Hey friends 👋
Something exciting today, coming to you with a brand spanking new series from Creative Thought Partner.
This new series is called 5 Sparks. Each episode features a practitioner who has inspired me with their creative work. In wanting to get to know them and learn from them, I made a list of prompts and asked them to choose five to respond to (in 200 words or less). With that, I then interviewed them about their creative process.
Motivation for the 5 Sparks series
Firstly, I love 1:1 interactions and I want a way to have more of them whilst making them valuable for others.
I’m currently nerding out on the role that constraints play in creativity, and the 5 Sparks model is a novel and exciting way to put constraints to the test.
I’m a sucker for seeing how other creatives do their thing, and I want deeper access to the creative lives of people doing cool shit—be that process, output, or both.
Here’s what to expect format-wise from 5 Sparks
I’m going to do 6 posts in total this year (ie, 6 different people) and then evaluate how the series is going.
Inside each post, you’ll find the person’s 5 Sparks in written form, followed by a transcript from our interview (the video of the interview sits at the top of the page).
The rest is self explanatory I think? I hope you like this new series!
Without further ado then, let me introduce you to my first guest on 5 Sparks.
✨ 5 Sparks with Algis Tamosaitis
Algis Tamosaitis is an LA-based writer. In 2024, he created the Japan or Die newsletter to share specific, non-obvious, and actionable travel tips about the land of the rising sun, drawing from his experience of living and working in Japan.
When me and Corina were travelling there, we craved detailed insider knowledge to help us live locally and authentically—and Algis’ work was akin to a holy book. I literally read every post available and found oodles of noodles and fun things to do that I wouldn’t have otherwise.
When I reached out to Algis to float the idea of him doing 5 Sparks, he was an absolute gent, and an excited and willing collaborator throughout. It was a joy to do this with him. And I learned a lot about how he’s able to regularly put out such good work. You can read his Japan or Die newsletter here.
In our conversation we discussed:
How constraints can enhance creative work rather than limit it
The value of the "permission to write badly first"
Strategic structure as a path to creative output
The art of editing with fresh eyes and emotional distance
Finding the balance between creating for yourself and for your audience
The power of "rod content" that gives readers tools they can use repeatedly
You can read the full transcript from our conversation at the bottom. But first, please enjoy Algis’ 5 Sparks.
Algis’ 5 Sparks
✨ What was a paradigm shift that changed everything?
Several years ago, I was a successful copywriter in Hollywood.
—And then I developed a chronic illness.
The physical pain, brain fog, and almost total lack of energy, changed my life profoundly. The slow progress to get back to the life I had before made it difficult to face the future.
Eventually, I realized that feeling sorry for myself was getting me nowhere. I needed to reevaluate what I could accomplish and how to do it. This led to a paradigm shift in how I would move forward.
Finding ways to work within my constraints rather than against them was my only option. With limited energy per day, I had to narrow down my goals, choose the most vital, and let go of everything else.
This resulted in the creation of my newsletter.
Since then, I’ve been ruthlessly prioritizing, furiously writing, and trying to live life with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind.
✨ What’s a story you tell over and over?
When my girlfriend was in her 20s, she complained to her grandmother about a friend who never called. What her grandma told her changed how I approach friendships.
She said, “If you want to have friends, especially when you’re older, get over yourself. Don’t wait around for them to call you. Call them.”
Maintaining friendships is vital, and guys often suck at it. If you want friends, you need to put in the work. People get busy. There are a million reasons why your friend might not call, but is thrilled when you call them.
If I contact a friend and don’t hear back, I try not to take it personally. I find I’m much happier when instead of complaining that so-and-so hasn’t called me in ages, I just call them.
I’m not perfect at this, so sometimes when I tell the story, it’s a reminder to myself to give people a little grace, and for me to pick up the damn phone and make some calls.
✨ What’s an album you have on repeat?
It’s impossible to pick one album. These are the ones I go back to over and over:
Ali Farka Toure - The Source. Beautifully hypnotic.
Cesaria Evora - Cabo Verde. Deeply soulful like Billie Holiday or Edith Piaf.
Norah Jones - Come Away with Me. A soundtrack for falling in love.
Terrence Trent D’Arby - Introducing the Hardline According to Terrence Trent D’Arby. Raw, raspy vocals evoking soul legends.
