I want to become a guide who can relieve my guests of the anxiety that comes from language barriers

I work as a local interpreter guide in Azumino City. I am mostly focused on individual travelers, helping them to navigate both the city and the hiking courses. My personal recommended route is from Mt. Hikarujo to Mt. Nagamine, as it is quite easy to try. I love this course because of how fun it is to talk and see the very typical and superb Azumino view of the Northern Alps.

Although I like the mountains, and I have a genuine interest in this job, the real pleasure of this work comes from climbing the mountains time and time again and finding a new me. Seeing the same sights and going to the same places with my guests allows me to experience hiking from their perspective, and it allows me to notice many new things about myself. When my guests experience a new experience, I’m also able to discover something new about myself. The joy of going with my guests to many different places and spending time with them is something I can only experience as a guide.

For the longest time, I have aimed to be able to communicate well with my guests. Many foreigners that come to Japan for the first time come with many expectations as well as many concerns. Among those concerns, the biggest wall for foreigners is the language. My first and foremost job as a guide is to relieve guests of their anxieties and create a calm and fun environment for them.

From my experience working as an English guide in Azumino City and Hokone, as well as from participating in many events, I have been able to develop my own guiding style. After taking on the challenges of becoming a National Government Licensed Guide Interpreter and a mountaineering guide for the Japan Mountain Guides Association, I believe that I have learned a lot and that I can provide a good tour for my guests.

In order to provide smooth communication, I try to be as proactive as possible in finding new chances to practice using my foreign language skills and thinking of new ways in which I can use my knowledge and experience to talk with my guests.

Being able to weave together my past experiences and my knowledge is what makes my guiding style distinct

As a child, during the summer holidays, my mother would often take me to stay with family in Nagano Prefecture’s Saku City. I would often play by the river or have little adventures in the nearby woods, so I became very connected with nature. I still vividly remember the time I went on my first proper hiking trip at Mt. Tengudake. Walking along the ridge of the mountain, I came across a sea of clouds beneath me. The sight was so amazing that I became speechless. From that moment on, I became enamored with hiking to the point where I got my mountaineering guide qualification.

Looking back, I’ve always had an inquisitive mind. I would often think to myself, “I want to look one or two more steps further!” This has been true not just for mountains and nature but for anything I’m interested in. When I was a student, I was interested in jazz and rock music, so I formed a band with my friends where I played the piano. When I became an adult, I became interested in wine, Japanese sake, and even cheese to the point where I studied enough to earn some qualifications. For foreign language studies, I am still studying English, but I have also studied Chinese, Korean, and French in the past.

I believe my strength lies in not being an expert in any single area, but rather in having broad knowledge across diverse subjects such as food, music, and language, where I hold qualifications that I leverage effectively. This allows me to engage with my guests in an enjoyable manner, drawing upon my extensive knowledge in various fields.

Learning the skills necessary for Japan (a country prone to natural disasters)

When I was taking a training course in Azumino City for local interpreter guides, I became aware of the Recommendation Guide Training. As a guide working in Nagano Prefecture, I decided to take this course when I realized this was a great opportunity to sharpen my skills. The training was very inspiring because both the participants and the instructors were from different regions and of diverse backgrounds and a wide range of ages.

When I was taking the snow shoes guiding class at Togakushi, in front of a Torii gate where snow had built up, another participant, dressed like a mountain ascetic, pulled out a conch from his rucksack and began to play. The sound had a great impact on me inside the solemn atmosphere.

I believe that being able to share my concerns and ideas about becoming a guide with others has become very useful to me, and I’m very grateful that I had this opportunity to meet others who I think of as important friends.

Japan is a country that is prone to natural disasters. It’s possible that at any moment, Japan will return to wilderness-like conditions. That’s why I believe the outdoor disaster first aid skills I have learned at WMAJ are not only useful as a guide but could also be helpful outside of that too. I don’t always have the opportunity to use the skills I have learned, so when an opportunity does arise, I take it so that I’m ready to use those skills at a moment’s notice.

Take a high-quality guided tour through the deepest parts of Nagano with your trusted companion

I want to become a guide that can provide a special experience for those who are visiting Japan. “Only for this moment, this place, and only for you!” This is my ideal. Using my experiences, I want to offer guests a trip where they can enjoy the amazing views from the mountains, local history and culture, and local food and drinks. To become a great guide who can both surprise and move the hearts of my guests would be amazing, but, in order to achieve that, the most important thing is that I’m able to have fun first. I think from now on I’ll try to enjoy Nagano Prefecture more and more!

In the near future, my vision is to gain more guiding experience while gradually understanding the interests and needs of the foreign guests I encounter. This will enable me to design distinctive tours for this region that I can entrust other fitting guides to do. While skills and knowledge are crucial, I aim to emulate my recently met friends who offer a service of exceptional quality with an added touch. I believe that by designing tours that help other guides become more self-reliant, I can help foster sustainability in both mountain tourism and guiding in Nagano Prefecture.

While my base is in Azumino City, there are numerous captivating tourist destinations beyond its borders in Nagano Prefecture. Foreign visitors, who are drawn to the same places that fascinate Japanese locals, seek guides who possess comprehensive knowledge of the region and can provide experiences in the most secluded corners of Nagano Prefecture.