Travel guide (print and digital) to Japan’s Yamanashi Prefecture, for client Yamanashi Prefectural Government. A collaborative project with Original Inc. (publisher of Time Out Tokyo) and Yamanashi-based media group Sannichi-YBS.

Together with two co-writers, I introduce 140 locations from a ‘transformative travel’ standpoint; revealing how the discoveries and inspiration found at each spot carry potential for enriching a visitor’s life over the long term.

Under-the-tourist-radar locations, tagged as spots to ‘Discover’, include a suburban rail station that is also an emblematic example of Tadao Ando’s architectural vision; and a thousand-year-old Shinto shrine, hidden on a woody hillside, that incorporates a giant toboggan-style slide!

More familiar destinations meanwhile – such the lakes foregrounding Mount Fuji – are given an ‘Uncover’ treatment that enables a deeper understanding of their significance than that offered by the typical travel guide.

Finally, locations tagged ‘Recover’ – including outdoor hot spring baths boasting views of mountain ranges; and woodland noted for forest bathing – are highlighted for their ability to bring about a reset of mind and body.

Print design: Saiko Miyasato

Yamanashi: Discover, Uncover, Recover (Summer 2021)