Learn to Live Self-sufficiently from the Great Nature Master. A One Day Adventure

Let me guide you through a nature experience and a life lesson that stays with you. I know it can take a lot of courage to spread your wings and to have an adventure when it comes to your personal life, but with just a tiny bit of courage, an adventure in the nature can turn into something big and meaningful.

Mr. Keizō Anan, the owner of Nature and Lodging Center Bōken Kazoku:

My dream was to create a place, where people could find meaningful personal connections. Then in 1993, my dream came true as the former Hirafu Elementary School got a new life and the building was put to practical use again as “Nature and Lodging Center Bōken Kazoku”.

“Bōken Kazoku” means “Adventure Family”. Here people can rediscover what it is like to live in harmony with nature.

At the foot of the magnificent Mount Yōtei, also known as the Mount Fuji of Hokkaido, we are operating “The Forest of Adventures”, where people get to experience deeply, with all their five senses, what it really means to be in the wild. In the forest there is no electricity nor any of the artificial noises we are so used to in our everyday lives. The information you might have gained from books or the internet stands little meaning here. I might speak quite simple English, but that is not important: I want you to actually use your Sight, Hearing, Taste, Smell, and Touch to discover and to do things by yourself and to learn by practice.

This program was created so that I could share with you the way of “Living with Nature” that I have learned here at Niseko. Let me teach you how to find edible wild vegetables in the mountains and how to catch fish from a river with your bare hands. I want you to know how to make fire and to cook the food you have gathered in the wilderness. I can teach you how to build wooden tools by your own hands or you can try using some ancient tools we have here.

We can take a bath in a “Goemon-burō”, a traditional cauldron type of Japanese bath, that is heated directly with fire (the name comes from legendary thief Ishikawa Goemon, who was boiled alive in a cauldron…) We can build a wooden raft and head out for an adventure down the river. Or how about dipping in a hot spring mud bath hidden behind a bamboo thicket?

I have lived here in Niseko for 30 years, and this place has taught me plenty. Now it’s my turn to transmit my wisdom to you. Let me share with you the way of “Having a Real Adventure” that I so treasure.

There are so many things that I would like to do with you and there is so much to be learned… Actually, a day could never be enough to transmit all the knowledge I have. This being the case, please tell me if you have your own preferences or interests. We must also consider the season and whatever surprises nature has prepared for us, but that is what makes it a real adventure.

I am sincerely looking forward to meeting you!