Kelly Joe Phelps - Lead Me On. An exceptional blues musician with a singular sound, he was also my friend. He once loaned me $40, and when I tried to pay him back, he wouldn’t take it. He liked knowing someone in the world owed him money. Sadly, he passed away a few years ago.
Desert Island Scenario: Prince, Purple Rain.
✨ What’s an unconventional source of inspiration that influences your work?
Jonathan Gold - A Los Angeles icon and a Pulitzer Prize-winning food critic who began his career as a music critic, Gold often featured ethnic cuisine, hole-in-the-wall spots, and street food.
He was Bourdain before Bourdain, minus the glitz and world travel. Introducing Angelenos to the hidden treasures of L.A.’s vast melting pot of cuisines made him a legend.
Driving around L.A. with friends (before GPS) searching for super-secret food spots informed how I approach travel and food.
The best food could be hiding in plain sight in a nondescript strip mall. Gold’s gift was finding these places, spots where you were stepping into another culture, another world. If you found a place where no one spoke English, you were probably in for the meal of your life.
Myriad alleyways, a legendary food culture, and small, unique restaurants make Japan perfect for these kinds of adventures. Maybe no one speaks English, or they’ve never even seen an American in there. Those are the places I want to be.
✨ What’s the skill you initially undervalued that became crucial to your success?
I’m not an extrovert, even if I seem that way. However, when I travel, I deliberately put myself into highly social situations where I can interact with locals. Challenging myself to become comfortable with being uncomfortable has led to many unforgettable experiences.
For example, entering a tiny 6-seat izakaya where I’m the only foreigner. Trying unusual foods when offered, and exploring new places recommended by people I meet.
It took me a while to realize this was a valuable skill that many people don’t utilize. Maybe they’re shy, cautious, or nervous about the language barrier (this can be particularly true in Japan). Japanese can be intimidating, but I’ve found that even using a modicum of the language will break the ice.
Some people may need a bit of encouragement to do this sort of thing. So I’m working on a basic Japanese guide with useful phrases for chatting with people in an izakaya, which is the best way I’ve found to meet locals in Japan.
I hope people feel inspired by my newsletter to try this approach and create their own unforgettable experiences in Tokyo and beyond.
Interview transcript
Harrison Moore: Okay, I'm just going to dive in. Welcome to the very first episode of Five Sparks. This is a new series where I'm inviting people doing cool creative work to respond to five prompts of their choosing in 200 words or less. I've been personally fascinated by how constraints shape creativity, and this series is my nerdy way of exploring that a little bit more through conversations with interesting minds.
Today I'm really excited to welcome Algis Tamosaitis. I first discovered Algis when I was traveling in Japan. I stumbled across his brilliant newsletter Japan or Die. I was drawn to Algis' direct and lively writing style, and I was also super intrigued by this guy from LA who seemed to possess so much nuanced knowledge about Japanese culture. His unconventional travel tips have literally transformed my travel experience there and elsewhere. I knew that I wanted to have him participate in Five Sparks. So, Algis, thanks mate for being my inaugural guest and for sharing your five sparks with us as well.
My first question is, what surprised you the most about doing the five sparks?
Algis Tamosaitis: First, thanks for having me, Harrison. Great to see you again. You provided a good list of questions to choose from, and choosing the questions was challenging in and of itself because there's a lot of fun questions in there, narrowing it down to five. I'm reading through the questions thinking, "piece of cake. I'll just grab these questions, I'll answer them, no big deal." And then you kind of get under the hood there and they're quite thought-provoking. They really make you reassess how you really feel about something, or you might have thought that you felt about it a certain way for a long time. Do you still feel about it the same way now currently? I actually found it led me to a lot of self-reflection and it was kind of a fun challenge.
Harrison Moore: I have no idea where they come from, how I come up with them, and I've certainly no idea what they're going to do in people's hands and how they're going to respond to them. That's part of the fun of it. I really like the idea of giving the same prompt to multiple people and seeing how they respond to it because anyone that's been reading my essays over the past few weeks and months will know that I bang on about this a lot.
I love this idea that thematic prompts distributed to different people let them really lean into their own unique individuality and express themselves fully as unique individuals, but then it brings their responses together and sort of unifies it in a common family or a collective. It's a bit meta, but I think what I like about thematic prompts so much is that it lets people both be individuals and be part of a collective as well.
