Outland Japan
Stories of travel, life and culture beyond the big cities. Outland Japan is a bi-weekly podcast hosted by Peter Carnell - a freelance tour guide based in northern Nagano – that transports you to rural, regional and the wilds of Japan in pursuit of stories that lie outside the neon hum of Tokyo and golden trimmings of Kyoto. Stories from the Japanese outlands.
Outland Japan
Fukushima: Portraits of Life By Photographer Yuki Iwanami
In Episode 11 of Snow Country Stories Japan, I speak with Yuki Iwanami, a renowned photographer based in the snow country area of Aizu in Fukushima. Yuki’s photography explores the humanity of man-made and natural disasters such as war, trafficking and earthquakes. As such, his portfolio features his work in countries including Nepal, Pakistan, China, India and Cambodia along with his home country of Japan.
As of March 2011, Yuki was working as a photographer for The Yomiuri Shimbun - one of Japan’s five major newspapers – when the Great East Japan Earthquake struck. Yuki was assigned to travel to Fukushima to photograph the aftermath of the earthquake and consequent tsunami and nuclear meltdowns. That assignment required Yuki to regularly travel to Fukushima and over a period of years, he came to experience an affinity for Fukushima and the broader Tohoku region. Yuki and his family made the decision to relocate to the snow country area of Aizu, from where he continues to focus on aftermath of the triple disaster through multiple projects.
This episode is (in a sense) a follow-up to Episode 07 ‘Life After the Quake: Guiding, Cycling & the Essence of Japan’, in which I spoke to guide and writer Kevin Kato about topics including his experience of the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami and meltdowns – events that led him to relocate his family to Nagano and ultimately, write a book about that experience. Make sure to checkout Yuki’s website - www.yukiiwanami.com - through which you can view his portfolio of work both in Japan and abroad, and follow him on Instagram.
Outland Japan is a bi-weekly podcast hosted by Peter Carnell - a freelance tour guide based in northern Nagano – that transports you to rural, regional and the wilds of Japan in pursuit of stories that lie outside the neon hum of Tokyo and golden trimmings of Kyoto. Stories of travel, life and culture beyond the big cities. Follow the show on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. Please note, prior to October 2024, Outland Japan was named Snow Country Stories Japan.
