@craigmod.com
Writer & photographer. Japan based for 20+ years. Author of Things Become Other Things (Random House: May 2025), Kissa by Kissa (2020). Contributor to NYTimes, Atlantic, WIRED, and more. Walks a lot. Bla bla bla!! shop.specialprojects.jp craigmod.com
Amazing to chat with @craigmod.com about his book Things Become Other Things, his friends, his mentors, the Japanese language, being an old man whisperer, AI, purpose... oh, all the stuff!
newsletter.readcurious.xyz/p/craig-mod-...
The CIA just stopped publishing their World Factbook and took every page, including the archived copies of previous versions!
This sucks. It was public domain, so I recovered the 2020 edition (the last one published as a zip file) and shared it to GitHub simonwillison.net/2026/Feb/5/t...
aaaannndddddd GONE
there seems to be one fine art edition of TBOT left in the shop; I believe this is truly the last copy of this edition: shop.specialprojects.jp/products/thi...
Thank you! β€οΈ
tonight's TBOT event with motoyuki shibata was sold out, but I added a few more ticket spots; 19:30 @ dandelion chocolate Kuramae:
tbot.peatix.com/view
TBOT Tokyo Event, one week from today (a few tix left) (and please use the Student Tickets if price is an issue!!): tbot.peatix.com/view
Two weeks until my TBOT event with Motoyuki Shibata β about 25 tickets left (out of 80): tbot.peatix.com/view
Some additional notes on my 2026 New York Times 52-Places to Go pick: Nagasaki
craigmod.com/ridgeline/221/
that's me π
Having a TBOT book event in Tokyo: "THINGS BECOME HOT CHOCOLATE"
January 23 @ Dandelion Chocolate in Kuramae, in conversation with translator Motoyuki Shibata
tbot.peatix.com/view
reading in situ with @craigmod.com
100 Notable Small Press Books of 2025. The big end-of-year lists mostly feature books from big publishers; this list aims to spread the attention to smaller publishers. [lithub.com]
"Thereβs a ruthlessness thatβs taken hold across all cultural making. Everything turned into a casino, 'traps' galore. Billions as the only goal. Leave βnothing on the table.β Epicurean maximizing. That sort of thing. AI now turning solid ground liquid for the next decade."
craigmod.com/roden/109/
don't think so but it shows the libraries people want it, so they buy more copies which is always good β more copies in libraries!
For some reason, it looks like the ebook edition of Things Become Other Things is $1.99 today. (Hardcover is also $17, which is the cheapest I've seen it; I still get the same royalties, so, you know, please, buy away π)
amzn.to/4ntXoYW
οΌNEW BOOK ALERTοΌ This beauty is being printed as we speak (the pictured is a mockup):
272 full colour pages with the best stories from the Mundo Mendo website. Foreword by @craigmod.com
Presale is open at
MundoMendo.com/books
Become a SEMIBOLD (or BOLD Member) to get it for free.
π Shipping s
Walking 200km of the Kiso-ji (back and forth) starting on Thursday; more deets and signup links here:
craigmod.com/ridgeline/216/
A new pop-up walk and newsletter from @craigmod.com is a reason to rejoice. https://mailbot2000.craigmod.com/h/r/3D7AC42BDB99659A2540EF23F30FEDED
"jumper"!! I didn't write "jumper" in my original english π
You can listen to all the conversations @craigmod.com did during his recent TBOT book tour as a podcast series -- I started with the Robin Sloan one, and it's really great. I've listened to 3 of them now, and they are all a bit different, due to the interviewer. craigmod.com/books/things...
these terrible, idiotic networks that enabled the idiocy β it turns out β perpetuate the idiocy, magnify the idiocy, multiply and entrench the idiocy
The book Things Become Other Things on a side table. Next to it is a coaster with a Shiba Inu.
Really loved @craigmod.comβs Things Become Other Things. Beautifully-written along with a healthy dose of humor that somehow manages to sneak up on you.
holy crap, Adolescence was four very very very very very very intense hours of TV, good god (it was very good, too; esp episode 3, wow)
The perils of Shibuya 2025 by @craigmod.com
craigmod.com/ridgeline/213/
Cover of THINGS BECOME OTHER THINGS: A WALKING MEMOIR by Craig Mod. The cover shows a cloudy sky above tree-covered low mountains.
#Reading today: THINGS BECOME OTHER THINGS by @craigmod.com. As the subtitle indicates, this text is a #walking #memoir, and so much more. Travel writing, personal essay, and cross-cultural storytelling. Stunningly beautifulβsip, don't gulp this one.
seemed to be a different page before β¦ but maybe it's been the same page?! Also, we're into our third printing so I think those might be from the first batch β collectables!
Woke, meditated, coffee brought to me by my wife. More coffee on the porch, transported to pilgrimage routes in Japan via @craigmod.com's enthralling "Things Become Other Things". Yoga, a bike ride to a local bakery to pick up breakfast. Quick stop by my office to get some books.. A lovely morning..
I can confirm that the pain I experienced in childbirth cannot be compared to the pain accompanying the passing of a kidney stone. The latter was worse. This piece was a fun read.