Katie Okamoto

Katie Okamoto's writing has appeared in Catapult, The Atlantic, Eater, TASTE, Metropolis, and BuzzFeed Reader, among other places. She participated in the 2020 Tin House Summer Workshop for non-fiction and memoir and is at work on a book. Formerly, Katie was the senior editor at Metropolis, the architecture and design magazine, in New York City. Find them at katieokamoto.com.

Stories

Cover Photo: An image of omamori

I Sought a Good-Luck Charm to Write. I Found My Body Instead

To choose an omamori is to cast a wish.

Oct 20, 2022

Columns | Things | Objects Of Affection

Cover Photo: An image of a gold Genuine Original Jean Ring taken by Katie Okamoto

A Key Ring Returns Me Home

By chance, I’d taken up her keys, the keys of my childhood.

Jun 14, 2022

Columns | Objects Of Affection

Cover Photo: An image of a stick of butter melting on a plate

Shaping Butter Helps Me Feel Everything

What I mean is, butter puts me in my body.

Mar 17, 2022

Columns | Objects Of Affection

Cover Photo: An image of the author's combination square which is a tool often used for leveling

How to Ground Your Body With a Combination Square

I couldn’t deny my aches and pains and eating disorder; after a while, it became too exhausting.

Dec 21, 2021

Columns | Objects Of Affection

Cover Photo: An image of a shell on a desk

What a Seashell Souvenir Tells Me About Loss

Selfishly, as a writer, I’m also worried about the seasons to come.

Oct 21, 2021

Columns | Objects Of Affection

Cover Photo: An image of a razor against a blue background

Finding Gender in a Razor

Shaving with it was more seductive than expected.

Aug 10, 2021

Columns | Objects Of Affection

Cover Photo: A pair of hands cleaning a pot with a Kamenoko Tawashi, or a turtle brush—it is made out of natural fibers, resembling a fuzzy donut

An Ode to the Kamenoko Tawashi, the Turtle Brush

Natural, natural, everything natural. I’m a sucker for it, Shinto-ish environmentalist and object-worshipper that I am.

Jan 04, 2021

Things | Heirloom