Drytooling in Japan with Masato Nakajima

Ice Ice Beta

How many of you were inspired to start climbing because of a comic? I’m sure Masato Najakima is not alone, but he is the only person I can say with certainty that that's the case. (And if you’re curious, it was Gaku: Minna no Yama (in English, "Peak: Everyone's Mountain")).

Anywho, Masato is a leading drytooler in Japan and was one of a contingent from the country who sent “A Line Above the Sky” last year. Masato is a bit of a late bloomer — at 43, he’s one of the older athletes on the UIAA World Cup scene — and has made great progress since he started competing in 2016.

As one of the elder statesmen in his country, he’s trying to grow the sport locally. And despite 5 drytooling gyms in Tokyo — yes, you heard that right — it’s not easy… which we dive into in this chat.

Along with that, in this episode, we discuss:

• 🧊 Overcoming health issues and getting into climbing
• 🧊 The history of drytooling in Japan
• 🧊 Efforts (and challenges) to grow the sport locally
• 🧊 Where to climb in the country and the strict no-drilling ethos
• 🧊 Unique perspective from a Japanese expat living in Canmore

...

📸: Most photos are by @kazuhiro_kodaira, courtesy of Masato.

Resources and links:

If you’d like to learn more about drytooling in Japan, are thinking of visiting, or would like to help grow the community, you can reach out to Masato at @masato_drytooling. And here is the manga that inspired Masato.

If you’d like to learn more about Takeshi, here is an article about one of his routes in the Himalayas, and if you’re interested in going out for a day of guided climbing in the Canadian Rockies, you can connect with him at @taniyan_8000.

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Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu Gloves and Furnace Industries!

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🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others.