OkayKonnichiwa

Mountain life exchanged for beach life. Let's drop in and surf! Kisami, a small town on the Izu peninsula around 200 km's south of Tokyo, became my new 'hood' for the real japanese spring. In this slow life side of Japan time stood still on my arrival. I came straight from a few days in Tokyo.. what a contrast! Here, the tourists hadn't come yet, the rice wasn't planted, the swells from the typhoons where not frequent so neither the guesthouses, nor the famers or surfers were busy. Practically everybody seemed to be enjoying the spring before summer. My japanese friends seem not really to like summer in Japan. Too hot and too busy it's said to be. With that in mind I kept on wondering what I should do if I were to stay in Japan. I could escape the heat by working in the mountains.. I could escape the heat by getting the job I applied for in Denmark... Either way, this is an extract of my japanese surfing experience that helped me on my way. Here we go! ...

Substituted sking for mountainbiking for a while While the thought of staying in Japan began to grow in my mind, a worried state of mind evolved as well. How can I make it? What will I do? Where will I go? Why do I want to stay? Will I be lonely? Basic questions like these are important and it would take me a while to figure out answers. But I had time. I kind of bought myself some time through temporary jobs. This little mountainbike experience was part of my progression in the quest of finding answers to my questions about how to make a "sustainable" year in Japan.  My departure from Shiga Kogen ski area took me directly to another mountain region; Minakami. I had mailed back and forth with the owner of a MTB-guide company, www.mtbjapan.com, and he had agreed to take me in for a trial period. I wanted to check out this opportunity before trying to do a "work-away" on Izu Peninsula, where I would be able to surf. Since mountainbiking is sport I really like to ...

Photo by Jeremy Van Recap of half a season in Japanese powder This blog post is meant to give an introduction to why I choose to travel to Japan. Bear with my english as I'm not a native english speaker. Feel free to ask questions af any character :-) Okay, let's go; this is where my tale begins... Trying on new helmet and googles before depature. Aaaah, gogogo! Motivated by... Since I got my ski instructor certificate in 2011 in Austria, I've pursued powder lines as my favourite kind of skiing. Big mountain in St Anton or backcountry whereever I could find it. Just off the slope or long randonnee hikes. Just as many other skiers have had their eyes on Japan, mine have been fixed on it's beauty as well. But I never felt like travelling there just for a few weeks. My experience tells me that the best skiing for me is when I live in the area. The past three and a half years while studying I've been able to get peak season instructor ...