For some, to live is to be free. It’s about never being beholden to one hobby or profession, soaking up as much knowledge as possible and letting yourself be driven by curiosity. It’s about travelling as much as you can, venturing into the far reaches of the world and seeing what you discover. For these individuals, life isn’t meant to be measured in halves. They want it all. Waking up with the sun, they worry they won’t have enough time to accomplish everything in the day. Sleeping with the moon, they slip deeper into dreams where they imagine all that’s yet to be done. Growing up with my cousin Yōsuke, it was impossible to predict that he would mature into someone who possessed such an appetite for living. Yet that’s what Yōsuke wants—he wants to be free.
Born in Ashiya, a coastal city in Japan’s Hyōgo prefecture, Yosuke experienced a peaceful childhood. Surrounded by oceans and mountains everywhere, his hometown offered an enduring tranquility and served as the ideal playground for a young boy who loved to explore freedom. Every weekend he’d go running at the beach with his dad and hikes up Mount Rokkō were another common family activity. Yōsuke also adored riding his bicycle, skateboarding, and playing football. Consequently, a love of the outdoors was entrenched in Yōsuke from an early age, but when he turned six, he’d be introduced to another life-long passion.
In elementary school, Yōsuke befriended a classmate who’d moved from Nara prefecture. Along with a different background, Yōsuke’s new friend brought gadgets like an iPod with him, and witnessing the wondrous wizardry of that piece of technology for the first time, Yōsuke asked his father if he would buy one for him too. His dad agreed, but there remained a problem: Yōsuke didn’t know what music to download onto his new iPod. Once again, his father offered a hand. Showing his son musicians like Michael Jackson, Bon Jovi, Enya, and Joe Hisashi, Yōsuke’s dad played a crucial role in shaping his musical identity. “While all the other kids were listening to anime songs, I was listening to more ‘adult’ music,” Yosuke recalled. Some startled him at first, yet also broadened his perspective of how free artists could be through sonic expression. The older Yōsuke got, the more music enamoured him. However, alongside his childhood hobbies, he also harboured lofty dreams of becoming a sumo wrestler and—he joked with a smirk—a pirate.
When Yōsuke turned ten, his dad’s job relocated the family to Suzhou, China. The move stirred mixed feelings in Yōsuke. On one end, seeing more of the world excited him. On the other, he admitted to not having the best image of China—largely shaped by stereotypes portraying Chinese culture and tourists unfavourably. Having said that, in the three years that Yōsuke would end up living in Xuzhou, he came to understand that a lot of those narratives only magnified a fraction of a vast country. Instead, Yōsuke grew to appreciate the culture and learned a vital truth: differences between countries, cultures, and people are meant to be celebrated, not condemned. With that, the seed for his future wanderlust was planted, teaching him that there was an entire world to experience if he was willing to go and see it.
Right before Yōsuke’s older sister entered high school, his family—except for his father who remained in China for work—moved to Tokyo. Coming home gave Yōsuke a profound sense of satisfaction. As he put it, “China could be a little dangerous, so I felt free when I came back. In China I couldn’t do anything without my parents but after returning to Japan I was able to be by myself more.” Yōsuke put his newfound freedom to good use by exploring as much of Tokyo as he could. Still in his mid-teens, he went everywhere by himself. From daily bike rides from his home in Ayase to famed landmark Tokyo Skytree, to hopping on the train into Tokyo’s youth playground of Shibuya. These solo adventures around the city allowed Yōsuke’s innate independence to bloom, and instilled in him a love of being alone. For him, solitude gave him the space to do whatever he wanted. He didn’t have to rely on others or worry about their needs, and this self-reliance is something he carries with him today.
Yōsuke’s transition to high school brought an even greater change. While a lot of Japanese high schools enforce stringent rules like wearing mandatory uniforms, Yōsuke says the one he attended was more relaxed. The school prioritised student autonomy—making it the ideal fit for the increasingly independent Yōsuke. One of his most significant displays of self-expression came as a result of a fascination with dancing. The spark ignited after he watched his older sister do a dance performance. Coupling that with the music he was listening to—artists like Chris Brown, Kendrick Lamar, and Snoop Dogg—Yōsuke joined both his school’s hip hop dance club and an extracurricular dance school. The inherently freeing nature of dance captivated him from the start. Then the thrill of performing in front of a crowd added a layer of fulfilment that influenced Yōsuke to fully embrace the dance world. From shaving his hair to growing it out and braiding it, Yōsuke’s appearance began to represent the hobby he’d devoted his time to. Throughout it all, both his school and parents were supportive, bestowing upon Yōsuke another lesson: you can be as free as you want so long as you’re not breaking the law.
