松本 潤一郎 Junichiro Matsumoto

松本 潤一郎 Junichiro Matsumoto

Director of Lodge Mondo, a small inn on the Izu Peninsula surrounded by the sea and mountains

Bio

Matsumoto bought his first tent in junior high school with a refund that he received from his school’s field trip fund​,​ and began traveling alone. At the age of 17 he started hiking trails in the Himalayas​,​ and later went to the Karakoram and the Andes. After riding a motorcycle around the South American continent​,​ he moved to Nishi-Izu. In 2012​,​ he established the Nishi-Izu Old Road Restoration Project​,​ a project to simultaneously restore old roads and maintain village forests​,​ and in 2013 he began the Yamabushi Trail Tour. In 2018​,​ Matsumoto opened Lodge Mondo​,​ a renovated lodging facility using hardwoods that he logged himself. He started Kayak Fishing Tours​,​ an activity that connects Izu's mountains and ocean​,​ in 2020. Lodge Mondo is also working on energy self-sufficiency by combining a wood boiler and a solar collector. Matsumoto is also the director of Base Tres​,​ a company that operates between the mountains and sea of Nishi Izu.

Message

Since I was a teenager​,​ I have traveled to many places around the world. The Izu Peninsula is a wonderful place to enjoy trail riding and kayak fishing while staying in one place​,​ with the mountains and ocean just a hand's reach away. It has been 15 years since I began to live and work from this land​,​ but my journey continues. As a former traveler myself​,​ I have created activities and accommodations to help you enjoy this field more deeply. I hope that everyone will experience the wonderful nature of the Izu Peninsula.

Guide Q&A

Q: What is your most memorable experience in nature?

The moment when you travel on foot along a long trail or paddle a kayak on the ocean, when you feel as if you are assimilating yourself with nature.

Q: What does nature represent to you?

Something very big, strong, scary and gentle.

Q: What has nature taught you?

That humans are just one part of it.

Q: What do you hope that people will get out of experiences with you as a guide?

We take care of forests and old roads. There is also nature that is preserved through the involvement of people. We want people to feel the cycle of the mountains, the sea, and human life.

Highlights

Director​,​ Base Tres​,​ Inc. Established the Yamabushi Trail Tour​,​ a mountain bike tour on a trail that reconstructed an old road​,​ in 2013 Winner of the Grand Prize at the 2nd Shizugin Entrepreneurship Awards in 2014 Established Lodge Mondo​,​ an accommodation facility renovated with lumber from logging​,​ in 2018 Awarded the Shizuoka Morizukuri Grand Prize in 2018 Established the kayak fishing tour Mondo Fishing in 2020 Languages: Japanese​,​ English​,​ Spanish

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