Trekking in Hakuba, Japan

We had a fantastic time with Hirofumi - it was a wonderful experience exploring the Japanese Alps.

I have been trekking some of the Philippine's Mountain & everytime id get a guide. A guide who wil "guide" U & even use their legs or foot for me to step into if no where else to set my foot. A guide who will walk behind you and make sure u're on the right trail & safe & not leave u behind. A guide who will be willing to help u document the journey without asking. Hirofumi is the exact opposite of what a true mountain guide is. Nakasendo trail is actually a trail that doest need a guide. I only got because it'l be my first time and i thought id go alone. He would walk ahead &leave us. Sometimes you wont even see him anymore. I would call him all the time to wait for us. And at our last day i told him to stay behind my friend who was first timer and tired and very slow because its mostly uphill and the warnings of a bear scares me and my friend. He knows we were non pros. I would always ask him to take us photos or videos and i felt that he didnt like it. He didnt help make the most out of the experience. Try booking any guide in the Philippines especially Kawasan Falls in Cebu for less than a hundred US dollars for 4 hours and they'll treat you with so much care even lifting you if needed and documenting every step every move every beautiful spot. This is a total waste of money. I suggest u make sure the guide that you get here are well trained not just someone who can walk. He said it was his 4th times? Only? Also when we checked in our first hotel which he booked himself, he expected us two ladies to share the room with us. And we were totally shocked. He didnt mention this in our inquiries so i cam object and ask him to get his own room. Fortunately there was available room for us to separate. The 2nd hotel that he got was ok. We tried very much to be friendly to Hirofumi but i have to really be honest here.

We did the 3-day Mount Yari hike from Kamikochi with Hirofumi Nishiura. We have some concerns about our trek/guide and I wanted to bring them to your attention. We had originally inquired about a different hike but the guide had concerns about hiking with kids. We then inquired about the Mountain Yari hike and he said that we could do that one. Throughout the communication there was never specific details about how long we would be hiking each day, the altitude or really anything to prepare us. While we have done a lot of hiking with our kids, this hike was quite an undertaking for the short amount of time and maybe we would have chosen something different had we had more information. When hiking with the guide, he was always far ahead of us which was a concern for both safety and it was also supposed to be a guided hike. There was no sharing of information of the area, the flora and fauna of the area, and very few details of the days’ hike. It was a guided hike but besides taking care of details with the huts there was no guiding being done. When asked how long etc.. it was an estimate of time based on his pace not ours which was frustrating. We actually did our own research while hiking to gather real time data so we could better understand what was ahead of us. Our older two had some altitude issues on the third day and he never inquired even after they left breakfast early. In fact, our health was never a concern for him. He was also impatient with our children which was frustrating. We made it clear that we were traveling with 4 teenagers. When our children attempted to engage with him, he seemed annoyed. He also tried to offer parenting advice which was completely uncalled for and inappropriate. I am not sure if this was cultural thing or maybe Hiro has never guided families but the whole experience was not what we hoped for. We have done a number of guided hikes before and we have always enjoyed our time on the hike and with the guide. This was not the case. While, the scenery was beautiful and we appreciated the challenge of terrain, the experience with the guide left us unimpressed. I did not want to leave this as a review and reached out privately but I got no response. In fact, the only thing I got was numerous emails asking for a review. So, I guess I will leave a review as a warning to future trekkers to get as much info prior to your trek and to make sure you advocate for yourself.