Japan’s Koji Aoki And Yoshio Takusagawa Receive FIS Journalist Awards

Japan’s Koji Aoki and Yoshio Takusagawa were presented with the FIS Journalist Award to honour their contributions to the sport of skiing.

Aoki (72) began his professional career as a photographer based in Europe in his twenties. He mainly focused on the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup and became widely known as one of the pioneering photographers in Alpine Skiing. In 1998, Aoki founded Aflo Photo Agency which has become Japan’s leading photo agency and has been the official agency of the Japanese Olympic Committee’s Official Photobook since the Nagano Olympic Winter Games in 1998.

Takusagawa (61) has pursued his passion for the sport of Alpine Skiing and the FIS World Cup as a dedicated journalist and photographer for more than three decades. Starting in 2000, he has become one of Japan’s journalists who travels with the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup tour. One of his famous literary works is “Endless Winter”, describing Tetsuya Okabe, a former alpine skier from Japan, who competed in the Olympic Winter Games and podiumed twice in the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup.

The FIS Journalist Award is presented annually to media professionals to acknowledge their contributions to skiing and snowboarding, with nominees being selected by the National Ski Associations.