Japan-based Freelance Writer + Photographer

I was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, spent five years posted in Singapore, where I helped man an IT emergency response center for Y2K, and came to Japan in 2014. I am equal parts travel writer and photographer specializing in off-the-beaten-path destinations and activities in Japan. In the past, I have worked for over five years as a creative director, content producer, and editor for a Japanese inbound travel marketing company, building an extensive list of experience in travel writing and photography as I visited 41 of Japan’s 47 prefectures.

I find Japan endlessly fascinating, and I am always searching for a unique location, event or activity to share with my audience. I’m particularly fond of Japanese history and traditional arts and crafts, and I enjoy attending kimono-related events and practicing tea ceremony in my free time.

My professional experience includes contributing two sections to the Lonely Planet “Experience Japan” Guide (2022), revising DK Eyewitness “Be More Japan” (2024 edition), and co-publishing a kimono styling photobook, “Sheila Kimono Style” (2018) with Dr. Sheila Cliffe. I have written for many government and DMO tourism organizations around Japan, including Visit Okinawa, Setouchi Reflection Trip, Visit Kyushu, and Kanazawa City. I was also interviewed for DK Eyewitness’s well-known travel podcast “Where To Go” in an episode about Japan in September 2023.

I created the text and photography for the following articles, except for a few photos where noted.

Visit Kyushu – Travel to the Goto Islands in Nagasaki (2020)

Shinshu-Iiyama Tourism Bureau – Find Your Inner Peace: Spiritual Adventures in Iiyama City (2022)

Kanazawa City – Find Out What’s Brewing at Kanazawa’s Popular Coffee Shops (2023)

Setouchi DMO – Lose Yourself in the Rugged Beauty of the Iya Valley and Oboke Gorge (2021)

Voyapon – Could Kochi Be Japan’s Best Kept Secret? (2021)

Lonely Planet – Experience Japan (2022) Kyushu and Western Honshu sections (text only, with my own research).

DK Eyewitness – Be More Japan: The Art of Japanese Living, Second Edition (2024) Reviewed the book’s entire text for outdated material and made suggestions and wrote revisions to replace old material.

Tokai Education Publishing – Sheila Kimono Style (2018) Photographed entire photobook.

Geishin Publishing (Japan) – Kimono Evolution (2024) Created about 30% of the photos used in the photobook.

DK Eyewitness – “Where To Go” Podcast, Season 6, Episode 2 – Japan (2023) Interviewed on the podcast for Japan travel tips.

Providing coaching for Setouchi area local guide training for English-speakers from Western countries.

Various FAM trips – Shikoku Island overview; Japan’s Takumi Road (the master artisans of Japanese traditional crafts along the Sea of Japan: washi paper making, coppersmithing, knife and swordmaking; Kyoto to Kyushu by overnight ferry; Shimane Tamatsukuri Onsen Culture and History, and others.