I'm super excited obviously to talk about yours and also to see if I can get some other people to respond to and start building a little batch of these interviews and responses because it's some of the most exciting art and writing that I can imagine.
Algis Tamosaitis: It'll be cool to see where it goes.
Harrison Moore: At the moment, I don't have an ideal persona in mind. I'm just following my curiosity and whatever interests me. If I think people are doing something interesting and we have good quality conversations, which you and I do, then I'm just like, you're perfect for it, basically. We'll see how it evolves over time.
So my second question is, you've written in your responses that you had to learn to work within constraints rather than against them, and that's super interesting to me for all the reasons I just said. Could you tell me a little bit more about the role that constraints have played or do play in your creative practice, and this includes not just Japan or Die but anything else you might be working on?
Algis Tamosaitis: I love newsletters. I am subscribed to a hundred. I read probably 100 newsletters a week. I just thought this is an area that I could contribute something. I thought I had a pretty decent understanding of sort of the genre of newsletters. Everything from how I designed the newsletter, how it would look, that it wouldn't be too much effort for me - it couldn't be too designed or else it's too many things to do. It's evolved over time and my girlfriend, who's my sort of conspirator in this project, has taken it upon herself to improve the design as time has gone on.
But initially just having those three topics, I was like, I can handle this indefinitely as long as I choose a topic that I'm super interested in because I've seen a lot of newsletters start out very promising, there's a lot of good newsletters out there, and then life takes over. People think it's going to be a piece of cake to write a newsletter every week and publish it, and it turns out to be a lot more complicated and a lot more time than you would ever think. You read a newsletter and you're like, "this is great," it took me a few minutes to read it, 10 minutes if it's a really long one. And you're not sitting there thinking like, "maybe this person put in 10-20 hours into this."
Harrison Moore: I want to know more about this structure. So you've got Japan or Die. So already that's a constraint - you're talking about the cultural ins and outs of a single country in the world among hundreds of others. That's a great overarching constraint straight away. You talk about three different things in each post. So that's a great constraint. It's not too few. Three is a magic number as we know.
I'm just curious, do you have other constraints? Do you have word count? Because I've noticed that some of your three points can be short, they can be quite long. Do you have word counts? It feels like you have a limit on sort of the number of different things you'd write about - cuisine, art, culture, there's even bits of infrastructure or transport related things I think have made their way in as well. I'm curious to know on a more granular level, what other constraints have you knowingly or unknowingly imposed on this that's made it sort of easy or difficult?
Algis Tamosaitis: Some of these things are conscious and some are still sort of unconscious things. I don't do any sort of surveys or tests of which topics are the most popular. I just kind of decided I would like each issue to have three different topics so that when someone opens it, hopefully at least one of those things can resonate with them. If you only choose one topic, it's hard because people travel for a variety of reasons or are looking for so many different things in a newsletter about Japan, which is a fairly broad topic.
You could be really into the architecture or the food, skiing, the anime and manga type of stuff, or martial arts, Zen Buddhism - there's so many things. Japan has very broad appeal, so I wanted to have a variety within each newsletter so that at least my hope is that one of those three things will hit for you and you'll find it useful.
So that's kind of the balance. And then I try to make sure that each issue doesn't have three of the same type - I'm not going to have three neighborhoods to go to in one issue. So if it has a neighborhood, the next thing has to be maybe a cultural thing or a language thing or something different. And then the third thing might be a specific type of food or a restaurant to go to, or a custom habit that is very interesting that I've observed, or a useful travel technique. So I do have kind of broad categories like that. I do think of the newsletter in terms of the first and the third topics being more the main topics, and then the middle one is usually the shortest of the three.
Harrison Moore: Is that born of a proven framework that you've used in the past, or is it just like people tend to remember the first and the last things?
Algis Tamosaitis: I think it's that. People tend to remember the first and the last things, and it just felt appropriate to have the shortest topic just kind of sandwiched in there.
Harrison Moore: I guess from a structural point of view, it makes more sense to put the burger between the bun or whatever. I interrupted you. I was just going to dig even further into these constraint things. I was wondering about your own creative practice. When you're sitting down to work, is there a particular place you like to work? Is there a particular way that you write? Are you a "first draft get it all out" type of guy and then return and edit? Or are you a slow and deliberate thinker? Because I know you've worked in copywriting, you've worked in journalism, you're clearly an experienced writer. What's your process for getting things out of your head and then polishing them ready for publishing? What does that look like?
