Originally from East Germany, Alena left corporate Tokyo in 2011 and settled in the remote south of the Kii Peninsula, near the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage trails, where she works as guide and writer. Rural living, nature and spirituality are her thing now.
Love traditional Japanese gardens? Here are two foreigners who took garden and landscaping apprenticeships and followed their dreams in Japan.
Are you fed up with a company job or living in Tokyo? These folks found their way in the deep south of the Kii Peninsula.