Alastair Bourne

Alastair Bourne is a British writer, communications specialist, translator, and sustainability advocate based in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. He is the co-author, with Henning Ohlsson, of Nature-Positive Leadership: What Can We Learn from Japan and Japanese Companies, published by Springer Nature in 2026. The book explores how Japanese culture, business philosophy, and the country's relationship with nature can offer practical lessons for global business leaders facing biodiversity loss and climate change.

Born in London, Bourne studied history at the University of Reading before beginning his career in the office equipment industry in the UK. After extensive travel and work in Asia, Africa, Australia, and Japan, he settled permanently in Japan in 1997. Fluent in Japanese, he joined Seiko Epson Corporation in 1999. During more than two decades at Epson, he gained first-hand insight into Japanese corporate culture and the evolution of sustainability within one of Japan's leading global technology companies.

Bourne combines business experience with a lifelong interest in Japanese history, culture, and mountains. An accomplished hiker, he became one of the few non-Japanese climbers to complete all Japan's 100 Famous Mountains (Hyakumeizan) in 2022. His years of hiking throughout the country have also given him a personal perspective on the effects of climate change on Japan's mountain environments.