Algis Tamosaitis: You already hit on something that I do use, and I feel like there's mindset and there's tactics when it comes to how you're going to approach writing. When I was working in Hollywood, there were definitely things that I learned there that have transitioned to the newsletter genre, and I think they would work for any type of writing.
The first mindset thing I would say is when I was doing copywriting, I had experiences working in-house at a company that I went into five days a week. There were several copywriters in one room. Someone would just walk in or we'd get an email and it's like, "Okay, today you got to write the copy for the new Tom Cruise ad, the new Mission Impossible, whatever, Maverick, something's coming out." They're very varied. You might have one that's an action film, one that's a horror movie, one that's a comedy like a Spongebob or something like that.
Whatever style comes up, you need to be able to tackle it, but most importantly, you can't wait for inspiration to hit. If they say it's due at 2:00, you better write something by 2:00. So the thing that you said of basically giving yourself permission to write badly first - it's really easy to try to be a perfectionist, get every single sentence just right. No, not that word. Cross it out 10 times. That's not going to cut it because also in copy you have to produce a great volume of options.
It sounds really easy - you're writing one sentence that goes on a poster sometimes. Most people can come up with one or two sentences. But it's when they say we need 50, that's where it gets challenging.
Harrison Moore: So you do that and then you'd show someone and they'd say "I like those five. Get rid of those. Go deeper on these." And then you go back?
Algis Tamosaitis: And then you need to come up with even more versions of the five or 10 that were their favorites. A lot of times the first versions are the best because there's only so many ways to sound natural saying certain things. And when they say "this but a different way," there's just not that much vocabulary for certain words or certain expressions, certain feelings. But it teaches you to look at things from a different angle as well.
Harrison Moore: Even if the things you've produced after the better ones aren't as good, at least it shows you that the first ones you wrote were good in comparison. And that's useful.
Algis Tamosaitis: Absolutely. It's confirmation that that's the one we should go with, but you have to go down that road as well and explore those other options. So that was the thing that you said, where you just give yourself the option, the permission to write something bad and then rewrite it if you need to.
Harrison Moore: And what about timing? Do you do pomodoro or something similar? Or do you have a certain time in the week when you're more productive so you'll do the writing then? How does it work?
Algis Tamosaitis: I worked both in-house and then I worked freelance as well. Freelance is very different from working in-house. Freelance is you're sitting at home, you get a call, "Are you available this week? It's today's Friday and we've got a job that's due next Wednesday 2 p.m." You're like, "Yeah, I'll take it. How much does it pay? What do you need?" They might have given you a little bit of direction - we want it to be kind of like these other films or TV shows, or make it feel dark or uplifting or whatever. And then it's all on you. Nobody is sitting there looking over your shoulder. You could write it at 3:00 a.m. You could write it at 3 in the afternoon, 8 a.m., 7 p.m., whatever works best for you.
So with my condition of waking up and not knowing exactly how the day is going to go, I have a lot of unpredictability in my life. I have to be able to write basically at a moment's notice. If I feel pretty good right now - I might have woken up, felt terrible, had a little coffee, laid back down in bed, just kind of resting, and then all of a sudden I'm like, I feel pretty good right now. I don't want to squander that moment. I have to write right then.
My tactic there is I have made writing my top priority. So even if I had planned to do something else that's important as well - clean the kitchen, go to the gym, run an errand - if I haven't gotten my writing done for the week, which a newsletter is perfect in terms of having a weekly deadline. At least mine goes out once a week on the same day. I've kept it mostly to one day. So that's where working freelance prepared me to do that, to meet deadlines. You don't keep working if you don't meet deadlines. You could be super amazing at coming up with creative content, but if you don't hit that deadline, the phone's not ringing anymore.
Harrison Moore: Can I ask a question about editing? A lot of the people I hang out with, write with and coach, it feels to me like their biggest challenge is with editing. It's a confusing process. It's unpredictable at best. Even in my own practice yesterday, I was trying to do something and I couldn't do it. And I thought, I've been doing this for three years. I've edited so many things. Why can't I get past this? What is it that you think is so mysterious and difficult to learn about editing specifically?
Algis Tamosaitis: Editing really does lend itself to falling into the perfectionism trap. Also, at some point if you want to be an artist of a writer of any kind, you have to put your work out into the world. And so you do also with editing have to decide when something is good enough. Spending an hour mulling over one or two words is not a great use of your time, especially for me with limited time, but for anybody really.