Upon graduating from high school, Yōsuke hit his first major roadblock to freedom. His passion for travel, dancing, and Western music culminated in a dream of studying at a college in America. However, due to the expensive tuition fees, his family wasn’t able to afford the cost. Faced with the inability to move forward in the direction he preferred, Yōsuke opted for what he deemed the next best option: travel. In order to fund his journeys, he made a bold move and applied for work at a Honda car factory in Saitama prefecture outside of Tokyo. The job paid well for the recent high school graduate, and so not really understanding just what he was getting himself into, he decided to take the plunge. His work centered around conducting quality control on a car body before it advanced into a colouring stage. It was mechanical labour that lacked the freedom and creativity Yōsuke craved. To make matters worse, he lived in a plain, empty dorm and all of his colleagues were middle aged men whose idea of recreation was smoking, drinking, and pachinko (a type of Japanese arcade game used for gambling). To cope, Yōsuke lifted weights and took an online university course, holding on to his dream of studying abroad in America. Still, going from the liberty of his former life to the suffocating roboticness of his factory job caused him to feel jaded, lonelier than ever, and on the edge of losing his mind. Travel was the only thought that sustained him.
Yōsuke saved up as much money as he could, quit his job, and hit the road. He visited countries like Australia, Egypt, England, France, and Thailand, marvelling at the differences that made each nation their own. When he didn’t get a chance to fly abroad, Yōsuke scratched his travel itch by visiting cities across Japan. On those journeys he discovered just how special his motherland could be, finding it contained everything he wanted: from metropolitans like Tokyo all the way to natural wonderlands that reminded him of his youth in Ashiya. With every trip, Yōsuke fed his insatiable appetite for adventure. Just like moving to China revealed that places were often unlike the way they were portrayed, every stamp on his passport spurred Yōsuke’s imagination with all the possibilities abounding in the world. However, he also understood that he wanted to do more than just travel—he wanted to document his experiences too. His father and grandfather both loved photography and Yōsuke had even received a camera for his eighteenth birthday. With that, he started taking photos and at nineteen, this developed into a fascination with vlogging on YouTube. These hobbies gave Yōsuke an outlet to capture and share his expeditions, and became pursuits he would pour his time and energy into for years to come.
When his money ran out, Yōsuke started working a range of odd jobs. There was his work as a “catcher” in Tokyo’s nightlife district Roppongi (people who try to get you to come into the club or bar they represent). He credits the job for sharpening his social skills as well as his English given that many customers were foreigners. Besides that, he interned for a portrait photographer called Ken Hirama, worked part-time in a cafe, and even delivered for Uber Eats. Despite all of his efforts, fate wouldn’t be so kind. In 2020, the Covid pandemic hit Japan causing nationwide lockdowns. For the freedom-seeking Yōsuke, it was a nightmare come true. Cooped up at home, his lust for life left his body and he fell into a depression. He started believing that even work wasn’t worthwhile as he saw no end to Covid’s debilitating effects. At that moment, Yōsuke’s aunt offered a lifeline: an extra room at her home in Komazawa-Daigaku, an area in more central Tokyo compared to his house in Ayase. Yōsuke accepted and came to live with us.
I formed an opinion of Yōsuke’s situation during the roughly six month period that he stayed with us in Komazawa. Admittedly, it wasn’t positive—by then I’d heard of his incessant job hopping and the vague, ongoing dream of studying in America. Nonetheless, seeing him on a daily basis, it was difficult to gather any sense that he was making a concerted effort to achieve those goals. Instead, his days appeared to pass in a casual, carefree manner. What I realise now is just how desperately Yōsuke wanted to get out of Tokyo. Eventually, he resolved to head to Australia instead. As Covid restrictions lifted, the country became one of the few viable destinations for him to relocate to. Even better were the working visas they provided, which turned his dreams into something attainable. Yōsuke didn’t have to think twice. Booking his flight, he set off without so much as a glance back. Therein lay the paradox that I’d come to appreciate about Yōsuke. While he liked to experiment with different hobbies and jobs, and occasionally became possessed by lofty goals, it was all for the sole purpose of being free. He understood the sacrifices he had to make. Moreover, he’d find a way no matter what.
Yōsuke landed in Perth and started working as a labourer. While the job was tiring, in a way there was nothing more Yōsuke wanted to be doing. To go from feeling confined in Tokyo to toiling in the Australian heat was exactly the transition he needed, and he welcomed his new life without complaints. To top it all off, he was blessed with a group of friends—many from England and France—that accepted him even though his English wasn’t up to the level it’s at today. There were times he had trouble understanding them but as Yōsuke put it, it rarely mattered given that they spoke one common language: a love of partying. While days could be laborious, they blew off steam in the evenings by hitting up as many parties around town. There had never been a more joyful period: living in a foreign land, earning some money, and making friends with people from around the world.
After the first year, Yōsuke decided he wanted a higher-paying job so he applied for work as a cook and cleaner in a mine. With a two-weeks-on, one-week-off schedule, the mine gave Yōsuke time and money to start travelling again. He visited places within Australia and nearby countries like Indonesia and Japan. Besides getting the chance to explore, it was during this period that Yōsuke started DJing. The previous year of partying had sparked his interest, but the truth was, he’d been curious for a while. Even back in Tokyo, he and his friends would take short trips in search of areas teeming with nature. Electronic music served as the soundtrack on their drives, so Yōsuke’s eventual shift from a listener to a player can be traced all the way back to those excursions. After another year saving, Yōsuke set off on an even bigger expedition: America, the land that had been his north star for so long. Arriving in New York, the city blew him away for its grandiosity and pace. Having watched so many movies set in New York, to finally be there gave him the sense he was now starring in his own epic. After America, Yōsuke stopped off in Europe and reunited with friends he’d made in Australia in England, France, and Italy. He lived life without care: touring around on a buddy’s camper van, drinking Pastis in the morning, lounging at the beach in the afternoon, and heading out to party at night. While the fun never seemed like it could end, once his working visa expired, he returned to Japan.
