I’m heading to Japan tomorrow with Sister Sarah. I lived in Tokyo for a year after I graduated from college (in ancient times, back in 1997) and absolutely loved it. To put that into perspective they had just opened the first Starbucks, which was regarded with much fascination. I bought a Sony mini disc player, which was going to be the future of music. It allowed digital recordings, though only of other mini discs available on Sony record labels. That included Verve’s Urban Hymns, so that got a lot of playing time as I walked the streets of Shibuya. Now nobody has heard of a mini-disc player and Starbucks, of course, are everywhere.

I wasn’t really on the internet then, I had a few guidebooks and clipped articles from the New York Times. I planned trips with a travel agent, if you can believe it. Then I started to return about seven or eight years ago for work. Certainly a lot has changed, including the way we get our information and decide where to go—whether it’s Instagram, obscure websites, still shots from Popeye magazine. But in Japan, more than anywhere I’ve been, there’s still an incredible sense of discovery. My beloved Kyoto bar (one of the few places I will never disclose) is run by a man who speaks little English but can recite the starting lineups of every World Series team. I found the bar at the end of an alley because I was wandering looking for something unexpected. Every time I go I find something new—a store that only sells ceramics, white shirts and vintage work boots or the perfect soba shop that plays Bill Evans albums during lunch.

Japan is inspiring for everything from men’s clothes to store and hotel design. I’m visiting a wonderful Hoshinoya onsen and a few other hotels I’m excited to share with you when I get back. On the agenda are some specialty stores in Kyoto and the usual menswear suspects in Tokyo (it’s my theory that the best Italian men’s stores are in Tokyo). Recommendations welcome (we’ve come a long way since guidebooks). You can follow along on Instagram in real time. And then I’ll be building out a City Guide for Kyoto here on The Contender.

And I’ll raise a glass at my secret bar and drink to the 1991 World Champion Minnesota Twins!