Writing Workshops
Freelancing, Media Justice + Indie Publishing
Tokyo, Japan
Dates
June 23 – July 21, 2024
January 12 – February 9, 2025
Cost
From $4100AUD
With a focus on sustainable travel, media literacy and community building, this program is designed to equip aspiring freelancers with the confidence, skills and experience to pitch and publish their writing.
Description
Explore the arteries of Tokyo as you take part in Japanese language classes and writing workshops taught by editors, journalists, poets, publishers and activists. Work-wise, you’ll be writing and finessing two stories to pitch to the publications of your choice, and in a small team, will put together a travel guide formulated as an eBook.
Tokyo is the world’s most populous city, and you’ll make it your home for a month when you do a writing workshop in Japan with Astray. Here, people soak beneath tiled mosaics of Mt Fuji in communal bathhouses next door to smoky izakaya, where workers in suits share hotpots and tiny plates. Incense wafts from beautiful temples tucked between happening bars, there’s sushi at every corner store and, being such a big city, there are all sorts of communities to connect with and subcultures to explore.
For four weeks, you and a team of other creatives will be living between two quaint family-run guesthouses, attending writing classes and learning conversational Japanese from a chic space in Bakuro-yokoyama. You will refine your writing skills, deepen your media literacy and learn how to get started as a freelancer. We’ll also be having lots of conversations about the current media landscape, systems of oppression and the hype around Japanese culture.
In your free time, you’ll be singing your heart out at karaoke, sampling Tokyo’s food scene and maybe even zooming out to Japan’s fabled mountains, rivers, villages, valleys and coastlines on the weekend.
Inclusions
Daily writing workshops
Classes are seminar-style and will feature a combination of instruction, reading, discussion and activities. They go for 2 – 3 hours each weekday, and will focus on copywriting, narrative storytelling, investigating, podcasting, editing, working against colonial and imperial legacies, pitching to editors, starting a publication, working as a freelancer and more. Click here to read the syllabus. They will be held from Midori.so Bakuroyokoyama, which is a 30-minute commute from one guesthouse (walking and train), and a 20-minute walk from the other.
Group and one-on-one editing sessions for the stories you’ll be writing
In the final week, you’ll be split into small editing groups to workshop one of your stories. These will be facilitated by an Astray teacher. You’ll receive feedback for your other piece and any other writing you’d like us to take a look at in a one-on-one session.
3 x weekly Japanese language lessons
Classes are conversational and sorted into two streams: beginner and intermediate. They go for 1 – 1.5 hours each, and will also focus on Japanese culture. Just like our writing workshops, language classes are held at Midori.so Bakuroyokoyama, and will be taught by bilingual Japanese teachers working in creative industries.
28 nights accommodation
At either Satosan’s Rest or Tokyo Hikari Guesthouse.
Potential university credit via the Work Integrated Learning program
If you’re a journalism, media or communications student, enrolment in the program gives you the potential to receive a full subject’s worth of university credit. So far, we’ve had students from RMIT, Massey, Wollongong University, Charles Sturt University, Griffith University, La Trobe University, UNSW, QUT, the University of Queensland, Curtin University and more receive credit, as well as those attending schools in the UK and the US. This is something you need to chat to your course coordinators about and organise yourself.
Workshop Teachers
summer 2024 (winter 2025 teachers TBA)
Megumi Koiwai
Megumi is a freelance writer and doing lots of other things based in Tokyo. She writes personal essays on identity, some internet culture commentary, and lots about her dating life. She loves to bond with women and share stories. She also loves reading, cooking and is a sucker for an aperitivo. Her last meal will be a tomato based pasta, preferably a bolognese with McDonald fries if that’s not too much to ask!
Kim Kahan
In search of adventure, Kim upended everything, quitting her PR job, music site and radio show to move over to Japan, a country she thought looked fun. Since then, it’s been nearly seven years and she is now working as a freelance writer and occasional translator in Tokyo. Kim has cover stories and bylines in outlets including The Japan Times, Tokyo Weekender and Mixmag, covering Japanese music, culture and travel.
Benjamin Krusling
Benjamin is a poet, artist and critic based in Brooklyn, NY. He is the author of a full-length book of poetry, Glaring, and two chapbooks, most recently It got so dark. His poetry and criticism have been widely published and anthologized – recent work has appeared in e-flux Journal, The Baffler, Screen Slate, Changes Review and the Black Art and Aesthetics anthology from Bloomsbury – and he has performed and screened video and sound work, most recently at Storefront Gallery for Art and Architecture and Montez Press Radio. He is currently pursuing a PhD at the CUNY Graduate Center and teaching at The New School.
