JAPAN OR DIE is a weekly newsletter containing three topics per email on how to eat, think, and travel like a local.

  • Go beyond the crowded tourist locations

  • Discover insider spots

  • Make new friends

  • Have more fun than most travelers who only follow basic big brand guidebooks and influencers who do paid collabs with brands

Topics include but are not limited to:

  • How locals tip chefs and bartenders

  • How to find the best izakayas and senmonten restaurants that foreigners don’t know about

  • Where to go to interact with and be welcomed by Japanese people

  • Tokyo neighborhood guides

  • Insider knowledge about Japanese culture

ABOUT ALGIS

I don’t particularly enjoy writing about myself, so it’s taken me a long time to write this about page.

I’m Algis, a real human person obsessed with Japan, food, walking, and meeting locals when I travel. I write the posts. They’re based on my personal experiences living, working, and traveling in Japan. 

My girlfriend, Adrienne, is a completely real, not-at-all imaginary human-female person in charge of editing, design, and other details required to run this newsletter.

Our cat, Moka agreed to be the mascot. He’s quite shy. You can see him posing in the logo. It’s not easy to tell, but he has 7 toes on his front paws (5 on his back paws) making him a polydactyl, Siamese cat. He’s a good boy.

Together we make the Japan or Die newsletter.

Born and raised in Los Angeles by Lithuanian parents, I’ve been dreaming about Japan since I was a child. 

My mom is one of my greatest influences. A travel agent, who spoke 4 languages, she was traveling the world long before the internet, cell phones, and ATMs. She even went to Japan before I was born.

In 2020, I developed a chronic illness that meant reconfiguring my life completely. When one door closes, another opens. The result is this newsletter.

I appreciate the emails I’ve received, I love hearing from you all. What’s more, this newsletter has led to several fantastic new friendships and collaborations with people I wouldn’t have met otherwise. 

I’m grateful for every bit of support in helping to grow Japan or Die and achieve my goal of supporting myself by sharing one of the most amazing places in the world with you every week. 

Thanks for reading.