Freelance Journalist
Katie Ham is a freelance journalist based in Tokyo, writing across travel and culture, with a background in crime and investigative reporting.
A British–New Zealander, she previously worked as a senior reporter in New Zealand newsrooms.
Her work is grounded in human-centred storytelling, with a focus on stories that explore place through people and the intersection of New Zealand and Japanese culture.
She has had work published in a number of major national and international mastheads, including: Stuff NZ, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Japan Times, The Sunday-Star Times, The Post, The Press, Radio New Zealand, The Spinoff and Capsule NZ.
She has also presented TV story packages on Three News’ 6pm bulletin.
Latest Headlines
What a Tokyo summer taught this New Zealander about climate shock
A realisation after three months living in Japan’s scorching capital: the trick to surviving a Japanese summer isn’t beating the heat — it’s learning to work with it.
Read the full story on The Japan Times here.
The Tokyo paradox: Luxury coffee, cheap meals and a cost of living surprise
Finding your place in Tokyo isn't always about mastering the language or navigating the trains. Former Post journalist Katie Ham, who moved to Japan this year, says sometimes it starts with a coffee shop that begins to feel like home.
Read the full story on The Sunday-Star Times here.
Finding Alysha Hanin: A son, a two decade-long mystery and a renewed search for answers
Alysha Hanin was just 24-years-old when she vanished from a Miami Beach hotel in the early hours of January 6, 2002, leaving behind a young son and a trail of unanswered questions. Now, more than two decades later, her son has returned to Florida as part of a renewed search for answers about his mother’s disappearance. Katie Ham investigates.
Read the full story on The Sunday-Star Times here.
Inside the Instagram courier job that left a young Kiwi facing life behind bars in the US
When Ethan Komiti boarded a flight to Los Angeles in February, he thought he’d stumbled across the opportunity of a lifetime.
Read the full story on The Post here.
Tokyo’s New Zealand-themed love hotel – that forgot New Zealand
After moving from New Zealand to Japan last month, Katie Ham thought she’d found a small slice of home in Tokyo. Turns out it was a love hotel.
Read the full story on The Spinoff here.
Why I left New Zealand for a year in Japan
Armed with little more than a visa, a handful of Japanese phrases and a lingering sense of unfinished business, former Post journalist Katie Ham heads back to a country that shaped her earliest memories.
Read the full story on The Sunday-Star Times here.
Supreme blend: How Kiwi hospitality found a home in the backstreets of Tokyo
In a city with more than 10,000 coffee shops, Wellington-born roaster Coffee Supreme has quietly carved out a devoted following by exporting not only the humble flat white, but a distinctly New Zealand philosophy of hospitality too. Katie Ham reports from Tokyo.
Read the full story on The Post here.