Sam Godin is an educator and professional photographer based in Yokohama, Japan. His educational background focuses on Global Studies at the university level and Eastern Asian studies, but he has also uses a decade of experience in photography to instruct classes on basic skills related to photo composition and the camera.

Most of Sam's writing focuses on Japan's nuanced hiking culture and outdoor gear. Since moving to Japan in 2016, he has hiked half of Japan's "100 Famous Mountain Peaks" and has extensive knowledge on the Japanese Alps which he frequently writes about.

Godin is currently a professor at Meiji Gakuin University in the Department of International Communication and was previously a photography instructor at Kanda University of International Studies in Chiba, Japan. Prior to this, he graduated with a BA in East Asian Languages and Cultures and also holds a Masters degree in Education from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana.