Loveletter To Japan is a collection of night photos from my final evenings in Tokyo.

Photograph of a dim set of modern buildings near a city train.Zoom-in to a dimly lit stairway at night.Chaotic frame of power poles, wires, and snippets of concrete building facades.

At first, things were difficult. A language I didn't speak, a half-assed effort to fit into the foreign social protocols of a vastly different society, and no friends or acquaintances.

Even among other international students I realized how varied peoples' values were. We tend to surround ourselves with the same set of people in our own bubble. In my case, these were artists, designers, and coders.

But in Japan, I met with people from all walks of life; ones that didn't care much for my hobbies or art.
I was used to sharing a portfolio and website as a conversation starter. Without that, I was left wondering how to find common ground.

But what began as a social challenge became the greatest blessing.

Dimly lit set of angularly staggered balconies with a pale green light coming from one of the glass doors.Flat framing of a dimly lit staircase with a net grid in front of it.Single slit of light between two modern buildings.Outdoor stairway with windows on the other side of the building glowing red.

Productivity is all I cared for. But, in Japan, the way of life was simpler. Time didn't quite move as much, and the present remained in clear sight.

In my world, all we spoke about were projects, work, and careers.

But in Japan, among the friends I made, I faced a world where traditional career achievements mattered as little as they should.
Along with them, I let go of the burdens and anxieties that plague a reality where your worth is determined by anonymous followers and social validation.

I haven't let go of productivity, but now it shares my mental space with other fulfillment-breeding habits.
The struggle is never-ending, but each day spent focusing on what one enjoys doing is a step closer to stripping your happiness away from the hands of others and claiming it for yourself.

Outdoor stairway protected by an array of horizontal bars next to which a billboard with blue lighting shines.Red Japanese lanterns hanging in an alley.Dark canal with tall buildings at its edges lit in green.Multilevel complex of distant modern buildings lit from the street below.Blue net covering a set of metal support beams.Dimly lit side of a modern building rooftop with air conditioning units and pipes on its facade.Dark towering modern cluster of buildings dimly illuminated by their windwos.Distant cluster of buildings dimly lit by the street below and their outdoor staircases.Zoom-in to a facade with wooden boards over windows and an array of air conditioning units.

I yearn now for what I had in Japan.

The awkward handshakes and shy smiles of new acquaintences.

The late-night conbini runs, evenings out in the park, and nighttime conversations about the world and life.

The passionate professors who spoke with conviction about syntax, architecture, and games.

The rehearsals and live shows in tiny venues and warm crowds.

The trips through cities and mountains by car, and the exhausting hundreds of kilometers traversed on bicycles.

In short, I yearn for what my time in Japan has taught me: to pursue not only creation, but also experience.

Construction scaffolding wrapped in a green net at night.Night time view of a cluster of buildings dimly illuminated from below.Zoom-in to a dark gray building with dark green ceramic tiles and small red lights along its outdoor staircase.Dark foggy modern building with a single illuminated window in red and the dark cloudy sky behind it.Dimly lit modern building facade with many wires and some trees covering the view in the foreground.Side of a train station at night lit in a dark green blue.

This is all extremely cliché - more than I'd like to admit - but this was the best year of my life. I wanted an adventure, and the experience fulfilled and exceeded those expectations.

To those who made that journey possible, to those who shared it with me, and to those who taught me so much. You know who you are. Thank you, and I look forward to sharing the next adventure with you.