@ the Beginning

Some people call me Kaze.

This is the beginning of Eastbound, a personal project I have been thinking about for a long time. The website is still being built, the plans are still changing, and much of the journey exists only in maps, lists, and ideas.

But perhaps this is exactly the right time to begin: before departure, while the road is still taking shape. Moving to Japan for a while was not originally part of some carefully designed master plan. It gradually became the point where several things I had been carrying for years — travel, bicycles, craftsmanship, photography and the need for a different pace of life — began to converge.

Eastbound will follow four main paths:

Journey — the story of this change, from planning and preparation to whatever happens along the way.

Japan — culture, everyday life and practical travel ideas.

Cycling — routes, journeys and bicycle culture.

Craft — workshops, tools, traditional makers and the experience of learning to make things by hand.

I want to find, explore and share cycling routes, culturally immersive journeys and quieter ways of travelling beyond the most obvious tourist circuits. The journey begins in Japan, but I hope it will eventually continue through other parts of Asia.

I also want to document what it is like to learn Japanese and adapt to a new country, with its habits, rules and cultural codes—not only the memorable moments, but also the mistakes, practical difficulties and small discoveries of everyday life.

The aim is to turn those experiences into something useful for anyone considering a similar adventure: routes, places, costs, decisions, lessons and changes of direction.

And there will be photography. Like cycling, it has been one of my passions for as long as I can remember. The photographs will not simply illustrate the stories. They will be part of how I observe and tell them.

Above: a much better looking version of me in Osaka

A little about me

I am Brazilian and Portuguese, and I live in Brazil. I studied engineering in São Paulo and spent much of my career in Rio de Janeiro, working across the engineering and energy sectors.

I am over forty, so this is not a complete restart. It is a planned pivot after a long professional career.

In recent years, I became increasingly uncomfortable with how far my work had moved away from sustainability—and from the kind of things I value: things that are tangible, useful and made to last.

At the same time, I had been developing a personal project around craftsmanship: designing and building bicycles. I have always been drawn to the combination of engineering, form, function and manual work. Turning that into a sustainable activity in Brazil, however, proved much harder than I expected.

Why I am moving to Japan

I grew up in Liberdade, São Paulo’s historic Japanese district, surrounded by references to Japanese culture. I have followed anime and manga since I was young, and later became a kendō practitioner.

In 2014, work took me to Japan for the first time. I have kept returning ever since.

The reason is simple: I feel good there.

Over time, I began to want an experience deeper than tourism can offer. That requires more than visiting temples, cities and famous landmarks. It means living an ordinary life, studying the language, understanding cultural codes and accepting the discomfort of adapting to a different society.

The Youkai Factory

The idea for Youkai began during one of those trips, when I encountered the world of handmade bicycles and discovered framebuilding as a universe of its own.

I also visited makers of swords, knives, armour, kendō bōgu and kimono. The precision, care and continuity of Japanese craftsmanship left a lasting impression on me.

That experience eventually became the Youkai Factory. Yōkai are creatures and mysterious presences from Japanese folklore, inhabiting the space between everyday life and the extraordinary.

At Youkai, I design bicycles with a strong Japanese influence, using components from traditional makers and small-scale Japanese suppliers whenever possible.

Eventually, I realised that Youkai could become part of something larger. I wanted to explore not only bicycle building, but also the wider world of Japanese craftsmanship and the people who keep those traditions alive.

Along the way, I also discovered that Japan is an exceptional place for cycle touring—and a remarkable example of how bicycles can reduce traffic and improve urban mobility.

That was when I decided to go there, see it more closely, learn from the people doing the work, and share what I find.

Where I am now

Eastbound begins at that exact point: not after the change, but while it is still being prepared.

I am making the final arrangements to place Youkai on pause for a while and organise my move to Japan. I have also stepped away from the oil industry—hopefully for good—although perhaps not from the wider world of energy. I still maintain a Substack where I write and exchange ideas about subjects I consider important.

I do not want to record only the places I eventually reach. I also want to preserve the decisions, doubts, preparations, detours and small discoveries that make such a change possible.

I intend to share what I learn honestly and usefully, so that others may find their own routes, prepare their journeys more carefully and create meaningful experiences through travel, culture, bicycles and work made by hand.

This is the beginning.

The road is still open.