Shotaro Ichihashi

Born in 1987. Leading figure among the “address hoppers”, a group of people who live while constantly on the move rather than staying at one location. As the advocative of a nomadic lifestyle as an alternative to permanent residence that began in Tokyo, he is promoting this culture through activities such as issuing Hopping Magazine while working around the world. He keeps luggage managed via Sumally Pocket* in his trunk room.

* Sumally Pocket = a digital storage service that allows users to deposit luggage in warehouses and manage it with their smartphones.

Travelog
Tweets from a Hopping Address

Kyun-Chome

Male-female artistic duo consisting of Eri Honma, born in 1987, and Nabuchi, born in 1984. In order to face kyunkyun (sensations of life) and chomechome (sensations of death) around the world using all sorts of means such as becoming wolves, frying donuts, chasing doves, and searching for holes and going underground, they frequently make mid-to-long term visits to various locations both in and out of Japan. Apparently Nabuchi, who was a hermit for six years, now feels a fear of death if he stays at one place as a reaction to his previous lifestyle. They are keeping byproducts of their work at various locations in their trunk room. Their luggage smells of gas a little because they frequently visit Hong Kong recently.
 

Travelogue
Kyunchome Diary 2020

Riku Natsui

Born in 1996. Tokyo backpacker. After being bullied in his boyhood, he built a “box” in his mind and protected his innocence for nearly 10 years. However, upon a sudden fall into homelessness in his senior year at college, he experienced a peculiar psychological “liberation” in leading a lifestyle without a box that we call home. Since then, he has established a shared house and a creative community in downtown Ikebukuro while envisioning the implementation of “a life without floors, walls, and roofs”. The Yamanote Line is his bed, and the alleys his corridors. He is keeping a large stock of 3D prints for his next project in his trunk room.
 

Travelogue
Box Man’s Monologue

Ken Lo

Born in 1980 in Guam between Taiwanese father and Japanese mother. Holder of American passport. Raised in Tokyo, Hachinohe, Honolulu, and Austin. After studying art history at the University of Hawaii, he is working as a translator/interpreter/journalist/art dealer while moving around. He claims that his way of life is the result of “Bruce Chatwin’s curse”. Being a fan of Jamaican music, his dream is to spread “レゲイ” as the katakana transcription of reggae. He is keeping books and guitars in his trunk room.
 

Travelogue
Planetary Hermit Crab

Koh Kira

Born in 1988. Minimalist who travels and works with only two bags. Founder of creative content company MOOV. After dropping out of Kyushu University, he established his web production firm. After four years in business, the Kumamoto earthquake inspired him to do more of what he wanted to do as nobody knows when they’re going to die, and he reduced his belongings to two bags. He managed a blog while traveling around the world. As the head of MOOV, he now leads more than 70 creators, focusing on corporate branding/community forming with the planning/production of web content as a starting point. He runs a blog that reaches 200,000 views per month as well as CARAVAN, a community of traveling creators.
 

Travelogue
Back Pack Hack

Hayate Watanabe

Born in 1994. Studied architecture at Waseda University Graduate School. After graduating, he started living in a hut (legally a “cart”) that he built in a vacant space he rented in the residential area of Halkusan as a practice of “frequent small-scale architecture” in contemporary cities. The hut is renovated according to the situation, and he is keeping his second hut in his trunk room. Starting living with neither electricity nor water, he is now building a legal “residence” on his plot. While living in this “residence”, he is planning to convert it into a “bookstore” that will go into business in early spring. The construction is streamed on Youtube.

Travelogue
"Hakusan House" Construction LIVE STREAM

Fukutaro Noguchi

University student born in Urawa, Saitama Prefecture in 1997. Majoring in cultural anthropology at Waseda University School of Culture, Media and Society. A minimalist since high school, he began “address hopping”, a lifestyle in which one lets go of their “home” and leads a life of travel. Since then, he has been experimenting with various lifestyles using urban infrastructures such as co-living services, shared houses, and tenement horses. He is expecting to work at an urban development/startup support firm in Minami-Soma, Fukushima Prefecture from April 2020 while living in a car. His hobby is cycling, and he is moving and living throughout Tokyo along with the cross bike he is keeping in his trunk room.
 

Travelogue
Fukutaro's Note

Saki Tanaka

Born in 1987. Focusing on the relation between art projects and cities/people/societies. She is engaged in art production through approaches such as research, coordination, management, and casting. After working at the stage production company CSB and the Japan Performance/Art Laboratory, she participated in Port B, which develops projects with a social experiment aspect, from 2009. Since then, she has been based in Port Urban Research Center, which branched from Port B, and is continuing her engagement in forms of observing life unique to Tokyo. Artifacts of recent Port B productions are accumulated in her trunk room.
 

Travelogue
Port Urban Research Center

Issey Enomoto

Born in 1976. Chief editor of sneaker magazine SHOES MASTER. Associate editor of running magazine Runners Pulse. Editor/writer bridging the gap between sneakers as a fashion item and function-oriented running shoes. Ever since noticing that running in shoes is the best way to understand the properties of that pair of shoes, running has become the center of his life. A fraction of his shoes collection is kept in his trunk room.
 

Travelogue
Issey Enomoto Blog

Mayumi Miyasaka

Born in 1950. Based in Nerima Ward, Tokyo and living on the street for about 10 years. At the age of 15, working at a factory while attending a part-time high school, she injured her right hand and started living with a prosthetic hand. After marrying at 21 and giving birth to two daughters and a son, she divorced at 38. She had been working as an accountant for nearly 20 years but got laid off, leading to her current way of living.
 

Travelogue
Daily Life of a 70-Year Old Granma

Yuko Tanaka

Born in Hyogo in 1995. As a reaction to the extreme loneliness she felt living by herself in Tokyo, she chose a life where the presence of people is always felt. She now stays at free accomodation facilities (facilities such as guest houses where accomodation becomes free in exchange with onsite labor) and shared houses in Tokyo. While working at an interior design company, she is on the look for a lifestyle that doesn’t place Tokyo at the center of her life. In her trunk room, she is keeping a bed that she doesn’t need at her current shared house, as well as clothing and books that she has finished reading.
 

Travelogue
yuko note