Journal — Field Notes
Go to the field.
See it with my own eyes.
Filming alone does not make a story reach people. Beside the voices that go unheard, and into the social issues behind them. Every report from the places I have walked, in Japan and abroad, because I do not want to give up on any life, however small.
Field reports
2026 — Aceh, Indonesia
5.55°N 95.32°E · Aceh · Emergency relief
Daily life sunk in mud, and the hands that dig it out
A powerful cyclone, rare so close to the equator, struck the town. The force of nature made worse by climate change, on top of a man-made disaster: soil exhausted by oil-palm development. Even after the five-meter flood receded, the mud stayed in people's homes. Together with the local organization YEU, I recorded everything from soup kitchens to livelihood support.
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2026 — Noto, Ishikawa
37.30°N 137.15°E · Noto · Two years on
Cats, and the people waiting to go home
Two years after the earthquake. A man who has rescued nearly 1,000 cats as the deadline for publicly funded demolition approaches. A former emergency responder who moved to Suzu and created “Suzukko Hiroba,” a place for children and the community. The “cool grown-ups,” on film.
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2025 — Oita City, Oita
33.24°N 131.61°E · Oita · Emergency relief
Ruins, and the closest distance
To the site of a large fire that burned 187 buildings. Unlike my own reporting, where filming was taken for granted, here everything needed permission. Survivors worn out by the surrounding press. The words I learned: “The camera operator is the person closest to those most affected.”
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2025 — Cebu, the Philippines
10.31°N 123.90°E · Cebu · First mission
Returning home, in a way I never imagined
One day, I headed to the airport with my camera. Typhoon No. 25 hit Cebu directly, and more than five million people were affected. Going from one coastal evacuation center to another, I recorded medical work and people's voices. A week standing, for my first mission, in the country of my roots.
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2024 — Fujimae Tidal Flat, Aichi
35.08°N 136.84°E · Fujimae · Long-term project
Migratory birds, and the people who protect the tidal flat
A documentary marking 20 years since Ramsar listing (selected for a Patagonia environmental grant). The story of a paradise for migratory birds and the people who have kept protecting it. I also organized screenings of the documentary, “Small Lives, a Big Future.”
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2023 — Chiang Mai, Thailand
18.79°N 98.98°E · Chiang Mai · Two weeks in field
Elephants, and the people beside them
Elephants living between the tourism industry and animal welfare. A record of conservation work at a sanctuary.
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2022 — Shimizu, Shizuoka
35.02°N 138.49°E · Shimizu
Reporting from the areas hit by Typhoon No. 15
Delivering relief supplies to affected areas while sharing on-the-ground information as a team.
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2021 — Shakotan, Hokkaido
43.30°N 140.48°E · Shakotan
Sea lions, and the people who live by the sea
Kelp loss driven by climate change, the overfishing of herring, and endangered Steller sea lions. Reporting with Mr. Fujita of the Sea Lions Club.
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2021 — Okinawa
26.21°N 127.68°E · Okinawa
Coral, and the people who watch the sea
Changes in the sea caused by climate change. A record of bleaching coral reefs and the state of the marine ecosystem today.
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2021 — Bangladesh
21.43°N 92.01°E · Cox's Bazar · One month in field
A month of reporting on the frontline of climate change
Rohingya refugee camps, piracy born of climate change, child labor, tanneries and child marriage. The journey where I learned the responsibility of carrying unheard voices.
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2021 — Hokkaido
43.06°N 141.35°E · Sapporo
Suicide during the pandemic
Only three calls in a hundred got through. I reported on the overwhelmed “Hokkaido Inochi no Denwa” helpline, and made a film.
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2019 — Seto Inland Sea, Ehime
33.99°N 132.56°E · Seto Inland Sea
Plastic waste: where my reporting began
Microplastics and ocean issues. My reporting with Mr. Iwata of E.C Oceans is where it all began.
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