Yokohama was a small fishing village until the end of the feudal Edo period. A significant turning point in Japanese history happened in 1853–54, when Commodore Matthew Perry arrived just south of Yokohama with a fleet of American warships, demanding Japan open several ports for commerce. Yokohama was the first city to be opened for trading.

I keep encountering worship, for whatever reason, but this feels more like a reminder of who we are and to learn how to be more appreciative.

She has done many ceremonies and performances too, but one must take pride in all or don’t, don’t, do it at all.

Shima san and I arrive later in the evening at a cafe with an ocean view. He rode his bike, and I was on mine, with the trailer following us behind. We were going to meet the daughter of the dancer, but the dancer was not there yet.

We met her daughter on the first floor of the restaurant. I can see the beach of Fujisawa and the Enoshima lighthouse up in the hills. The light just turned on and is spinning.

I can’t wait to see him. Shima san has good stories and advice, plus he speaks English.

From the temple to his house took me about two hours. He already knows much about what I am doing, and I like to spend time with him and his wife—a charming couple.

I arrive in Enoshima. Wow, that was fast; I am a lightning-fast. No, Gabriel, it is called adrenaline.

It was a sunny day with no wind or clouds, no showdowns in the diagonal, and the sun above me, and I was sweating like a pig. The only shade right is below the cars. It was noon, the sun was up, and the humidity had cleared up.

Between conceptual and informative, the project starts to take shape daily. When I started writing for this project and received feedback from sharing my concepts with others, I found out I could not separate the process of making art and my intention of making this an informative project. Conceptually separating the art from the factual documentation was very difficult. I thought, “Was it necessary to try to separate?”

I was looking for a place already. I can’t stay one more night on the beach, and it is so hard to camp in a city.

Four months earlier, someone I met at a dinner party in the City of Fujisawa was telling me about his bicycle touring. Immediately, I start recording in my head. I knew this person’s experience would be helpful. As the conversation develops (Shima San 76), he mentioned that he stayed in a temple during bike tours when he was around 20.

The BridgeMeJapan Project began over three years ago in Miami. The trailer design (Semi) started a week after the tsunami hit Fukushima in March 2011. At that time, only a week had passed after the giant waves hit the coast when my brother called me from Argentina around 4 a.m., asking me if I had heard from my friends in Japan.