No preparation is fun. The founder of Montbell shares his surprising travel style

"Whenever I travel, I play the flute wherever I go."

JAL: Is there anything you always bring with you when you travel?

Tatsuno: I don't always bring a flute, but I do. I carry it around in a special cloth case.

JAL: You have many different kinds of flutes.

Tatsuno: I often buy flutes when I travel. In 1996, I was working with musician Sadao Watanabe on a TV program exploring the source of the Yarlung Zangbo River in Tibet. I happened to buy a flute in Chengdu, China, and after Watanabe taught me how to play it, I became completely hooked on the instrument.

JAL: It seems like it would be really fun to play an instrument while traveling.

Tatsuno: It's a great thing. Whenever I travel, I play the flute wherever I go (laughs). Recently, I often carry around a flute that I made myself. It's made from bamboo, which grows everywhere, and it makes a great sound.

Human-powered travel, such as cycling, kayaking, and trekking, is becoming increasingly popular

JAL: Please tell us about Montbell's initiatives. You are promoting the "Japan Eco Track" initiative, which is a trip to enjoy nature in Japan.

Tatsuno: Yes. "Japan Eco Track" is a new style of travel proposed by Montbell, which starts from an airport, train station, or port in each area and travels from there using only human power as much as possible. Human power can be by bicycle, kayak, or on foot.

It was inspired by the environmental sports event "SEA TO SUMMIT" that Montbell started in Mt. Daisen, Tottori Prefecture in 2008. This event combines an environmental symposium with activities such as kayaking, cycling and mountain climbing to allow people to experience the sea, countryside and mountains. It has been very popular, providing an opportunity for locals to enjoy themselves as well as participants from all over Japan, but it is limited to 300 people per event and is only held once a year.

So we started activities such as improving the reception system and creating and distributing route maps so that each person could make their own plans and explore nature as they pleased. Japan Eco Track routes have now spread to 10 areas across the country.

JAL: JAL has also formed a cycling club and is trying to set up touring trips starting from the airport.

Tatsuno: It seems so. It's already happening at some airports, but to make touring trips more comfortable, it's important to have a service that will take your luggage in the airport arrivals lobby and transport it to your accommodation. If such a service were available, you could unpack your bicycle bag (a special case for carrying a disassembled bicycle) at the airport and head out on your bike, or rent a bicycle, making it easy to start your human-powered trip. We are currently in the process of putting such a system in place, and it is actually increasing at a tremendous pace.

The best part of traveling is meeting new people. Nature is one of those opportunities.

JAL: What do you think about the appeal of traveling by human power?

Tatsuno: I'm not denying the convenience of traveling by car, but when you travel by car, you end up going from point to point, and you end up just looking at the scenery from the window along the way. For example, many small greengrocers that are loved by locals don't have parking lots. But with a bicycle, you can just park next to the store and go into the small shop. That's where you start interacting with people, and I think that the lines that connect the dots will create more surfaces.

As with my own travels, the best part is meeting people and making connections. In that sense, I think nature is a medium, a trigger. Sometimes the goal of a trip is to "go and meet that person," and other times a long-term relationship begins with a chance encounter during a trip, but no matter where you go, you're bound to meet people.

"I want to go to a great ocean or mountain." Pure feelings lead to new encounters and business opportunities

JAL: The "Japan Eco Truck" is an initiative that promotes interaction between people and nature, and between people, and ultimately leads to regional revitalization.

Tatsuno: That's true. But for me, that kind of reasoning comes later. First of all, if there is a great sea or a great mountain, I simply want to go there, don't I? Mt. Daisen in Tottori, where "SEA TO SUMMIT" began, is a tough mountain that rises dramatically from the Sea of Japan and receives a lot of snow in the winter, and I've been climbing it since I was young.

In other words, if you do what you think is fun and what you want to do, people will come and join you. I think that's a good thing. In the future, it will increase the number of people interacting with the local community and have various other social significances, but that's something we can think about later.

JAL: Mr. Tatsuno, you've been traveling around from a young age, so are there still amazing seas, amazing mountains, and abundant nature to be seen?

Tatsuno: There are still many new discoveries to be made, even just in Japan. When you go out in pursuit of these discoveries, you might meet someone and ask them if you'd like to have tea, which will start an exchange and expand to the next stage. In some cases, this can even lead to business opportunities. Traveling opens up the world to you.

Isamu Tatsuno
Born in Sakai City, Osaka Prefecture in 1947. He was inspired by Heinrich Harrer's book "The White Spider" about climbing the north face of the Eiger as a boy, and since then he has been interested in mountain climbing. In 1969, he became the second Japanese to climb the north face of the Eiger, and became Japan's top climber in both name and reality. In 1970, he opened Japan's first climbing school. In 1975, at the young age of 28, he founded Montbell Co., Ltd., a manufacturer of mountain climbing equipment. He is also passionate about canoeing and kayaking, and won the "3rd Kansai Wild Water Championship". On the other hand, he is also active in social activities, such as starting the "Paramount Challenge Canoe", the first canoeing competition for disabled people in Japan in 1991. In recent years, he has also been active in the field of outdoor education, such as serving as a visiting professor at Biwako Seikei Sport College. During the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake and the Great East Japan Earthquake, he organized the "Outdoor Relief Team" and personally led disaster relief activities in the disaster-stricken areas, making use of his outdoor experience.

JALPAK Japan Eco Truck Ride-in Aso Tour