Outdoor Japan

Niseko draws thousands of visitors each year to Japan’s northernmost island in search of the steep and deep. Yet when these famed...

When I was growing up, Myanmar was one of those places from which you didn’t hear anything good. Mass media and the movies portra...

After a heavy powder season, the snowpacked mountains have fed Japan’s rivers with fast-flowing rapids for some great w...

In the year 1914, a lone man in a cabin in the woods—literally, a tiny shack in the Dalarna backcountry—sewed up a bunch of backp...

When I make new friends and acquaintances and discuss my interest in offshore fishing, I occasionally get a response such as, “Wo...

There was a time, several decades ago, when the humpback whales stopped coming to Okinawa. Today, hundreds return each winter, an...

The Upper Mustang District in Western Nepal is on the radar of most adventure travelers. However, due to high permit costs and th...

During tough times, and Japan has seen its fair share recently, people have a tendency to tighten their belts or stay indoors. Ye...

MontBell is undoubtedly the biggest player in the Japanese outdoor market, with not only 68 domestic retail outlets around the co...

When and how did you first come to Japan?After studying Japanese for six years in New Zealand (five in high school and one in...

Let’s face it. You’ve been in town too long, wandering the concrete valleys of the big city, rushing from meeting to meeting, a g...

My name is Neil Hartmann and I am a self-admitted “Heli Addict.” My name is Neil Hartmann and I am a self-admitted “Heli ...