A journey into Tokyo’s hidden fantasy worlds: from Yashio Hihokan’s uncanny doll museum to Akihabara’s sex emporiums, kawaii culture, vending machines and the strange coexistence of loneliness, desire and artificial intimacy in modern Japan.

Every place has its secrets if you’re willing to patiently dig under the surface. Exploring Tokyo’s secrets & dark nooks was the beginning of my trip around Japan, during which the koyo zensen, i.e. autumn foliage spotting, was not limited to nature or leaves, but became a research into the culture and its symbols under the theme of colour.

This is the second part of my New York trip saga. While the first one focused mostly on the island of Manhattan, now I’m going to look at the characteristics of some of the other islands and oasis within this great city. In a recent post about Luxembourg, I emphasised the country’s cultural and linguistic diversity. With New York, this…