James Hunt // Koji Egi
A Melbourne-born, formerly Berlin-residing, ex-advertising strategist/copywriter, Tokyo-based freelancer who enjoys hyphen-laden sentences and cycling. A graduate from the University of Melbourne, an owner of two names, a walking identity crisis. James//Koji is a generalist who sometimes writes, and sometimes gets published but mostly works with brands and artists to make city plans, gallery shows, brand activations and fun keychains.
Gemma Clarke
Gemma is the founder of Astray, an editor and a freelance writer. Originally from Australia, she’s been living out of a suitcase for the last year or so. With a background in travel writing, investigative journalism and breakfast radio, Gemma is passionate about independent publishing, community building and gender-based violence prevention. In her free time, she enjoys walking, making playlists and scribbling illegibly in her journal from trains, cafés and bars.
Accommodation
Both Satosan’s Rest and Tokyo Hikari Guesthouse are run by lovely Japanese families who have worked with travellers for a long time and have children of their own. Connecting with these families tends to be a beautiful highlight of everyone’s trips.
Satosan’s Rest sleeps 10 and is located within the sweetest shotengai (traditional covered shopping street) lined with budget tasty eateries, old stores and a traditional bathhouse. It has a kitchenette and no washing machine, and is a 30-minute commute to class. There is one six-bed dorm and two twin rooms.
Tokyo Hikari Guesthouse is on a road by the city’s river near more modern eateries and bars. It sleeps 16 – 17 people, and has a kitchen and washing machine. You can walk from here to class in 20 minutes. There is one eight-bed dorm, one four-bed room, one three-bed room and one double room.
Allocations will be based on preference and then availability.
Alternatively, if participants want to organise their own accommodation, they may, and we are happy to point you in the direction of short-term rental agencies.
What are we looking for?
This program provides practical, real-world knowledge and experience, and has been designed for aspiring and emerging writers. The program is open to people from all over the world, and you do not have to be studying (or have ever studied) in order to come.
Applicants vary in where they’re at in life — some are fresh out of high school; others are in the throes of a journalism degree; some are studying something unrelated to writing, like biomed or architecture; others are in the workforce; some have never dabbled in tertiary education. Some have been on the road for the last decade; for others, it’s their first time travelling solo. Some people come to us looking for formal writing training; others are seeking practical skills; some just want to experience life in Japan; others are keen to give something new a go.
Age-wise, people tend to be in the 18-to-30-something bracket, but we’re big advocates of age diversity, so if you fall outside of this but are still interested, drop us a line. We tend to attract mostly women and gender-diverse people, but cis men are very welcome too. In the past, we’ve had many neurodivergent and disabled folk do our program, and strive to do our best in accommodating everyone’s needs.
Maybe you’ve filled eight journals over the last five years; perhaps the only writing you’ve ever done is graffiti on the back of a toilet door; maybe you’re trapped in a corporate hellscape and are in need of a break; perhaps you’ve only ever done academic writing and you want to work on something fun where you can use swear words; maybe you’ve got a blog and have been wondering, “What if?”
If you’re unsure if you’ll be over (or under) qualified, fill in an application form and we can have a chat on the phone to see if we’re a good match.
Why do a writing workshop in Tokyo, Japan?
Do you have itchy feet? Are you feeling stuck with what to do next, keen to sharpen your skills and investigate career options, or wanting to broaden your perspectives?
Perhaps you’ve only ever written for yourself before and would like to get your words out there. Maybe you want to explore Japan with intent and purpose. Perhaps you’re into the community-building side of things and would like to meet a network of writer pals.
Hey — you might even just wanna have some big conversations with likeminded folk from around the globe about things like climate change, genocide and capitalism.
From experience (ours and that of the 450+ students we’ve hosted since 2015 in Japan, Spain, Indonesia and Australia), a month doing one of our writing and language workshops with a bunch of other solo travellers tends to be a pretty good antidote to such feelings.
Not only will you gain more confidence in your writing and get a portfolio of published work behind you, but you’ll learn so much about yourself over the course of the month. Though it can be nerve-wracking, solo travel is often life-changing, and many of our past students see coming to a workshop as a real turning point in terms of friendships, self-esteem, professional skills, purpose and stepping into a stronger identity.
If this sounds up your alley, fill in an application form or get in touch to learn more.
