From a young age, I was fascinated by other cultures. Growing up in Australia through the ‘80s – at a time when there were only four tv stations, no internet, no low cost airlines – the rest of the world felt a very long way away. The otherness of cultures that lay well beyond my world was only underscored and amplified by the monochrome images I found of them in encyclopedias, the hand-drawn foldouts of National Geographic, the grainy images on the television and the static crackle of distant cricket matches on the World Service. It was as though such places would only come into clear and coloured view by visiting them in person. Something I knew I must do.

Upon finishing school I headed abroad, to see the places I had longed dreamed of, on a path that led me on to study a Bachelor of Archaeology in the United Kingdom. I have been lucky enough to travel widely and see many of the countries I had been captivated by from a young age. In terms of cultures that capture my interest most easily, the older the better; and when such cultures are found in places of extremes - deserts, jungles, mountains and snow - then I am hooked. As I age, I am increasingly drawn to these landscapes and the cultures they shape. Places that tell their long stories through weathered facades and fragmented ceramics, faded murals and colourful myths. These are the things that interest me.

I first travelled to the snow country of Japan in 2010. Arriving in Niigata in spring, I heard stories of the snow that would bury the region come winter. Tales of entombed houses and snow-walled roads seemed fantastic in the heat and humidity of spring and summer. I simply did not believe them. After all, people are prone to exaggeration. But then it came and life was smothered and slowed. With snow piled against the window I sat in my living room with legs under hot table, drank beer and read. I read about Jomon Man and the Stone Age culture that endured the same winter more than 15,000 years ago – people who speak to us today through fire-rimmed pottery and earthenware ‘dogu’. On weekends I snowboarded, drank yet more beer and discovered ‘sake’. I relished the challenge of living here through winter and loved all the trimmings of life in the snow country. Needless to say, I was hooked and I wanted to stay.

Having completed a Master of Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies in 2017, I have been working as a writer and guide in Japan ever since. Based in Nagano with my family, I consider the snow country my home and want to promote it to the world. Most international visitors to Japan spend little time outside the major cities meaning that the places, people and stories of the snow country remain largely unknown to the outside world. I want to help change that.

‘Snow Country Stories Japan’ is a platform for stories about all aspects of life here. Stories that reflect the reality and inherent qualities of this place rather than an idealised form. It is an acknowledgement that through such stories we can tap into the essence of a place and find value that we might otherwise have missed. That certainly holds true in the snow country. Expect diverse stories as told by women and men, young and old, Japanese and foreigners all carving out lives in the snow country. I hope you find those stories as engaging as I do.