Read here for previous stories.

Followed by the quiet dawn in Biscaya this spring 2025, Kojiology re-awakened with the first light, and the memory lingered softly as our intentions slowly began to gather once again, leading us toward new encounters. As if a long silence were slowly melting away over that quiet morning, the missing pieces gathered naturally from nowhere and gently embraced us as we awoke from our winter slumber.

Since 2018, without intention or plan, this vessel has crossed seas and mountains, invited rather than driven, visiting towns across more than a dozen countries. Now, as the spring of 2026 draws to a close, it will once again set its course toward a new encounter in Międzybrodzie Bialskie, Poland.

The one who lifted the anchor and raised the sails this time was Tomasz, who witnessed that quiet dawn. As we parted in Biscaya, the image of next time in his homeland quietly surfaced between us, and through his hands, that vision has now found its way into reality.

Międzybrodzie Bialskie lies nestled in the mountains of southern Poland, where water, wind, and forest seem to share a single breath. When the calls of birds echo and the morning mist wraps around the lake, nature itself becomes the storyteller of this place.

In this setting, we will spend three days together, following the orbit of life that is Aspergillus oryzae, the koji mold.
With our eyes tuned to the brief pulse of a life cycle unfolding over just a few days, we will learn organically, through both body and mind, how human wisdom, culture, chemistry, and science merge into one continuous movement.