When I try to approach editing, I like to look at something with fresh eyes. So if I've written something this morning, I won't edit it today, I'll edit it tomorrow when my brain is fresh again and when I'm slightly more removed. Because when you first write something, that's my baby. I love it. And sometimes it's not a great draft or whatever, but it's still yours, and editing can feel painful and critical. You have to separate that and then you have to go into that other mode because when you're editing, you're making it better.
I tend to overwrite a little bit when I'm first writing it. I give myself permission to overwrite, to be like, "Yeah, I know this is too much. Let me get all the ideas out so that I'm not stuck on them later, so they're not clogging up my thought process, so I didn't miss anything." And I might add stuff later - "I didn't think of this other tip that should go in here," if it's a travel thing.
I tend to like authors that write short, like Hemingway. So I try not to get too flowery with things. And you saw on the five sparks that one of my influences is Jonathan Gold. He was outstanding - he started out as a music critic and then became a food critic. He wrote very creatively but also could be very succinct and very precise in what he was writing about. It wasn't "this is so delicious." It was more like, "the shell was dark brown and crispy, but as you bit into it, flaked away and the inside has soft, gooey caramel," something like that. Very descriptive, but of the actual thing versus just his impression of it.
Harrison Moore: Showing not telling essentially.
Algis Tamosaitis: Yeah, kind of like that. When I'm editing, every moment I'm thinking about who is reading this and what are they getting out of this.
Harrison Moore: You've got a reader in mind when you're writing.
Algis Tamosaitis: And I don't want to give them more to read. We're all busy, I don't want to make something longer than it has to be. I want to get to the point. It's real easy to fall in love with writing and leave in things that are so great. I love this. But what is it? Is it benefiting that particular piece really that much? Or is it just you stroking your ego because you came up with a cool combination of words that sounds cool in that moment, but doesn't add specific value to that particular piece?
Harrison Moore: It kind of makes me think about the writer as an artist versus the writer as a designer. Maybe this is a nice analogy that I've thought about quite a lot and has been quite helpful. I think if you ask me, I tend to be more of the artist writer mindset. So, it's like, I'm gonna write about what I want. I'm gonna get lost in this process. I'm gonna try and make myself laugh or surprised or whatever. And the trap I fall into is not thinking enough about the other people on the other end that are supposed to be reading this. It's like, what do they actually want? And I think there are people out there that naturally lean more towards the designer writer mentality where they're constantly thinking about their audience and it feels more of like a service that they're contributing.
Algis Tamosaitis: It's a balance and you shouldn't lose that thing of where you're writing for yourself. I think it's really important. I'll throw little things in there that I know are kind of just for myself, but it makes it fun and it makes you want to keep going as well. Or I'll have an article about going to an area that I think is great, and there might just be a couple little Easter eggs in there for the person that's reading carefully - go to this area or go to that area specifically, or here's a link to some other thing that maybe 90% of people might not notice or follow up on, but the ones that do will get a little extra bonus there.
So, I'm not trying to just craft it to appeal to the average general person. When I came up with the concept of Japan or Die, part of it was based on the fact that I've lived in Japan in three different cities, worked in two of them, traveled there almost 20 times I think in the past two decades or so. What happened is all my friends whenever they would decide to go would ask, "Can you help me with my itinerary? What are the must-dos?" And the internet is like the wild west right now. You can find any information you want to, but having somebody that's just a few steps ahead of you - there are certain things that are so normal and subtle to somebody that either lives in Japan or is an expat or a local.
It doesn't matter, but going to a store that regular people like to shop at that might not seem initially that overwhelmingly cool for a tourist, or that you would just walk past, but you should definitely go do this tiny little thing. You'll really enjoy it. For example, in the fall and winter, they have sweet potatoes at all the markets. Did you have one?
Harrison Moore: I've had the one. They're just dried. They're baked. They're sitting in the oven in the supermarkets. You can buy one, I don't know, 50p or something. And they're so good.
Algis Tamosaitis: And it's such an understated tiny little treat. I haven't read any of the major guide books in a long time, but I'd be a little bit shocked if it would be in there that you should go to the market or the convenience store and look out for these little stands that have the heated sweet potatoes. And there aren't a lot left, but there are some old school people that drive around in trucks and have a bell - like an ice cream man, but it's a sweet potato truck. It's so cool, but they're harder to find now, everything is modernizing, but sometimes you can come across those and that's a really fun experience as well.
