Just a Week in Tōkyō

my recommendations for my second-favorite city in Japan

Every time I look at a map, I notice something new. A shrine to Susanoo, the asshat brother of the Shintō sun goddess Amaterasu? I have to check that out next time…

Before I dive into the recommendations for my paid subscribers, I have some updates on my writing life. Although I still struggle a little with fatigue, post-COVID, I’ve recovered enough to return to my daily walks along the Soos Creek Trail. This morning, I convinced Hiro to join me. Bonus!

This week, I got back into the querying saddle and sent letters (bios, synopses, proposals, sample pages…, etc.) to twelve more agents. Three have already sent rejection letters, but I’d much rather get a rejection than hear nothing back.

Speaking of which, I cleared out some of my pending entries in Duotrope (an online tool I use to track all my submissions—literary magazines AND agents). Duotrope has a feature that calculates the average response time, and I removed any entries that had far exceeded that average. Hope springs eternal, but if I’ve been on the hook for more than 100 days beyond the average, it’s time to remove the entry.

(When you do that, Duotrope asks you to record the date you capitulated, and every time I see the word capitulate, I chuckle. Is capitulate Juliet’s coffee order? Or is she running behind schedule?)

I also received a few literary magazine rejections this week. However, the one that arrived this morning noted that my braided essay on the last letter my father ever wrote to me had made it to the final decision process, and the editors asked me to submit some more writing soon. That counts as a win in my book.

By the way, if you’ve been unsure about subscribing, this issue of Out of Japan might change your mind. Below the paywall is an incredible itinerary for seven days in Tōkyō (which is, yes, my second favorite city in Japan—both Hiro and I have fallen hard for Kyōto). Whether it’s your first time to Japan’s capital or your fiftieth, you will learn something new and might just discover a part of Tōkyō you never knew existed.