People from all over Japan (and the world) gathered to share their craftsmanship and love for the outdoors in Matsumoto city. The 2nd annual ALPS OUTDOOR SUMMIT was held October 4th, 5th and 6th at the beautiful Yamabiko Dome venue near the Shinshu Matsumoto Airport.
One of the highlights of this years event was getting to meet the founder of Gossamer Gear Glen Van Peski. Glen was one of the guest speakers and I was asked to translate his session.
Glen’s peaceful nature and humble presence made me feel at home while we were together in a way only a few people have to date. Maybe it’s an Oregon thing, maybe it’s a God thing. I think it’s a little of both.
I first heard about Glen when I was asked to translate for him and was given a copy of his book “take less. do more.” and began reading. His ideas about building great gear are well formed and easy to digest and it doesn’t take much of a stretch to see how his principles can be applied to life as well.
Every now and then I meet another “Setsu”. Setsu is how my name is pronounced in Japanese and is a very uncommon male name in Japan. Setsu Fukushima is a musician & producer and performed with his wife and daughter at the outdoor summit. It was a joy to see them performing together on stage.
I work with a local DMO doing community development work and this year we put together a community booth to highlight the unique character of our area.
Of the 81 exhibitors one of my favorites was PEBLWEAR. I met Yuhei Akatsuka on friday night and was very impressed with his Wearable Remote and Portable Lantern that he showed me on the spot but my favorite PEBLWEAR product was the TN1 – a wireless audio controller.
I was also pleased to learn that Yuhei is a fellow YOKONORI guy and mountain biker.
By the end of the 3 day event over there was over 16,000 attendees and maybe more than that number of great connections made. I am looking forward to next years event and seeing what paths will cross.