Harrison Moore: One of the things that you talked to me about in the past is the difference between fish content and rod content. There are certain things that we can share in blogs and newsletters that give people a fish - they give people some temporary delight that they can enjoy. But then there's other content where it's like you're literally giving them a rod that they can use for their whole life.
And one of the best things that I learned from your newsletter was when you're searching Google Maps for food, don't search in English because then all the reviews and basically all the activity is going to have been uploaded by either people from England or people speaking English that are just traveling there, particularly tourists. What you said was search for it in the Japanese language because then you'll find restaurants and opportunities that are being discussed and reviewed by locals. This was a game changer. I found the best soba noodles I've ever had in my life, and it was the opposite way down the road from where I was walking from my apartment. There was nobody else in there. There was just me. It felt like a place that nobody would ever find. And I was like, "Wow, this is true rod content because I can use this anywhere now." We were just doing it here in Peru, searching things in Spanish.
I mean, I don't know what my question is here. Just it's more of an acknowledgement that's an example of some of the super specific and genuinely useful content that you're sharing in your newsletter. And I wonder where you get it from? How do you have so much to say about Japan? How do you have so much knowledge of it? I guess underneath this is the question, how much research are you doing or is it just coming from your own personal experiences?
Algis Tamosaitis: I would say 90% is from my personal experience. I was the tourist that went there and didn't know what he was doing the first time, and didn't know about all the Japanese foods that have made it to Western countries that we're familiar with. And then there are plenty that for whatever reason just haven't made it over. There's not a lot of okonomiyaki places outside of Japan, at least not in the United States.
Harrison Moore: For people that don't know, that's the kind of Japanese sort of omelette, isn't it? It's fried and scrambled eggs on a hot platter with all kinds of toppings that you can think of added.
Algis Tamosaitis: Yeah. Sometimes it's described as a pancake. Sometimes it's an omelette. They use cabbage and flour and egg, and it doesn't fit perfectly into a western category of a food. It's a really great experience to have it for the first time because once you're an adult, once you hit a certain age, it's like how many new foods are there in the world to try? So, it's always fun when you find one that's a little bit unique.
But I didn't even know that existed the first time I went to Japan. And I'm not sure if I ended up having it or not. The first time I went, the internet wasn't what it is now. There's a lot more information out there. But even with the small things like the sweet potato that we were talking about, I do think on that cold day when you're wandering around, you're not super hungry, but you're a little bit tired, you need a little boost, your hands are cold - going and getting one of those things, there's a feeling of that warmth, that comfort, that "this is perfect, this is just what I needed in this moment."
For the cultural stuff, I've had so many conversations with friends that I've made in Japan. I used to have a best buddy who owned an izakaya, and one of my co-workers and I would go there several times a week. It was just a few blocks from work and from my apartment. He spoke some English, I was learning Japanese. So we had our little mishmash of English and Japanese, learning different expressions and learning that the way you communicate things is different.
I like to spread that stuff. I like people to be able to have information that they can run with, that they can just take and do their own thing. I think Japan is a great place for that. It's a very safe country. There's such a strong culture of treating foreigners well because you're representing your country. You're not just like, "someone came in for lunch and I'm a little tired, so here's some food or something like that." It's really ingrained that you want anyone who's come as a guest to leave with a good impression. This translates to all kinds of stuff.
When you watch the World Cup and see the Japanese fans that have traveled to wherever the World Cup is - after the game they clean their section. Other countries are like "whatever, don't they have people that do that? Let's get out of here." But Japanese people are like "no, because this represents us and this represents our team and this represents our country."
Even when I was a personal trainer, I never wanted to be the personal trainer that was just there yelling at you and counting reps. I actually wanted the people to learn how to stay fit and healthy for themselves. I was even okay with if they learned it and then they didn't need me as frequently. Not that I want people to not need me for the newsletter because I'm trying to add new things and more useful things as it progresses, and I want to go much deeper.
I think another sort of very useful tactic or hack for any country is that every country has influencers going there now and videotaping everything on Instagram or TikTok. But if they're foreigners and they're just going for a week or two, did they really find the best place? "This is the best sushi place in Tokyo" - there's 200,000 restaurants, at least 2,000 of them are sushi places, maybe more. You tried three or five, and now you're saying this is the best one in Tokyo? I don't know.
