Mark Brazil

Mark is a British-born ornithologist/biologist educated at Keele and Stirling Universities. He earned his Ph.D. for studies in avian behavioral ecology. A circuitous route via New Zealand led him to Asia where he has become a specialist on Japan’s natural history. He has been involved in making numerous natural history documentaries for television, programming for radio, and taught biodiversity, conservation, and ornithology at a Japanese university.

Mark cares deeply about the natural world and loves sharing experiences of the world’s wild places and wildlife with enthusiastic travellers. Between his travels, he is a prolific writer. He has written hundreds of natural history and travel articles for newspapers, magazines and websites and is the author of more than ten books, his most recent being Japan: The Natural History of an Asian Archipelago published by Princeton University Press in 2022, Wild Hokkaidō (2021), Birds of Japan (2018) and Birds of East Asia (2009).

In Japan, Mark works as a consultant to government ministries, agencies and travel companies, providing assessment and advice in the fields of adventure travel and tourism. He also works as a consultant scientific editor, and an outdoor guide trainer. Beyond Japan, Mark’s travels as a lecturer on board expedition cruise ships have taken him worldwide and to all continents. He has worked frequently as an expedition leader of small-group wildlife-focused tours in Africa, Asia and South America. In all, he has led or participated in more than 100 expeditions.