Mt. Kitahodaka 2-day climb on remaining snow, Nagano

Junichiro is a wonderful guide. We had two fantastic days in the mountains. My girlfriend and I had never tried climbing before, so it was a bit daunting, but Junichiro made us feel safe all the time. So if you are in the Tokyo area and need some adventure time in the nature I would highly recommend this trip. Only takes two hours from Tokyo by train. The area didn’t seem very touristy, so it felt like we had the whole mountain for ourselves. Junichiro also helped us book ferry tickets for later on hour trip. 10/10 💪

I had a fantastic 2 days with Junichiro in early March 2023. We weren’t able to use the mountain hut but instead we climbed at a nearby beautiful naturally occurring ice fall. On the second day we did some fun winter mountaineering to summit Amidadake. Junichiro was a fantastic guide and I had a wonderful time. Highly recommended.

Aoyama san is a great guide! He is very proficient and I feel very safe ice climbing with him. In a 2 day trip we went to different ice falls and learned a lot of technics related to ice climbing. Highly recommended his course if you would like to learn ice climbing/mountaineering.

It's one of the best experiences! Jun is a great guide and was very patient and helpful with me all along. He taught me patiently step by step and encouraged me to go beyond my limit. Also he provided everything perfectly. I had best time learning from him and enjoyed both the lesson and the mountain.

Jun gave us a wonderful trip! He is very experienced and speaks perfect English. All the instructions are easy to understand. Although both of us are beginners, we still can enjoy the joy of ice climbing in Japan. I would definitely recommend Jun as a ice climbing and hiking tour guide :)!

My hike with Junichiro was a highlight of my entire trip to Japan and one of my favorite back country experiences I have ever had. As a solo female traveler I was unsure of how I could safely explore the back country in Japan, this trip was perfect for me. Jun is an excellent guide and shared so much knowledge about the Japanese alps, flora, fauna and Japanese culture in general with me. He spent four years working in the Hodaka range so knows these mountains very well and has many great stories and fond memories from many years spent exploring this range. It was great to experience this region of the world with someone who cherishes it so much! This was the most technical and challenging climb I have completed but I felt safe and confident the entire time. I learned new skills with Jun's guidance and had an awesome time. I hope I can return to Japan very soon and go on another adventure with Junichiro!

I had a wonderful trip to Mt Hoshianadake. Junichiro Aoyama is a very responsible, passionate and kind mountain guide who guides you with a lot of knowledge and joy! Junichiro is Japanese but speaks English fluently, this makes the communication very easy also for people that come from abroad! I enjoyed every moment of the trip and I am grateful for this beautiful experience in the stunning nature of Japan! I can fully recommand Junichiro Aoyama as guide for anyone and especially for foreigners!