About

My name is Gideon, and I’m a California-based data entry monkey who loves to travel whenever possible.

I took my first trip to Japan in February of 2019. In the planning phase, I found myself drawn to shrines and temples– I’ve always been a “history buff”, such as it is, and Asian history and culture (let alone religious and spiritual history) wasn’t something I learned about in school, so I was very interested from the beginning in seeing as many of these places as possible. Upon seeing my first temple (Zōjōji, in Tokyo), I absolutely fell in love. My partner and I visited several temples and shrines on that first trip, and my list of locations I want to visit in the future is only getting longer.

I also collect goshuin, sacred seals given by shrine and temple attendants in special books, and I want to collect as many of them as I can and share them, as well as information on the places they come from, with everyone here.