After studying photography and holography at Musashino Art University in Tokyo, he joined Asahi Shimbun as a staff photographer. He became a freelancer in 2007 and moved to Kenya. In 2011, he moved to Sao Paulo, Brazil and started working as a staff photographer for Agence France-Presse. His photographs from the post-presidential election chaos in Kenya won several awards, including a prize in the 2009 World Press Photo Contest.