A signature expression of his style, subject matter and viewpoint remains Village Japan: the Four Seasons of Shimukappu, an album that took almost two years to make, photographed in Shimukappu, Hokkaido.
Shimukappu is the location of a new nature reserve, called the Horoka Tomamu Montane Forest, established in 2010, the United Nations International Year of Biodiversity.
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Shimukappu and Tomamu have a student exchange/sister city program with Aspen, Colorado.