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Things Become Other Things

Craig Mod, 2025

Walk Japan's ancient pilgrimage paths and fading rural towns to discover how deliberate physical attention transforms solitude, impermanence, and quiet craftsmanship into deep personal renewal.

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7 parts, about 18 minutes to read.

Why read it

  • A long solo walk through Japan's Kii Peninsula, written as a letter to a murdered childhood friend
  • Shows how strangers' small hospitality and a habit of composure can loosen old anger, grief and suspicion
  • Blends pilgrimage history, rural depopulation and wartime memory with frank memoir of a violent factory town childhood

Who it is for

  • Walkers drawn to long distance pilgrimage routes
  • Readers curious about rural Japan beyond the cities
  • People still carrying grief or guilt from their youth

What the summary covers

  1. The Epistolary Frame and Walking as Bearing Witness3 min
  2. The Communal Living Room: Howdy and the Japanese Kissa2 min
  3. War, Memory, and the Restored Watch Shop2 min
  4. Things Become Other Things: Mountain Hospitality and Transformation2 min
  5. The Gift of Yoyū: Mentor John3 min
  6. The Blue House and Father Seamus: Confronting Grief4 min
  7. Endurance, Grace, and the Finish2 min

Recommended by

  • William GibsonAuthor of Neuromancer
    An epic, exquisitely detailed journey, on foot, through a rural Japan few of us are likely to experience. Uniquely unforgettable.

About the author

  • Craig ModWriter and photographer living in Japan
    • Has lived in Japan for over 25 years
    • Has walked thousands of miles across Japan
    • Has contributed to The New York Times, The Atlantic and Wired
    • MacDowell, Ragdale and VCCA writing fellow
    • Kissa by Kissa (2020) reached six printings

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