Travel respectfully and sustainably
As part of our commitment to sustainable travel, all the businesses we work with in Japan are locally owned and run: our classroom and coworking space, the guesthouses, the teachers’ accommodation and the Japanese language collective. We do not use AirBnb or booking.com due their well-documented impact on local communities, fees and complicitity in Israel’s occupation of Palestine.
By attending a workshop for a whole month, you get the opportunity to really immerse yourself in Tokyo: a slow approach to travel that emphasises meaningful connection and experience over rushing around and only scratching the surface of places.
Learning Japanese is also going to enhance your trip, because even if you’re terrible at it, local people will appreciate you trying and it demonstrates respect. Plus, the interactions you will have could give way to all sorts of experiences!
Cost of Tokyo Writing Workshop
The price of the program is paid in AUD (Australian dollars), and depends on your sleeping preferences.
$4100 for a 6-8 shared dorm
Bunk beds, 14 spots available
$4200 for a four-share dorm
Bunk beds, 4 spots available
$4300 for a triple-share room
Single and loft beds, 3 spots available
$4450 for a twin-share room
Single beds, 4 spots available
$5000 for a private room
1 available
If you’d like to source your own accommodation, the course costs $2850 (and we can help point you in the direction of room-finding agencies). Due to class sizes, we have capacity for 3 students to do so.
Once you get in to the program, a $600 non-refundable deposit will be required to confirm your place, and the rest will be due eight weeks before the program starts. Payment plans extending the due date by another eight weeks are available upon request.
If we have to cancel, the program is fully refundable. If you have to cancel, the program is refundable less the deposit until six weeks before. It is also an Astray requirement that participants in our workshops take out travel insurance. Consider policies with pre-trip cancellation benefits in case you are unable to come last minute for any reason.
FAQ
I’d like to read some reviews.
Peep our Testimonials Page and watch a ‘Day in the Life‘ vid made by an Australian student who stayed at Sato-san’s Rest.
I want more information about the program.
Read our Program FAQ.
What are your terms and conditions?
Click here.
Application Process
At Astray, we are determined to foster a space that is safe and inclusive for all – meaning we do not tolerate any form of bigotry, discrimination, abuse, marginalisation or insulting behaviour on the grounds of gender, ethnicity, religion, background, skin colour, religious belief, sexuality, gender identity, socioeconomic class, caste, disability or age.
Interested applicants should fill in a contact form telling us a little about who they are and why they wish to participate in this program. We will endeavour to get back to you within 10 working days.
Writing Workshops
Freelancing, Media Justice + Indie Publishing
Tokyo, Japan
With a focus on sustainable travel, media literacy and community building, this program is designed to equip aspiring freelancers with the confidence, skills and experience to pitch and publish their writing.
Dates:
June 23 – July 21, 2024
January 12 – February 9, 2025
Cost:
From $4100AUD
Explore the arteries of Tokyo as you take part in Japanese language classes and writing workshops taught by editors, journalists, poets, publishers and activists. Work-wise, you’ll be writing and finessing two stories to pitch to the publications of your choice, and in a small team, will put together a travel guide formulated as an eBook.
Tokyo is the world’s most populous city, and you’ll make it your home for a month when you do a writing workshop in Japan with Astray. Here, people soak beneath tiled mosaics of Mt Fuji in communal bathhouses next door to smoky izakaya, where workers in suits share hotpots and tiny plates. Incense wafts from beautiful temples tucked between happening bars, there’s sushi at every corner store and, being such a big city, there are all sorts of communities to connect with and subcultures to explore.
For four weeks, you and a team of other creatives will be living between two quaint family-run guesthouses, attending writing classes and learning conversational Japanese from a chic space in Bakuro-yokoyama. You will refine your writing skills, deepen your media literacy and learn how to get started as a freelancer. We’ll also be having lots of conversations about the current media landscape, systems of oppression and the hype around Japanese culture.
In your free time, you’ll be singing your heart out at karaoke, sampling Tokyo’s food scene and maybe even zooming out to Japan’s fabled mountains, rivers, villages, valleys and coastlines on the weekend.
Daily writing workshops
Classes are seminar-style and will feature a combination of instruction, reading, discussion and activities. They go for 2 – 3 hours each weekday, and will focus on copywriting, narrative storytelling, investigating, podcasting, editing, working against colonial and imperial legacies, pitching to editors, starting a publication, working as a freelancer and more. Click here to read the syllabus. They will be held from Midori.so Bakuroyokoyama, which is a 30-minute commute from one guesthouse (walking and train), and a 20-minute walk from the other.
