The Secrets of Sycamore School

Japanese teenagers Aki and Hyuma fly to Los Angeles to learn magic from one of their favorite living magicians, Shoot Ogawa. But when they arrive, they discover that the elite magical institute they’d come to attend was nowhere to be found. In its place: a couple of rooms in a shabby three-story apartment building on Sycamore Street.

Barak Wright is a freelance journalist and media producer based in Southern California. You can hear extended interviews from this story on his website.

Japanese magician Aki Mitsui

Photo courtesy Barak Wright

Japanese magician Hyuma Miyahara

Photo courtesy Barak Wright