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Certified Forest Therapy Guide with INFTA & Japan Forest Therapy Association
Mayumi Kataoka is a certified forest therapy guide and nature photographer based in Sydney, Australia, whose twenty-five-year professional journey exemplifies the power of accumulated wisdom finding its ultimate expression.
Originally from Japan, Mayumi first came to Australia in 2000 as a volunteer for the Sydney Olympic Games. She fell in love with the country—particularly its unique natural environment—and returned permanently in 2001 with a business visa to work in IT sales and marketing for a local company.
Her path took unexpected turns. While working in IT, a colleague introduced her to martial arts, and Mayumi's passion for the practice led her to take over her teacher's school, running her own self-defense classes for children and adults for four years. Throughout this time, photography remained her constant companion, inherited from her father and grandfather who were wedding photographers in Japan.
After moving to Australia, Mayumi's photographic focus shifted from people to nature, particularly the eucalypts that define the Australian landscape. "I see my strengths in these trees," she explains. "I'm learning strength from them." For a decade, she photographed native trees obsessively, learning to see the hidden colors and seasonal transformations that emerge only through patient observation.
The turning point came while researching eucalypts online. A Japanese word appeared: Shinrin-yoku (forest bathing). "I got a light bulb moment," Mayumi recalls. "This is it. This is going to be my lifetime work. I knew it instantly."
Now certified by the Japan Forest Therapy Society, Mayumi has integrated all her accumulated experience—observational skills from photography, embodied awareness from martial arts, and understanding of both Japanese and Australian cultures—into her forest therapy practice. She is co-founder of the Forest Therapy Collective NSW, guiding individuals and corporate groups through evidence-based nature immersion experiences that help professionals manage stress, prevent burnout, and restore cognitive clarity in an increasingly complex world.