Harrison Moore: I'm dubious about this mentality of "the best." I think it misses a much more important point about diversity of experience. Once you go above a certain level of quality - which let's face it, most of us today are lucky enough to live in a world where we're surrounded by quality food wherever we are - once you go above a certain quality, it's no longer about the best sushi, it's about the experience. Where can I eat sushi today that's really different, and what makes it different? Is it the chair? To me that's what travel's all about. And so I'm always a bit skeptical when I see these leaderboards, especially in a place like Japan where I can't think of anywhere else that on the whole takes their food as seriously as a nation.
Algis Tamosaitis: It's definitely one of the top food cultures - Japan, Mexico, probably France, Italy, Thailand maybe, India. There are certain food cultures that are so exceptional. The standard of food is so high and the opportunity to go have and create your own unique experiences and your own Japan without having to follow in somebody's footsteps - other than some guidelines - it's a good place to just explore, to let yourself discover, to let the day unfold, to not know exactly every single beat that you're going to hit when you wake up.
Harrison Moore: We've talked about this a little bit - do I just follow Google Maps to that restaurant and that museum and that park and call it a day, or do I just wander? And there are certain places that make wandering easier and more rewarding. Japan's one of those places where because it's so safe, because it's so diverse in its offerings, and also because in England or in European cities, most of the commerce is at ground level. Most of the shops, restaurants, things to do, anything above that is either residential or it's off limits, it's occupied by companies and businesses that are anonymous.
In Japan, it's not like that. Every building invites you in up the escalator, 15 floors, and on each floor there's stuff to explore. It really is the only place that I've ever been where I've felt like it's a playground of labyrinth themed corridors and doorways and portals. And because it's so safe and welcoming, you can venture down them. So, I think this is a tension that all travelers face. Do we follow Google Maps or do we just wander? And I think you have to have a bit of both. But I lean towards "let's just wander and see where the day takes us." And I think that's being eroded by tech and everybody's reliance on Google. It's a massive shame.
Algis Tamosaitis: My mother was a travel agent when I was growing up for maybe the first 12 years of my life. And this was before the internet and all that stuff. You'd go to the travel agency and they'd have some pamphlets and a few little recommendations. Maybe you had a friend that had gone to this town or a relative and you had a tiny little list of tips of things to do, unless you signed up for one of these tours. And I went on some tours with my parents that I still have nightmares about where you're just like, we're in the bus, we're in Frankfurt now, we're going to go to Dusseldorf and they're going to take us to some food hall that can serve 50 people, and then they're going to take us to the gift shop that has a deal with the tour company. It's just such a sanitized version of the country.
I know that I saw parts of France, Germany, and Switzerland like that. And it's like a Disneyland of those countries. If you're just doing that sort of tour - now you can put together your own tours, you can hire a travel agent or something like that. But in Japan, there is so much opportunity. I wrote about luck surface area. To create your own luck, to have these amazing experiences where you can go into places and people will be curious. You'll stand out. People will be curious. "Why did you choose this place? Why are you here in this neighborhood that's more just like a neighborhood where people live?" And they're just like, "What is going on?" and then instantly they're approaching you. You don't even have to be some kind of amazing conversationalist super outgoing person.
They want you to have a great opinion of their country, and now they're telling you a bunch of places to go to. And they're not like, "You should go see Tokyo Tower and you should go to the zoo." It's like, "No, you should go to this tiny neighborhood you've never heard of and go have sushi at this one restaurant because they always get it fresh from the market every morning, but it's still reasonably priced and it's not like celebration sushi. It's just good. You could go there once a week."
Harrison Moore: Do you have any readers in Japan of your newsletter?
Algis Tamosaitis: I don't know how many, but every now and again I'll see that somebody's subscribed from Japan. And sometimes they have a Japanese surname, which is also interesting. I mean, there's plenty of Americans that have Japanese surnames as well. I went to school with plenty of people in high school who were Japanese Americans.
Harrison Moore: Do you think there's a limit to the number of things you can write about?
Algis Tamosaitis: That's a good question. I think Japan in and of itself is pretty deep waters - culturally, food-wise, areas, things to do. I think it would be hard to run out of things to write about.
Harrison Moore: I agree because you could even start looking at things from different perspectives. I mean there's so many things, we could resurface old content that was popular and give it a reframe. I think you're right. I think it feels like one of those things where because you're so unique, and you're ever-changing, because you've chosen a country that offers so much, I can't see there being a limit to the stuff you're writing about on Japan or Die personally. And there's an optimistic thing in there as well. I don't want you to stop writing about it because it's such a fascinating place.
We've been there three times. I don't like saying I have a favorite country, but look, we've been back to Japan three times. We still talk about it. My friend Matt came to visit me for one week while we were there, he ended up extending his stay to five weeks, then to three months. He's come back to England. He's just got a visa for a year and he's going back over there in June just to live there indefinitely. This is the power of the place.
Algis Tamosaitis: That's fantastic.
Harrison Moore: So, in the interests of constraint, I'm thinking let's try and round this out now. I'm curious to know what's next for you and Japan or Die. Do you have any ideas cooking that you've not tried yet? Are there any particular topics you're wanting to tackle that you're finding either challenging or exciting?
Algis Tamosaitis: I think that's a great question. I've been trying to get ahead with the issues that come out so that I can produce some very useful kind of tools for people to just get more out of their trip, travel better. I'd like to get some itineraries out there. I'm working on a very easy to access mini language guide specifically for chatting with people in an izakaya setting, the Japanese pub setting. So, this is not like asking for directions or learning the days of the month, months of the year, or stuff like that.
Harrison Moore: To talk.
Algis Tamosaitis: It's just small talk and pub talk. And then also basically a restaurant guide that would be focused on all these places that I've found and surfaced and people have told me about that are not generally featured in Western media, just so people have options and starting points for their adventure that they can then customize to what they like to do.
Harrison Moore: I can tell you as someone that travels full-time at the moment, the desire for good quality recommendations for things that are off the beaten track, that are not in the Lonely Planet guides, that are not just at the top of Reddit threads - there's a massive desire for that sort of stuff. Every place we go, I'm kind of confused. I feel like I have to start again. I'm thinking "who's the Algis of this country?" Is there a person writing about Lima, Peru in the same way that you are? Admittedly I've not done tons of research to find it, but I haven't found it. I guess I just want to say I do think your blog is much needed for people that like to do things, to think for themselves, to try different things off the beaten track and not necessarily live such a templated experience when they're traveling.
Algis Tamosaitis: Thanks, man. I appreciate that. And I do tell people that that's a good hack - to find a person that you relate to, you find comfort in their writing, you're like, "I think I agree with this person's mindset." And if they specialize in that, then you get a much faster intro to that.
One of my earliest trips to Japan, I think it might have been my second or third trip, I was able to convince a college friend who had lived in Japan for two years to meet me there. And so that was my real introduction to Japan through the eyes of the old hand, the expert, the expat, and that changed everything completely - from tourist to, I mean I'm still a tourist when I'm traveling there, but just experiencing it in a different way, not being afraid of different things. You just have to put yourself out there. Those experiences are readily available for anyone that's willing to just step out of their comfort zone a little bit maybe.
Harrison Moore: And you're going to be in Japan this year. I'm just thinking if anyone's watching this and they're in Japan or they're going to Japan and maybe they want to get in touch with you or whatever, is that something you're open to - people reaching out and just saying hi?
Algis Tamosaitis: Absolutely.
Harrison Moore: When are you roughly going to be there? What sort of dates?
Algis Tamosaitis: I'm taking some friends on a tour at the end of June and then into July. So, that would be the time frame. I don't have the end date set yet. That's still flexible.
Harrison Moore: It's always good to keep a flexible exit date when you're in Japan because you can just end up staying there.
Algis Tamosaitis: Yes.
Harrison Moore: Final question. Thanks for doing this by the way. It's been a lot of fun. I think I've really enjoyed the conversation. I hope other people find it interesting as well. Where can people find you and your work?
Algis Tamosaitis: Basically it's japanordie.beehive.com I was like, what's the point of upgrading to my own thing right now? I'm really proud of what I built with the newsletter and I had promised myself that I would do it for at least a year to see how things are going. And it's really funny. Today is the 15-month anniversary to the date - it launched January 11th of 2024. And from 20 of my friends reading it to 2,000 people reading it now in a little over a year.
Harrison Moore: Cool, man. All right, thanks. I'm going to hit stop on this. We can carry on chatting a little bit.
Algis Tamosaitis: Sounds good.
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