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Twenty-two years later, our mission of sharing the beauty of the people, places and natural environment of this great country hasn’t changed, however our platform and our media has. As online booking platforms evolved, we chose to stay true to our roots in story telling and content creation—still doggedly publishing our free magazine (now one of the longest consecutive English print magazines in Japan), but also evolving into web, social and video production to give our followers the content they want.

While we focus on telling the stories of people doing extraordinary things, there is still clearly a need to connect travelers with experienced, quality guides in Japan. Our friends at Kammui recently launched a great online platform and have carefully selected the best guides in Japan so that they can share their local knowledge with people wanting to get the most out of their travels. Many of these guides, expro athletes and lifestyle professionals have made their way into Outdoor Japan’s pages over the years; others are friends, but all have one thing in common—they are passionate about their craft and sharing it with their customers. We’re excited to share Kammui’s launch and we’ll be highlighting some of their guides in our “Guide Lines” series in TRAVELER magazine and Outdoor Japan Online in coming months. Our first spotlight is on pro-snowboarder and Hakuba-based backcountry guide Tomoki Fuse.

Japan’s backcountry is legendary, but with the rewards of some amazing lines down deep, untracked powder, comes risk. Outdoor Japan Editor, and Myoko Kogen guide, Bill Ross, sheds some light on the basics—and some of the pitfalls— to look out for before and during you head out to the backcountry, or side country, which can be equally as dangerous for the uninitiated.

Winter means skiing and snowboarding for most of us, but often overlooked is the simple pleasure of walking amongst the quiet solitude of snow-covered trees and mountain peaks. Shiga Kogen local, Daniel Moore, takes us out into Nagano’s stunning mountains while sharing the joy of wandering Japan’s frozen landscape, as well as the health and spiritual benefits snowshoeing can have on the soul.

Further north, Quinlan Faris lays out the seduction of touring Tohoku’s beautiful, uncrowded mountains, from stratovolcanoes to forested valleys. And Derek Yamashita introduces us to the famous juhyo (snow monsters) that stand guard high above the classic ski resort on Mt. Zao. In “The Return to Japan” we also highlight a talented group of pro skiers and snowboarders Outdoor Japan will be hosting this winter now that the border is open as they explore some of Tohoku’s top powder resorts. Be sure to follow along this winter @outdoorjapan.

@outdoorjapan

Cover Photo: Kammui

Robinson Editor-in-Chief

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