Japanese Alps Hiking Tour: Shinhotaka-Yari-Kamikochi circuit

Hama was a wonderful guide! He was so helpful, and we really appreciated his flexibility to work around the weather. He made our trip excellent, and we would recommend him and the service.

First and foremost, what a beautiful area - definitely worth to visit for multiple days, even trips. Incredible views, wonderfully maintained trails, and conveniently placed huts and shops for food and rest. Japan really exceeds all other places in the world that we have hiked with regard to accommodating hikers, mountaineers, and climbers. As we had never traveled to this area before we hired a guide. Hama was a lovely person who offered a lot of insight into Japanese culture and the area in which we were hiking. Originally we had booked to do the Yari-Hotaka trail, but days before our arrival our itinerary was changed due to the weather. As we were 6km from the Yari summit, a typhoon arrived and we had to once again change our itinerary. In this area Hama proved to be a great asset. He offered an alternative route which meant we would summit Chogatake instead, which offered stunning views of the mountain range we originally planned to climb. However, he was not receptive to information we offered him regarding our experience, hiking levels, our fitness, and even our knowledge of each other, and was very direct and harsh in the way he communicates (this we believe is mainly due to language barriers, and understand it might not have been his intention to come across as such). This resulted in him being overly cautious. Examples of these situations include: - Abruptly halting the hike after 200 metres elevation gain to force us to eat (unfortunately we are not big eaters at 5 am, however we had packed multiple power bars). When we mentioned that force feeding would cause us to potentially be sick, he said he would make us descend and cancel the hike. - We understand that his intentions were good and his concern was to prevent any ailments or failure to summit. - While walking down bamboo steps, as taller people, we squatted down to ensure a lower centre of gravity for balance, and were told we had to stand straight and lean forward. - We understand his intention was to ensure a safe decent. - As we arrived back at the visitor centre in Kamikochi, we were briefly separated whereby one of us remained with the guide, and the other - having not seen us - retreated back to the car. When Hama was informed that the other party would have walked back to the car, he began to panic claiming the person was missing, ignoring the fact that he was told where he would be - resulting in him using harsh words and scolding one of us for having “lost” our partner. - We understand that he was responsible for both our well beings and therefore wanted to know our whereabouts at all times. To understand more about our abilities, one of us is ex military, and has done mountaineering, navigating for over a decade. The other, has been hiking from the age of about 20 in areas where trails are not defined. Both of us are very fit, very active, and hike consistently on a weekly basis. As avid hikers who have done higher elevation gains in tougher conditions, we found this a little bit off putting. Having spent 3 days with Hama we believe that with more experience, he has the potential to be an incredible guide. We definitely recommend Hama to anyone who is not a strong hiker or not confident in trail searching. In summary we would rank: Guide communication 3/5 Guide area knowledge 5/5 Guide experience 3/5 Trail conditions 5/5 Trail difficulty (Chogatake) 2/5