Michael John Grist

Fuchu US Airbase Heyday

MJG — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 01:59:49 +0000

Since publishing my 2008 explore and photos of the abandoned US Air Force base in Fuchu, Japan, it’s been one of the most popular pages on this site. See it here. It has attracted hundreds of veteran airmen from the...

The Orphan Queen @ Ideomancer

MJG — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 07:09:12 +0000

My story The Orphan Queen - which shows, slantwise, the terribleness of isolation and the terrible bravery it takes to conquer it – has been published this month on the semi-pro magazine Ideomancer. I’ve been striving to be published in...

Nara Dreamland Heyday

MJG — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 02:23:33 +0000

Nara Dreamland, Japan, was Asia’s first Disneyland clone- opened in 1961 and continuing operation until as recently as 2006. Over that 45-year span millions of people were entranced by its mimicked delights- the Matterhorn mountain, the fairytale castle, Main Street,...

Vanilla Ice Second & more Japangrish

MJG — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 02:41:05 +0000

Perhaps you’ve always wondered. Perhaps you used to protest to your friends until they branded you the group’s uncool pariah- “No, but listen, a Vanilla Ice comeback really WOULD be awesome.” At which point you probably broke into song: “Alright,...

Feyon in the Doll Room

MJG — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 01:42:58 +0000

Feyon is the voice of wealth and pampered privilege in DAWN RISING, my epic fantasy novel. She has never had to work a day in her life; rather she is treated like a porcelain doll by an army of maids...

After the conflagration: a ruined Tokyo dormitory

MJG — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 01:51:06 +0000

In 2007 the Seika Dormitory in central Tokyo went up in flames. The roof was burnt away and flames roared up the building’s old stairways and licked at rooms full of possessions, melting and burning some unrecognizably, leaving others coated...

Hackman Gachapon

MJG — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 03:22:03 +0000

You can buy odd things in a Gachapon. Perhaps attention too often goes to the wadded-up knicker-vending machines (so sought-after these days), and not often enough to those cute little machines sitting so innocently right at your kids’ eye level....

Ruins of the Unmuseum

MJG — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 02:18:51 +0000

The Unmuseum (AKA the Museum of Unnatural Mystery) is like an online Ripley’s Believe It or Not, stuffed full of myth, ruin, and intrepid history ranging from tales of pterosaurs in Texas to mechanical computers built before the birth of...

Orange Injection Candy

MJG — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 02:33:04 +0000

Drugs designed for kids often taste like candy. I remember getting to love the taste of the cold remedy Sudafed, and looking forward to taking it- lovely goopy syrupy sugar. If I could’ve chugged it freestyle, I very well might...

Ruins of The Secret World

MJG — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 02:03:31 +0000

There is a city on the moon. 11 days are missing. The Earth is hollow. The tower of Babel never fell. These are just a few of the many premises of The Secret World, a stunning new MMORPG game that...