From dearth to diversity

International blogs about Japan’s mountains come roaring back

A while back, we riffed on the sudden dearth of Japan mountain blogs – at least, in English. Their number seemed to be dwindling by the day. Worse, some commentators were doubting whether blogs would survive at all, as folk ditched them for tweets and other forms of insta-gratification.

Posts for practitioners - the Japan mountain blogging scene
(Photo: Kurobe Shimo-no-Roka, September)

So it’s good to see that, over in Tokyo, Bre’er David has kicked these doubts definitively into touch. On his Ridgelines blog, he recently highlighted no fewer than sixteen Japan mountain blogs (kindly including this one), all in English.

Moreover, this blogoverse seems more diverse than ever: three are written by women, and on a rough count, the authors seem to come from at least five or six different countries.

But maybe we should make that seventeen blogs. We recently happened across Meizan Memories, a well-organised and illustrated blog recording trips to many of the Hyakumeizan or the 200- and 300-summit listings.

Written by Tokyo-based Ben Hentschel mainly in his native German, but sometimes in English, Meizan Memories is a resource for practitioners. If you want to see what your chosen mountain will look when you get there, and how best to approach it, this blog should help. 

Wilkommen an bord, Ben.