This guy I follow named Craig Mod has raised a patronage that funds his walking and writing work in Japan. This sounds insane, but it has a devoted following, and it led to a momentous moment with the New York Times, which listed the city of Morioka, Japan as No. 2 on its list of must-visit places in a recent article. Mod estimates that this brought $100M to the city.
But what fascinated me about all of it was the wandering. His wandering. Just moving around, stirring things up, turning up stones and seeing what’s under them. That led to increased wealth for the city (he doesn’t live there) but also monstrous coverage and popularity for him.
None of this would have happened without SPECIAL PROJECTS. I wouldn’t have felt the permission to do that 10 city tour. To look closely and intimately. To write extensively about those experiences. So that when — a year later — my editor at the New York Times came knocking, asking for recommendations, I was able to say without hesitation: Morioka! Catalyzing the whole fabulous cascade of 2023. (With a follow-up in February 2023.)
Craig Mod