A circle of friends connected by gut touch! The “FIST BUMP” corner of the radio program “GRAND MARQUEE” features people who live and enjoy Tokyo in a relay format.
On October 30, Shoichi Yamada of “people showroom” will appear. We asked him about how he turned his hobby of outdoor activities into a career, his recommended campsites, and what he values in enjoying the outdoors.
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Getting into mountaineering at the age of 18
Celeina (MC): We start off the week with a man recommended by the program, Shoichi Yamada of “people showroom,” who says he loves nature so much that he switched careers to work in the outdoors. Nice to meet you.
Takano (MC): What kind of work did you originally do?
Yamada: I was in the apparel industry.
Takano: And not outdoor stuff or anything like that.
Yamada: Nothing to do with that at all.
Celeina: While working for that apparel company, you enjoyed the outdoors as a hobby. What is the origin of your outdoor activities?
Yamada: I have been climbing mountains since I was about 18 years old. So mountain climbing, trekking, and rock climbing are my origins.
Celeina: What made you get into mountaineering at the age of 18?
Yamada: I was living in Hokkaido when I was in elementary school, so I guess that was the beginning.
Takano: How long have you been outdoors?
Yamada: About 25 or 26 years.
Celeina: You are a veteran.
Takano: I heard that you are also a licensed mountain guide.
Yamada: I had to renew it after three years, but I didn’t renew it, so I lost my license.
Takano: I didn’t realize that. How do you get a license?
Yamada: There are many detailed practical tests, such as having to be able to ice climb, and only those who pass them can get a license.
Takano: Climbing mountains is not only fun, but it is also hard work. So, the skills required to properly guide people through this part of the process are also important.
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I want to dye not only food, clothing, and shelter, but also working and playing all in the outdoors.
Celeina：What made you decide to turn outdoor activities into a career rather than just a hobby?
Yamada: I worked in the fashion industry for a long time, but I wanted to dye not only food, clothing, shelter, and clothing, but also work, play all in the outdoors.
Takano: So there is a phrase “food, clothing, shelter, work, and play”isn’t there?
Yamada: Is there?
Takano: It may be a phrase originating from Mr. Yamada. And I guess it goes like this: you got hooked on mountain climbing, and then you got hooked on camping.
Yamada: That is exactly right.
Takano: How long have you been camping?
Yamada: I got into camping when I was about 24 or 25 years old, so about 18 years. In the mountains, the objective is to peak hunt, so you have to climb, but camping is a lot of fun with everyone.
Celeina: I’m new to mountain climbing, but what is peak hunting?
Yamada: The objective is to climb all the way to the top of the mountain. That is too stoic, so we want to have fun in a more casual way.
Takano: I would like to ask if you have any recommendations for campgrounds for us camping beginners.
Yamada: Most people who go camping are from the city center, but there is a place called Soleil Hill Auto Campsite in Yokosuka that is easily accessible from the city center and has good facilities. It is both a park and a campground, with a nice view of the ocean right in front of it, and the grass is safe enough for children to run barefoot.
Takano: It sounds like it has good accessibility.
Yamada: It takes about an hour and a half from the center of Tokyo. The other campground is a little different. It is called Doshinomori Campground in Yamanashi Prefecture, which is wilder than the Soleil Hill campground I mentioned. It is surrounded by a forest with a stream running through it, and the autumn leaves are beautiful this time of year, so I highly recommend it. But there is Wi-Fi in the administration building.
Takano: Wi-Fi is available there, so you could use it as a workcation. Thank you very much. Now that you have given us two campsite recommendations, I would like to interject a song here. I asked Mr. Yamada to choose a song that we would all like to listen to together on the radio at this time. What kind of song would it be?
Yamada: It’s a song called “Go Go Sakanatsuri” by Yujiro Kudo. I started listening to it when I started fishing, and I recommend it because you can easily listen to it on the way to outdoor activities.
