For this story, the writer and I traveled to Kyushu island in Japan for a long-form travel piece centered around the Seven Stars in Kyushu luxury passenger train. On this journey, we walked the streets of Fukuoka and visited Dazaifu Shrine. We toured the Yamamura workshop to see how indigo dyeing methods have been passed down through generations. We visited the small onsen town of Kurokawa and saw the grandeur of Kumamoto Castle. We also traveled through small fishing villages, abandoned islands, and forested shrines, and, after a brilliant sunrise over the city, saw the monuments at Ground Zero in Nagasaki. It was an experience of contrasts, all anchored by the rails of the Seven Stars and the locals we met along the way.