As many of you know, here in Toyama, Japan I co-edit a cool indie zine called the TRAM—a.k.a. Toyama’s Random-Ass Magazine. It’s a cool project that features writing and art from around the Toyama JET community and beyond, and we just released a new issue last Friday that you check out for free here.
(Fortunately because we put it out on March 19th, it’s still technically the Winter issue ;-)
This latest issue features a TON of cool art, a beginner’s guide to Japanese sake (which I found incredibly informative!), real-life misadventures from the Japanese dating scene, some Michelin-star restaurant recommendations from around Japan, and original prose and poetry. Two pieces I was particularly proud to feature from outside the Toyama JET community were a photo set inspired by the movie Amelie by Japanese photographer Maplens and model Amy Davis, and an article about Naomi Osaka and mixed-race Japanese athletes we reprinted through a collaboration with AJET Connect magazine, which covers all of Japan. Both required some networking on my part, and served as a cool way of flexing my editor muscles ;-)
I work on the TRAM with layout/designer Amy Ether and co-editor/social media guru Tiana Steverson Pugh, without whom the issue would literally not have been possible. I especially dig Amy’s hard-copy ’90s magazine-inspired feel (complete with paint splatters), so you should totally give the issue a browse if for no other reason than to see her rad design.
This is normally the place where I’d say a bit more about how we put the issue together, though I already talked a lot about that in my post about our Fall issue. So, I’ll cut this post short and leave you to check out the actual TRAM issue—enjoy!