After settling into Kagaonsen, I spent some time with a few members of the residency exploring the town of Kaga. What I love about these rural spaces is that they remind me a lot of Philadelphia. The near seamless blend of an older civilization still finding permanence and tradition among the more contemporary ways of life.

Back home, we have Olde City, a microcosm of the very first capital of the "free world", with houses, buildings, halls, and other artifacts of the late 1700s. In Kaga, and in many places around the super island of Japan, have temples littered throughout towns big and small. A slice of what was, and what is. Both spaces are still occupied and maintained and I am grateful that preservation of culture exists.