Japan native Kenji Kawano has made a career of shooting Navajo Code Talkers who served during and shortly after World War II.

With his camera, that is.

Kawano spoke about his career at the Sedona Welcomers’ monthly meeting in the Village of Oak Creek on Wednesday, May 27. Each month until summer and beginning again in the fall, the Welcomers club invites a different speaker to enlighten members about the world around them.

Kawano spent his youth in the bustling city of Tokyo, which is now home to more than 13 million people. From there, he journeyed across the Pacific to California, where he set out to make a name for himself as a photographer. Originally wanting to become a graphic designer in Tokyo, he changed his path when he saw published photographs in magazines and thought it would be interesting to meet so many different people.

In March 1974, he came to Arizona to visit the Navajo Nation. It was there that he met his wife Ruth, who has also helped him translate much of his encounters with the Code Talkers.
It was a far cry from the Western films his father had raised him on, Kawano said. No teepees, headdresses or other stereotypes abounded. Instead, he saw the people how they truly lived, and captured it in photos. It was also a dramatic culture shift to the rural life, one he would embrace, as he lives on the reservation to this day.

He said his wife asked him while visiting Tokyo why he would choose to live that way, with everything a city had to offer, to which he responded that he appreciated what the Navajo value and their way of life.

To read the full story, see the Friday, May 29, edition of the Sedona Red Rock News.