning Mod into a minor celebrity. He sat for interviews with some forty or fifty newspapers and TV shows, trying to explain the goodness of a city like Morioka to people for whom the goodness is so self-evident that it has become invisible. This whole media dance culminated in his going on a two-­day walk around Morioka with one of Japan’s biggest TV stars: the seventy-­nine-­year-old, sunglasses-­wearing Tamori -­san, who was lovely (and very tiny!). The response—a total heartfelt reverence for the avuncular Tamori—from people on the street (“Good morning, Tamori -­san!,” yelled construction workers from atop their scaffolding) made Mod feel like he was walking with John Lennon. Mod’s moment of celebrity was mercifully short-lived. Nobody recognizes him anymore when he walks around town.

Please enjoy!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Audible, or on your favorite podcast platform. The transcript of this episode can be found here. Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.

This episode is brought to you by David Protein Bars with 28g of protein, 150 calories, and 0g of sugar; Eight Sleep’s Pod 4 Ultra sleeping solution for dynamic cooling and heating; and AG1 all-in-one nutritional supplement.

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Craig Mod — The Real Japan, Cheap Apartments in Tokyo, Productive Side Quests, Creative Retreats, Buying Future Freedom, and Being Possessed by Spirits

This episode is brought to you by David Protein Bars! I’m always on the hunt for protein sources that don’t require sacrifices in taste or nutrition. That’s why I love the protein bars from David. With David protein bars, you get the fewest calories for the most protein, ever. David has 28g of protein, 150 calories, and 0g of sugar. Their bars come in six delicious flavors, all worth trying, and I’ll often throw them in my bag for protein on the go. And now, listeners of The Tim Ferriss Show who buy four boxes get a fifth box for free. Try them for yourself at DavidProtein.com/Tim.

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Want to hear another podcast episode with a dedicated literary champion? Listen to my conversation with Brandon Sanderson in which we discussed building a fiction empire, creating $40M+ Kickstarter campaigns, unbreakable habits, the art of world-building, the science of magic systems, and much more.

What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE

  • Connect with Craig Mod:

Website | Bluesky | Instagram | Roden (Monthly Newsletter) | Ridgeline (Weekly Newsletter)

Books and Written Works

People

Movies and TV Shows

Institutions, Organizations, and Companies

Concepts and Technologies

Places

Relevant Resources

SHOW NOTES

  • [00:00:00] Start.
  • [00:06:49] What would make this a worthwhile conversation?
  • [00:09:14] How Craig and I first met.
  • [00:11:06] Growing up in a post-industrial Connecticut town.
  • [00:13:10] The kindness of a tech-savvy stranger.
  • [00:14:02] IRC, ANSI art scene, and making connections in the Internet’s early days.
  • [00:15:48] From adoption to exploring hometown escape options.
  • [00:18:28] Driving cross-country to a Silicon Valley internship.
  • [00:20:05] Pursuing the desire to live abroad.
  • [00:22:14] Attending Waseda University in Japan at age 19.
  • [00:23:34] Seduced by the Ivy League: A momentary return to the States for a UPenn education.
  • [00:24:52] Craig’s advice for adults who want to pick up the Japanese language.
  • [00:29:04] Bizarre homestay experiences.
  • [00:41:04] How Craig wound up back in Japan to work in publishing.
  • [00:42:55] Developing design sensibilities at UPenn with Sharka Hyland and Joshua Mosley.
  • [00:47:30] Craig’s color blindness and its influence on his design aesthetic.
  • [00:49:54] Without a time machine, Craig lives vicariously through his daughter’s opportunities.
  • [00:51:36] Struggling with spirits of sauce and the supernatural .
  • [00:56:02] A Tibetan dream reader and lost love.
  • [00:59:53] Craig’s journey to self-worth: Running, charging more for work, and building confidence.
  • [01:01:51] The transformative experience of climbing to Annapurna Base Camp in Nepal.
  • [01:04:40] Writing a camera review that went viral and paid rent for two years.
  • [01:10:33] The article that changed Craig’s life.
  • [01:16:39] The enduring power of physical books in the digital age.
  • [01:21:06] How being adopted prepared Craig for life as an outsider no matter where he hangs his hat.
  • [01:25:25] Craig’s time at Flipboard.
  • [01:29:24] Writing in hotel rooms on weekends.
  • [01:30:14] Meeting Kevin Kelly and landing a MacDowell writing residency.
  • [01:32:51] Bridges burned and discoveries made at MacDowell.
  • [01:40:16] Justifying a round two.
  • [01:41:17] Craig’s advice for aspiring creatives.
  • [01:45:12] Books Craig has reread multiple times.
  • [01:49:43] The story behind Craig’s new book, Things Become Other Things.
  • [02:01:47] Craig’s Special Projects membership program.
  • [02:04:08] In praise of unexpected corners.
  • [02:06:25] Lessons learned from the Sally Mann documentary.
  • [02:07:34] Parting thoughts and a preview of round two (coming later this week).

