Shinya is a registered architect with his own firm, located adjacent to the Gion district in Kyoto. As a Kyoto native expert in design, architecture, and urban development, he loves to share Kyoto's fascinating history and cultural wealth, captured through the lens of the built environment and local community, with the rest of the world. Born and raised in Kyoto, he moved to Los Angeles for his graduate studies. After receiving a degree of Master of Architecture from the University of California, Los Angeles, he stayed in California practicing architecture for over a decade before relocating to Japan. Shinya is a California registered architect and a member of the American Institute of Architects. His architecture firm's projects include pre-WWII timber-framed urban housing (Machiya) renovations, which have allowed him to further appreciate what Kyoto has to offer the rest of the world.