Staff

Jamie first came to Japan in the summer of 2000 as a university exchange student. Initially a Japanese-language novice, a farm stay in the deep countryside of Shimane in west Japan helped him rapidly develop and broaden his Japanese skills. By 2002, Jamie had submitted his thesis, based on interviews with Japanese motorcycle gang members, and graduated with a BA in East Asian Studies from Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Jamie returned to Japan to teach English and international relations in Hyogo and Okayama Prefectures. He then joined the Peace Boat, a Japan-based NGO that promotes peace, human rights and sustainability. Jamie taught on the organisation’s ship and led tours in its ports of call around the world. After his stint at sea, Jamie recovered his land legs by cycling and hiking over 700km from Okayama to Tokyo, a journey that took him on his first trip along the Nakasendo Way.

Subsequently, Jamie’s career included roles as an international co-ordinator for a global peace conference, a bicycle messenger in Tokyo, and also as manager of a guesthouse and event space in the capital’s lesser-known mountainous countryside. Further study led to a Masters degree in Agriculture from the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology in 2012.

Jamie joined Walk Japan as a Tour Leader in 2014, since when he has taken on the development and management of the company’s Wayfarer Self-guided tours. When Jamie is not busy with Walk Japan business, he studies efforts being made into the revitalisation of rural regions in Japan. He also works up a sweat caring for his own small organic farm in the Kyoto countryside, where he lives with his wife and two children.