samurai in modern america

Summer 2026 field reports

Vol. 2: The Many Who Caught Me

Held up by strangers. Written down by a wandering samurai.

38 stories · 723,364 likes · 35,987,095 impressions

The Sacred Rituals

I needed to move a sofa.

In Japan, mispronouncing a word gets you a polite correction.

The Sacred Rituals

I mentioned that my garage door was making a sound.

In Texas they told me to stop at Buc-ee's for gas.

The Bewilderment

I ordered one pancake in America. The waitress wrote it down and said, "one short stack."

The Sacred Rituals

In Georgia I entered a Chick-fil-A drive-thru line of forty cars.

In Alabama a man said "Roll Tide" to me as a greeting.

A stranger at an American grocery store said, "I love your jacket, man."

The Sacred Rituals

I called a recommended electrician and he did not answer.

The Bewilderment

An American said "yeah, no" to me and I did not know if that was a yes.

I left Alabama. I am in Georgia now.

The Sacred Rituals

My car made a noise.

The Sacred Rituals

USA. A backyard. A man. A grill. Four hours.

In America I was taken to a warehouse called Costco.

The Sacred Rituals

In Nashville I ordered hot chicken.

The Sacred Rituals

In America they told me the football game starts at 1 PM.

The Bewilderment

In Texas I was taken to a grocery store called H-E-B.

The Sacred Rituals

Update. I have been assigned a function.

The Sacred Rituals

I said goodbye to an American family at eight o'clock.

The Sacred Rituals

I called a man about my roof and he told me not to hire him.

The Sacred Rituals

Wire came in.

The Sacred Rituals

There is a chair in every American house that is not for sitting.

There is a diner in the Tennessee mountains where a little girl showed me a book.

The Sacred Rituals

TOMODACHI.

The Bewilderment

My neighbor has a key to my house.

Americans keep a second refrigerator in the garage.

The Bewilderment

As a Japanese person, one thing that still messes with my head in America is how “How are you?” is b

The Sacred Rituals

I went to Katz's Deli on Houston Street. The man at the door, an older guy in an apron, handed me a

The Bewilderment

A man in Kansas City told me the meat would be ready at four in the afternoon.

The Sacred Rituals

I mentioned to one person that I was moving apartments.

The Sacred Rituals

I am a samurai. Tonight, my army won.

The Sacred Rituals

I got invited to a church potluck in Alabama. I brought nothing. I didn't know the rules.

The Sacred Rituals

In America I bought a used Jeep to cross the country.

The Sacred Rituals

In 1948, a young American pilot gave two sticks of gum to a group of German children behind a barbed

A Five Guys in a strip mall. I had heard the burgers here were honest. A samurai goes where the food

I was driving and the cars ahead of me pulled to the side of the road, so I pulled to the side of th

USA. A national park. A crowd had gathered on wooden benches to watch a hole in the ground, and ever

The Sacred Rituals

At an American cookout, only one man is allowed to touch the meat.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.