Group and one-on-one editing sessions for the stories you’ll be writing
In the final week, you’ll be split into small editing groups to workshop one of your stories. These will be facilitated by an Astray teacher. You’ll receive feedback for your other piece and any other writing you’d like us to take a look at in a one-on-one session.
3 x weekly Japanese language lessons
Classes are conversational and sorted into two streams: beginner and intermediate. They go for 1 – 1.5 hours each, and will also focus on Japanese culture. Just like our writing workshops, language classes are held at Midori.so Bakuroyokoyama, and will be taught by bilingual Japanese teachers working in creative industries.
28 nights accommodation in one of two lovely family-run guesthouses
Participants will stay between Satosan’s Rest and Tokyo Hikari Guesthouse.
Potential university credit via the Work Integrated Learning program
If you’re a journalism, media or communications student, enrolment in the program gives you the potential to receive a full subject’s worth of university credit. So far, we’ve had students from RMIT, Massey, Wollongong University, Charles Sturt University, Griffith University, La Trobe University, UNSW, QUT, the University of Queensland, Curtin University and more receive credit, as well as those attending schools in the UK and the US. This is something you need to chat to your course coordinators about and organise yourself.
Megumi Koiwai
Megumi is a freelance writer and doing lots of other things based in Tokyo. She writes personal essays on identity, some internet culture commentary, and lots about her dating life. She loves to bond with women and share stories. She also loves reading, cooking and is a sucker for an aperitivo. Her last meal will be a tomato based pasta, preferably a bolognese with McDonald fries if that’s not too much to ask!
Kim Kahan
In search of adventure, Kim upended everything, quitting her PR job, music site and radio show to move over to Japan, a country she thought looked fun. Since then, it’s been nearly seven years and she is now working as a freelance writer and occasional translator in Tokyo. Kim has cover stories and bylines in outlets including The Japan Times, Tokyo Weekender and Mixmag, covering Japanese music, culture and travel.
Benjamin Krusling
Benjamin is a poet, artist and critic based in Brooklyn, NY. He is the author of a full-length book of poetry, Glaring, and two chapbooks, most recently It got so dark. His poetry and criticism have been widely published and anthologized – recent work has appeared in e-flux Journal, The Baffler, Screen Slate, Changes Review and the Black Art and Aesthetics anthology from Bloomsbury – and he has performed and screened video and sound work, most recently at Storefront Gallery for Art and Architecture and Montez Press Radio. He is currently pursuing a PhD at the CUNY Graduate Center and teaching at The New School.
James Hunt // Koji Egi
A Melbourne-born, formerly Berlin-residing, ex-advertising strategist/copywriter, Tokyo-based freelancer who enjoys hyphen-laden sentences and cycling. A graduate from the University of Melbourne, an owner of two names, a walking identity crisis. James//Koji is a generalist who sometimes writes, and sometimes gets published but mostly works with brands and artists to make city plans, gallery shows, brand activations and fun keychains.
Gemma Clarke
Gemma is the founder of Astray, an editor and a freelance writer. Originally from Australia, she’s been living out of a suitcase for the last year or so. With a background in travel writing, investigative journalism and breakfast radio, Gemma is passionate about independent publishing, community building and gender-based violence prevention. In her free time, she enjoys walking, making playlists and scribbling illegibly in her journal from trains, cafés and bars.
Both Satosan’s Rest and Tokyo Hikari Guesthouse are run by lovely Japanese families who have worked with travellers for a long time and have children of their own. Connecting with these families tends to be a beautiful highlight of everyone’s trips.
Satosan’s Rest sleeps 10 and is located within the sweetest shotengai (traditional covered shopping street) lined with budget tasty eateries, old stores and a traditional bathhouse. It has a kitchenette and no washing machine, and is a 30-minute commute to class. There is one six-bed dorm and two twin rooms.
Tokyo Hikari Guesthouse is on a road by the city’s river near more modern eateries and bars. It sleeps 16 – 17 people, and has a kitchen and washing machine. You can walk from here to class in 20 minutes. There is one eight-bed dorm, one four-bed room, one three-bed room and one double room.
Allocations will be based on preference and then availability.
Alternatively, if participants want to organise their own accommodation, they may, and we are happy to point you in the direction of short-term rental agencies.
This program provides practical, real-world knowledge and experience, and has been designed for aspiring and emerging writers. The program is open to people from all over the world, and you do not have to be studying (or have ever studied) in order to come.