Since his return, Yōsuke has continued to prioritise travelling. When I asked him what his journeys taught him, he responded, “I don’t think I’ve travelled enough for it to teach me things. I’m still just following my passion. Sometimes people think they need to do something to get something back, but I don’t think everything has to be meaningful.” He went on to recount his time in Australia. “When I was in Australia me and my friends were there to have fun. We didn’t worry about our lives or the future—we just lived in the present. So I don’t seek for things to learn or gain from traveling. I just want to see the country’s culture and people. And if all I remember at the end is, ‘that was fun’, that’s ok. People these days need time to think about nothing and have fun.”
Sri Lanka has been one of his most memorable experiences so far. A yoga fanatic when he stayed in the country, Yōsuke immersed himself in Ayurverda Yoga, a school of yoga that blends the Ayurvedic principles (an alternative medicine system with roots in India) with yoga. Staying in a village without electricity, gas, or internet, he ate vegan food made from local produce, practiced yoga twice a day, and meditated. Sri Lanka was so memorable because Yōsuke believes he got to witness an authentic side to its culture. It was there he also developed a love of street photography thanks to an American photographer called Steve McCurry. Known for his stunning photo of the Afghan girl with green eyes, McCurry demonstrated the profound impact street photography can have as a storytelling medium. Yōsuke began taking photos of everything that caught his eye, developing a love for documentation and freezing fleeting moments in an image.
When Yōsuke isn’t travelling, he’s always got another project on the go. His largest venture to date has been co-founding & Boogies, an event collective born out of a YouTube channel he started in 2024. Describing his channel as “Electronic music for places worth remembering”, the idea was to merge his passion for travel, music, and the visual arts by recording himself DJing in beautiful locations in Japan and abroad. Highlights include Foggy Mountain Ambient Techno Mix shot in Kanazawa, Summer Japanese Alps House Mix set against the sprawling backdrop of a mountain in Nagano, and Pandora Deep House Mix filmed in Wulingyuan in China. What’s striking about these videos is not only the breadth of their visual sublimity, but Yōsuke’s tastefully curated mixes. As he put it, “My DJ sets aren’t for night clubs. They’re for fresh atmospheres like being in nature in the morning.” Rather than making people dance, he wants to induce listeners into a meditative, hypnotic trance. This guiding principle served as the foundation from which & Boogies branched off. Themed as a Coffee & Boogies rave, they offer DJ events during the day. The concept is about enjoying electronic music among a community of people who aren’t looking for a late-night rendezvous at a club.
& Boogies is now coming up on its first anniversary. So far they’ve hosted a number of Coffee & Boogies gatherings across Shibuya and Harajuku. Occasionally Yōsuke DJs but he also stresses that the collective’s focus is on showcasing local artists and venues. The value he places on community-building is part of the reason why & Boogies has been so successful thus far. Besides Coffee & Boogies, they’ve also hosted Dog & Boogies events where you can listen to music and drink coffee in a dog-friendly cafe. Sauna & Boogies included a morning run and sauna session, topped off with DJ sets and freshly brewed coffee. Then Matcha & Boogies put a twist on their coffee rave by serving guests matcha instead. As their reputation has grown, Yōsuke and the team have never stopped innovating through collaborations with venues, artists, and concepts. Recently they hosted their inaugural Art & Boogies event, during which Yōsuke displayed photographs from his travels. In the future they’ve got their sights set on even bigger plans by taking & Boogies overseas. Their first destination is Taiwan in late November where they’ll host their trademark Coffee & Boogies event. Knowing Yōsuke, this is only the beginning for what’s sure to become a tour around the globe.
Yōsuke’s had his ups and downs. He lost his father this year, a figure who not only supported him as a parent, but an individual who’d always stoked the fire of his curiosity through their shared love of music and photography. Despite such grief, Yōsuke’s learned how to stay present. Moreover, his willingness to seek out new experiences means that even in times of death, Yōsuke radiates the light of life. Ultimately, every path he explores leads him back to his desire for freedom. On that note, Yosuke spoke about how hard people try to define themselves by becoming “someone”—whether that be a doctor, lawyer, or CEO of a company. When Yōsuke looks around, he sees people desperately clinging onto labels, convinced they’ll provide meaning and comfort to their lives. However, as someone who’s spent significant chunks of his life travelling, Yōsuke recognised the freedom of being a “nobody”. The guy who’s just passing through. The guy who’s wandering, enjoying whatever he comes across. While some consider that aimlessness, Yōsuke sees liberation. He knows that it’s because he’s allowed himself to be nobody that he’s been able to connect with so many people around the world. That’s why he told me he wants to keep being a nobody. After all, that’s exactly what allows him to be free.
