Astray

02/01/2025

Katsudon in the snow / scrapbooking memories of music for / 35mm / tea / train rides / a pension run by a wildlife activist since she was 23 (she's now 73 and still going) / a boogie to Erykah Badu / conversation / peace, always / Kyoto trip / Fuji-san / bathing in Besho Onsen with chatty locals ~ a glimpse into some tendrils of pleasure from our winter writing workshop! ❄️ Beaut pics mostly by .artifacts + .

One week to go with this collective of kind, activated, kooky and adventurous writers – 😭 which means it's time to read, critique and polish everyone's stories, from creative non-fiction to essays.

We will reconvene in Tokyo on May 31 for our spring session. Link in bio, 2 spaces left. 🖊

01/30/2025

Brains and hearts exploding in Tokyo this cosy winter – what is something that gave you hope lately? What does patriarchy look like in your culture? What forms of English exist? What are the ethics of using AI as writers? What Japanese stereotypes were you wrong about? What story changed your mind recently? What makes an opinion valid? What does displacement look like in your hometown? What was the influence of the military where you grew up? As workers in the freelance gig economy, what is our responsibility? What is the national myth around "way of life" in your country? When is it okay to write for free?

01/20/2025

Digital cameras are back, and so is dressing like a kappa, playing Pokémon cards, handwriting in slivers of sunlight, asking your friends about their grandmothers, reading long articles and sharing all your meals.

Photos of our first winter week in Tokyo by , .que and 🍃❄️

10/30/2024

"Am I too fat to ride on the back of a scooter?"

There are reasons there are whole groups online dedicated to sharing the pitfalls and issues one can face when occupying a larger body. There’s a hesitancy in discussing it, as when we talk about weight and size, there’s not a lot of sympathy from people who don’t have to consider these things...

10/17/2024

...and actually might bring us one step closer to human-bear co-existence in rural Japan.

Veganism, a growing awareness of biodiversity loss and an increase in consciousness around animal cruelty has meant that our image of hunting these days tends to be negative. Considering the unnecessary cruelty involved in trophy hunting, shark finning and poaching, often, this reaction seems justif

09/29/2024

Spend a month in Tokyo learning the ropes of freelance writing with a bunch of like-minded solo travellers.

Do a month-long freelance writing workshop in Japan with Astray. Live in a quaint Tokyo neighbourhood, learn Japanese and refine your skills.

08/30/2024

Sweet summer memories of our Tokyo writing workshop flooding in courtesy of a film drop by ! 🌸

This is the first time a student has joined us with a beautiful ol' pink typewriter in tow to write poems for everyone (see slide 2), and we sure hope it won't be the last (here's looking at you, ).

We still have 5 spaces left in our winter Freelancing, Media Justice & Indie Publishing program if any budding writers would like to join us from Jan 12 - Feb 9, 2025 for a month of learning, conversation, adventure and friendship. You can apply at the link in our bio. ❄️

If you're more of a warm-weather creature, we're a week off announcing dates for summer 2025, but it's looking very much like we'll do it a tad earlier than usual: four weeks from May 25, 2025, in the midst of fine spring plumage.

08/16/2024

こんにちは from Takigahara, where we’re having a special and sparkly time learning how to make salad from weeds courtesy of , trying to work out whether the moo-ing sound in the forest is a bear or a frog; revelling in the creative food wizardry and natural wine-pairing of ; and connecting with local producers and residents – such as 78-year-old Yamas**ta-san on the right here, who has run marathons all over the world at rather impressive times he recited to us this morning over a lovely foraging walk. 🌱

07/30/2024

Our summer writing workshop is finished but the film keeps on coming! And have we ever hosted a trip without tarot cards? (No lol.)

Beaut pics by .den, , .d and 🌟

Our next workshop dates are:

𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗙𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘁 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗴𝗮𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮 𝗙𝗮𝗿𝗺

🥕 August 10 - 19, 2024: sold out

🥕 2025: taking expressions of interest and will confirm dates (and get back to applicants!) at the end of August.

𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗪𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗲 𝗣𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗧𝗼𝗸𝘆𝗼

✏️ January 12 - Feb 9, 2025: half full and we have dozens of gorgeous applications that we'll be getting back to by the end of August, we promise!

✏️ June 22 – July 20, 2025: these dates are the current plan (currently taking expressions of interest) BUT it's hot as s**t so we are contemplating making it start 3 weeks earlier BUT ALSO many people who apply are Southern Hemisphere uni students who try and squish our program into their uni holidays. If this is you and you have thoughts and opinions pls msg us or drop em in the comments. We will confirm dates for this end of August also.

ANYWAY we love Japan so fkn much, even when it's sweltering, and this group of students we had were truly spectaular: courageous, kind and hungry to do good. ありがとうございます to all of you 4eva ###

07/29/2024

With numb hands, I found a way to type a quick message into our family chat.

𝘛𝘏𝘌𝘙𝘌𝘚 𝘈 𝘚𝘏𝘖𝘖 𝘛𝘐𝘕𝘎. 𝘞𝘌 𝘙 𝘏𝘐𝘋𝘐𝘕𝘎 𝘐𝘕 𝘉𝘈𝘊𝘒 𝘖𝘍 𝘈 𝘚𝘛𝘖𝘙𝘌

THERES A SHOO TING. WE R HIDING IN BACK OF A STORE Then I heard dad somewhere, in the open silence. “Ari! Where is my daughter?”

07/20/2024

Places we've been cooling off this Tokyo summer, from the air-conditioned classroom to the kappa-filled Tama River. Captured by 🌺

07/10/2024

Living and learning together + picking blueberries on the roof of the classroom + talking about what patriarchy looks like in our respective cultures and communities + navigating the world's busiest crossing + celebrating the birthdays of new friends + smoking cigs on the roof of the classroom + picnicking in the park + soothing summer sunburn with face masks + rocking cute fits in the street + sharing story ideas in safe and collaborative spaces!!! Tokyo summer you're obscenely hot (like we're gonna change our mid-year program dates in 2025 lol) but we are having a lovely time. 🥵🦋🌬 Pics by .jpeg and

07/04/2024

The beauty in the everyday (and night) by 💫

06/20/2024

Hot off the Japanese press!! The Astray teachers have made it to Tokyo lol. We've got 26 students arriving from all around the world in the next coupla days (Aus, Aotearoa, Fiji, Hong Kong, Singapore, the US, Canada, Grenada + the UK) for our summer Freelance Writing, Indie Publishing and Media Justice Workshop and we are sweating with EXCITEMENT in the humidity.

05/22/2024

"Sometimes culture is like this – it is the very opposite of what we expect. It’s awkward, it doesn’t fit quite right, it clashes with other parts of our lives and doesn’t work in the ways we had hoped or imagined."

When I was 12 years old, my grandmother gave me an unusual gift: a deep plastic tub filled with individually wrapped teacups. My brother received an identical tub – his was filled with model airplanes. At the time, I was somewhat perplexed by this offering. Although I had experienced an early init...

04/17/2024

"I used to have a complicated relationship with the term cat lady."

Traditionally, being a cat lady means living in a house that always smells of Fancy Feast tinned food and not owning a single piece of clothing devoid of faux fur. Deeper than that, it’s an insult reserved for unpartnered older women – whatever older means these days – to dismiss them for not ...

04/11/2024

"I’ve always had a challenging relationship with faith. This is an incredibly difficult truth for my parents, who migrated from Afghanistan to Australia."

Is Islam being embraced or fetishised? Hosna Eqbal, whose parents migrated to Australia from Afghanistan, takes a look at orientalism, erasure and resilience.

03/28/2024

Spend 10 days living in step with the edible landscape of Takigahara: a rural community in Japan where people coexist with nature, and neither the mountains nor the long culture of food cultivation has moved for centuries.

From chopsticks to plate, together we will build a meal from Japan's edible surroundings on this sustainable cooking retreat.