23 Apr 2025 3 min read

Last Update From Seattle

The "Big Buddha" at Kamakura's Kotoku-in Temple

Hello! There's a chance you're stopping by for the first time. If so, welcome.

You might have been able to tell from the lack of updates on the site, but we've been busy! Let's start with the most recent things first.

The Move

We're moving to Japan one week from today! We've sold or donated most of our belongings, I started a hiatus from social media, and the packing has begun.

Our dog, Sunny, has also completed her move paperwork. This is a massive relief.

Sunny at the vet's office, waiting for the doctor to reappear from the "Friend door"

Our realtor is connecting us with several landlords, and a home office seems likely! I'll obviously keep everyone posted. Still need to reconnect with my contact at City Hall after arrival, but our plan is to start a tourism business in Sendai with a side of content creation. It sounds wonderful.

Sakuracon

Some friends needed a cosplay photographer for Washington State's biggest anime convention, and since I'd already broken down my stream setup, it seemed like a good chance to try out a new lens.

Majima, Kiryu, and Goda; Doing What They Do

I really enjoyed it! My wife and I used to work at conventions like these, selling collectibles or homemade art in the dealer's room. It was a lifestyle I liked, but got out of years ago. Felt good to see things are still going strong!

We also took some hall photos, handed out some business cards, and all that good stuff! If you're here because you got a card (or other goodies) from us, welcome in!

Here's an imgur album with the hall photos: https://imgur.com/a/C3R9KeL

St. Jude Play Live Summit

Every year, I do a fundraiser or two for St Jude Children's Research Hospital on my livestream. They provide no-cost treatment for seriously ill kids, and are 100% run on charity donations. It's not a religious org, either, just named after a saint! I'm actually really happy they exist.

For the past few years, they've been inviting me (and a bunch of other streamers/content creators) to come and visit the campus in April so we can see what's new, and what our raised funds are being spent on. Since they're located in Memphis, Tennessee, this meant taking a long flight back to the South for a few days with my wife.

This year I broke $50k in donations for the hospital, so it felt really special to be invited back! As far as "last hurrahs" in America go, spending three days at a charity event with all my streamer buds is pretty amazing.

Of course, I'll have access to karaage in Japan; it's just that when you're in the South, you have to take full advantage, you know what I mean?

Other than all the stuff above, we've mostly been working hard on getting ready for the move! We still have a lot of things to get rid of, so I'm hoping for a productive weekend on Facebook Marketplace.

We did, however, get a little work done on Japan Sidequest! Our artist (the talented Yeng at https://yengmadayag.com/ ) sent over the first in-color sketches of our main characters:

More on these guys later, but you definitely haven't seen the last of them!