MORE CRAIG MOD QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW

“As an adopted person, I think my entire life is defined by that flailing. You just don’t feel like you belong anywhere.”
— Craig Mod

“In general, language learning is easier if you have a musical background. And I grew up all through my teens obsessively playing drums, just drumming, drumming, drumming, playing jazz, playing classical, playing in big band orchestras, playing everything.”
— Craig Mod

“Part of what was great about Japan was that as soon as I landed, I felt a few things. One was society was taking care of people. I was walking past so many people every day in the street who were so much better taken care of than where I came from.”
— Craig Mod

“The amount of scarcity I felt as an adult in my twenties is just shocking. It was this fathomless sense of scarcity, like the money’s not going to be there, the love isn’t going to be there, the support isn’t going to be there. And then when I lost her, I was like, I’m never going to have anyone who will ever love me like this person loved me, and I’m never going to be able to create like I created with this person. And I had to start proving to myself that that wasn’t true.”
— Craig Mod

“There’s a huge safety of being in a place that can never throw you away because you’re never going to be part of the thing.”
— Craig Mod

“It is just undeniable that a fullness of life that I find is found through the writing and who that connects me with and the adventures it brings me on.”
— Craig Mod

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Joe Johnson
Joe Johnson
9 months ago

Tim,
I thought it was time to send you a letter of gratitude. It’s long overdue, actually. My apologies.

To be succinct, you changed my life’s direction with the 4HWW. I came across it many years ago and now my service business has virtual help in India, Louisiana, Canada, and Michigan. I closed my physical office and now work from an extra room in my house – and have never been happier with the freedom. 

I’m a long time podcast listener and a purchaser of your books. Fan boy? Yes. The areas of new thought and exposure to extremely smart people that you have dropped on my doorstep has been transformative for me.

What prompted this email is the Craig Mod interviews. (Your statement about Japan being part innovation and part DMV made me laugh out loud – so true.)

You mean this guy just walks and walks with a camera and then writes about it? That’s it? It’s so much more, of course, and the simplicity of what he does prompted me to reevaluate my approach to my daily living. What is essential and what is crap? Craig’s interview touched something in me that I’m still trying to unpack. I’m 63 for god’s sake – and still trying to figure this stuff out!

My point is: If you ever doubt what you do has meaning, have someone kick you in the balls and tell you to snap out of it, because it does have meaning. Deep, life changing meaning.

Many, many thanks to you for your work and contribution to all of us out here trying to make sense of things.

All the best to you

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Eli Moraru
Eli Moraru
9 months ago

Craig, loved the interview — thoughts on a walk and talk sweepstakes for the next book? One winner (from the purchase of your book) will win a walk in Japan with you! Willy Wonkaesque publicity stunt.

If you take this idea, I’ll take one walk + talk with ya!

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Claudia M Gallegos
Claudia M Gallegos
9 months ago 
to bewitch

ensorcell from French (submit someone with a magic influence), ensorceler (to bewitch, to fascinate).
Friday weekly shopping and Saturday run arounds, were perfect for this ensorcelling conversation about books, walking, random encouters and thinking in nature and motion.
Without doubts, two of the most enjoyable conversations.
Thank you, for the long form conversation and thinking.
C

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Greg C
Greg C
9 months ago

You learned what a glacial moraine was from Craig. I just want you to know Tim that you grew up on a terminal moraine. Think of a glacier pushing a bunch of earth out in front of it as it advances. Like pushing a broom. Then as it melts what is left over is Long Island.

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Peter Drake
Peter Drake
8 months ago

Tim you are a one man industry
God bless you sir
Peter Drake
teacher from Hexham

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