Chris Rowthorn

Born in the UK and raised in the United States, I lived in Kyoto for 20 years, starting in 1992. In 1995 I began working as a Regional Correspondent for The Japan Times, a national English-language newspaper published in Tokyo. In 1996 I started writing for Lonely Planet Guidebooks and since then I have worked on 23 guidebooks to Kyoto, Japan, Tokyo, Malaysia, Southeast Asia, Borneo, and Victoria (Australia).

In addition to running this tour company, I operate three online guides to Japan: InsideKyoto, TrulyTokyo and InsideOsaka.

I’m an inveterate traveler, and I’ve traveled widely in North America, Europe, Asia and South America. My true passion is hiking and climbing and I’ve climbed in the Rockies, the Alps, the Japan Alps, the Himalayas and the Patagonian Andes. I’m also a keen diver and snorkeler, and my idea of heaven is floating over a coral reef somewhere in Southeast Asia. I’ve lived in New York, San Francisco, Sydney, Melbourne, and Tokyo. I’ve also spent long periods of time in Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Paris.

These days, I split my time between Kyoto and a small island off the coast of British Columbia, Canada.