Applicants vary in where they’re at in life — some are fresh out of high school; others are in the throes of a journalism degree; some are studying something unrelated to writing, like biomed or architecture; others are in the workforce; some have never dabbled in tertiary education. Some have been on the road for the last decade; for others, it’s their first time travelling solo. Some people come to us looking for formal writing training; others are seeking practical skills; some just want to experience life in Japan; others are keen to give something new a go.
Age-wise, people tend to be in the 18-to-30-something bracket, but we’re big advocates of age diversity, so if you fall outside of this but are still interested, drop us a line. We tend to attract mostly women and gender-diverse people, but cis men are very welcome too. In the past, we’ve had many neurodivergent and disabled folk do our program, and strive to do our best in accommodating everyone’s needs.
Maybe you’ve filled eight journals over the last five years; perhaps the only writing you’ve ever done is graffiti on the back of a toilet door; maybe you’re trapped in a corporate hellscape and are in need of a break; perhaps you’ve only ever done academic writing and you want to work on something fun where you can use swear words; maybe you’ve got a blog and have been wondering, “What if?”
If you’re unsure if you’ll be over (or under) qualified, fill in an application form and we can have a chat on the phone to see if we’re a good match.
Do you have itchy feet? Are you feeling stuck with what to do next, keen to sharpen your skills and investigate career options, or wanting to broaden your perspectives?
Perhaps you’ve only ever written for yourself before and would like to get your words out there. Maybe you want to explore Japan with intent and purpose. Perhaps you’re into the community-building side of things and would like to meet a network of writer pals.
Hey — you might even just wanna have some big conversations with likeminded folk from around the globe about things like climate change, genocide and capitalism.
From experience (ours and that of the 450+ students we’ve hosted since 2015 in Japan, Spain, Indonesia and Australia), a month doing one of our writing and language workshops with a bunch of other solo travellers tends to be a pretty good antidote to such feelings.
Not only will you gain more confidence in your writing and get a portfolio of published work behind you, but you’ll learn so much about yourself over the course of the month. Though it can be nerve-wracking, solo travel is often life-changing, and many of our past students see coming to a workshop as a real turning point in terms of friendships, self-esteem, professional skills, purpose and stepping into a stronger identity.
If this sounds up your alley, fill in an application form or get in touch to learn more.
As part of our commitment to sustainable travel, all the businesses we work with in Japan are locally owned and run: our classroom and coworking space, the guesthouses, the teachers’ accommodation and the Japanese language collective. We do not use AirBnb or booking.com due their well-documented impact on local communities, fees and complicitity in Israel’s occupation of Palestine.
By attending a workshop for a whole month, you get the opportunity to really immerse yourself in Tokyo: a slow approach to travel that emphasises meaningful connection and experience over rushing around and only scratching the surface of places.
Learning Japanese is also going to enhance your trip, because even if you’re terrible at it, local people will appreciate you trying and it demonstrates respect. Plus, the interactions you will have could give way to all sorts of experiences!
The price of the program is paid in AUD (Australian dollars), and depends on your sleeping preferences.
$4100 for a 6-8 shared dorm
Bunk beds, 14 spots available
$4200 for a four-share dorm
Bunk beds, 4 spots available
$4300 for a triple-share room
Single and loft beds, 3 spots available
$4450 for a twin-share room
Single beds, 4 spots available
$5000 for a private room
1 available
If you’d like to source your own accommodation, the course costs $2850 (and we can help point you in the direction of room-finding agencies). Due to class sizes, we have capacity for 3 students to do so.
Once you get in to the program, a $600 non-refundable deposit will be required to confirm your place, and the rest will be due eight weeks before the program starts. Payment plans extending the due date by another eight weeks are available upon request.
If we have to cancel, the program is fully refundable. If you have to cancel, the program is refundable less the deposit until six weeks before. It is also an Astray requirement that participants in our workshops take out travel insurance. Consider policies with pre-trip cancellation benefits in case you are unable to come last minute for any reason.
I’d like to read some reviews.
Peep our Testimonials Page and watch a ‘Day in the Life‘ vid made by an Australian student who stayed at Sato-san’s Rest.
I want more information about the program.
Read our Program FAQ.
What are your terms and conditions?
Click here.
At Astray, we are determined to foster a space that is safe and inclusive for all – meaning we do not tolerate any form of bigotry, discrimination, abuse, marginalisation or insulting behaviour on the grounds of gender, ethnicity, religion, background, skin colour, religious belief, sexuality, gender identity, socioeconomic class, caste, disability or age.
Interested applicants should fill in a contact form telling us a little about who they are and why they wish to participate in this program. We will endeavour to get back to you within 10 working days.