Galaxy ⇄ Map: The Ion Transition

Going from the homepage galaxy into “Japan Fieldwork,” what lies between isn’t an abrupt page flip, but a transformation.

Ionization

Click “Japan Fieldwork,” and the whole galaxy “ionizes”—unfurling into a cluster of glowing particles that drift outward, the warm core lingering longest. This frame is captured as a snapshot and handed to /japan, which, on landing, first lays down the same frame as its background (covering the blank moment while the page parses), then fades out to reveal the live map; over there, the particles regather into the Japanese archipelago. It doesn’t rely on the browser’s native transitions—truly seamless.

Both Ways

Returning to the homepage reverses it: the particles are drawn back from the map and reassemble into the galaxy. When faced with a “reduce motion” preference or an environment without WebGL support, it always falls back to native soft navigation—no animation forced where it isn’t wanted.