Who I am
Japan covers 0.29%
of this planet.
I wanted the rest.
"I don't just want to live. I want to dive into everything this world has to offer — and leave it knowing I truly lived."
7+
Countries
400+
Days on the road
374
Stories written
5+
ZINEs published
The story
Hi, I'm Hiro. I grew up in Japan — a country I love deeply, but one that covers just 0.29% of the surface of this planet.
I started asking myself: what's in the other 99.71%? Not as a tourist passing through, but as someone willing to slow down, stay longer, and actually see a place.
In 2023, I left for Australia with a bicycle and not much of a plan. 162 days later, I knew I couldn't stop. Southeast Asia came next — Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia.
Along the way, I started writing. Not just for myself, but to share what I was finding: the quiet moments, the unexpected conversations, the places that don't make it into guidebooks.
Those notes became this site. And some of them became ZINEs — small books made on the road, one country at a time.
The journey so far
Coverage
How far I've gone
World
What drives me
Not how many countries.
How deeply I know each one.
I'm not interested in collecting passport stamps. I'm interested in understanding — the food, the rhythms, the way people think about time and money and connection.
That's why I stay longer. That's why I write. And that's why every ZINE I make is about one specific place, one specific feeling — not a highlight reel, but a real record.
I'm also thinking about what happens beyond travel — how being on the road changes the way you think, the way you handle uncertainty, the way you find calm in the middle of chaos.
Follow the journey