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Outland Japan

Outland Japan

Outland Japan Studios

Stories of travel, life and culture beyond the big cities. Outland Japan is a bi-weekly podcast hosted by Peter Carnell - a freelance tour guide based in northern Nagano – that transports you to rural, regional and the wilds of Japan in pursuit of stories that lie outside the neon hum of Tokyo and golden trimmings of Kyoto. Stories from the Japanese outlands.

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Top 10 Outland Japan Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Outland Japan episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Outland Japan for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Outland Japan episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

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Episode 17 of the podcast takes us to Niigata Prefecture and the deep snow of Myoko Kogen. Located on the flanks of Mount Myoko, Myoko Kogen is a collective named used to refer to five ski resorts, renowned for their very heavy snowfall and some of Japan’s best powder riding.

In this episode I speak with Billy Halloran, a talented snowboarder and operator of The Greenhouse Myoko, a self-contained lodge tucked away in picturesque village near the base of Myoko Suginohara Ski Resort. Originally from New Zealand, Billy found his way to Japan and fell in love with the snow country lifestyle and culture that comes with it. Billy and I discuss all five of the resorts - - Akakura Onsen, Akakura Kanko, Ikenotaira, Suginohara and Seki Onsen – and the nearby resort of Lotte Arai – not officially part of Myoko Kogen but worth considering if you’re headed to the area to ski and snowboard. We also chat about backcountry and tree-riding, what's on offer at The Greenhouse and more.
Billy’s snowboarding and enthusiasm for life here is best attested to by through the beautifully shot film ‘As Above, So Below’, produced by film maker Gordy Duff. The film captures the essence of life in the snow country and Billy speaks well about the importance of prioritising what you love and the value of community. I encourage everyone to take the time to watch it, as it shows of Billy’s talent as a boarder and the beauty of Myoko Kogen. If you're interested in staying at The Greenhouse, you can get in touch with Billy via their Instagram - using the link above - or via the Tanoshi Corp Instagram or Tanoshii Tours website. You can discover more - including images, videos and a map - on today's episode page of the Snow Country Stories Japan website.

Outland Japan is a bi-weekly podcast hosted by Peter Carnell - a freelance tour guide based in northern Nagano – that transports you to rural, regional and the wilds of Japan in pursuit of stories that lie outside the neon hum of Tokyo and golden trimmings of Kyoto. Stories of travel, life and culture beyond the big cities. Follow the show on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. Please note, prior to October 2024, Outland Japan was named Snow Country Stories Japan.

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Episode 16 of the podcast brings us back to Nagano Prefecture and one of the snow country’s most popular destinations, Jigokudani Yaen Koen – more commonly referred to as the Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park. Located in the enclave of Yamanouchi – 50 to 60 minutes from Nagano City – the park is home to a curious troop of Japanese macaques known for the love of bathing in hot springs. This episode has everything you need to know to plan your visit to the monkey park including just why the monkeys are there and why they are so famous, what to expect, the best times of year to visit, other destinations to visit while there, where to stay, how to get there and my services as a tour guide.

Open all year round, the monkeys come to the park in winter, spring, summer and autumn with each season offering its own reasons to visit. The monkeys are wild meaning they come and go as they please; and while they are almost certain to be at the park on the day of your visit, the fact that they are wild means their presence is not guaranteed. For that reason I recommend combining your visit to the monkeys with other destinations in the area including the famous hot spring towns of Shibu Onsen and Yudanaka Onsen or exploration of Joshinetsu Kogen National Park including Shiga Kogen Highlands UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and of course, Shiga Kogen Mountain Resort – Japan’s largest ski resort.
For more information about the park, visit our episode page and for more information about my services, see the 'Tours' section of the Snow Country Stories Japan website.

Outland Japan is a bi-weekly podcast hosted by Peter Carnell - a freelance tour guide based in northern Nagano – that transports you to rural, regional and the wilds of Japan in pursuit of stories that lie outside the neon hum of Tokyo and golden trimmings of Kyoto. Stories of travel, life and culture beyond the big cities. Follow the show on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. Please note, prior to October 2024, Outland Japan was named Snow Country Stories Japan.

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Episode 15 of the podcast takes us to the north of Honshu and the prefecture of Akita. Known for its natural beauty and wild landscapes, Akita is a place that my guest Eli Sooker spends much of his time. Eli is a conservationist, writer, wildlife photographer and eco tour guide based in Japan whose current research focuses on bear conservation and specifically, bear attacks. His research is the launching point for our conversation about wildlife conservation and the potential of wildlife tourism in Japan.
Chances are that when you think of the many reasons to visit Japan, wildlife isn’t the first thing to spring to mind. Yet Japan is home to 34 national parks and many more quasi-national parks, nature reserves and UNESCO Biosphere Reserves or Geoparks. Most of these are home to abundant wildlife including large mammals such as black and brown bears, serow, deer, monkeys and more. Japan also boasts a huge number of bird species and even more wildlife in its waters. With this in mind, we discuss the potential of wildlife tourism in Japan including Eli's recommendation of the best wildlife experiences in the snow country - for links and further information about each experience, visit the episode page on the Snow Country Stories Japan website.
You can follow Eli's work via his website 'The Traveling Conservationist' or follow him on Instagram and Facebook.

Outland Japan is a bi-weekly podcast hosted by Peter Carnell - a freelance tour guide based in northern Nagano – that transports you to rural, regional and the wilds of Japan in pursuit of stories that lie outside the neon hum of Tokyo and golden trimmings of Kyoto. Stories of travel, life and culture beyond the big cities. Follow the show on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. Please note, prior to October 2024, Outland Japan was named Snow Country Stories Japan.

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In Episode 30 of the podcast I speak with outdoor guide Iida Taka about Oze National Park. Straddling four prefectures of the snow country – Gunma, Niigata, Fukushima and Tochigi – Oze National Park is relatively small at 373 squared kilometres however its smaller size is in fact one of its attractions. Known for its lakes, wetlands, moors and marshes, the park is ringed by mountains ascending over 2000 metres with areas of dense forest. As such, visitors to Oze can enjoy varied environments including unique flora and fauna within a confined area.

Taka is an experienced outdoor covering many destinations in Central Japan including Oze National Park. Originally from Izu, Taka’s journey to becoming an outdoor guide involves stints in Australia, New Zealand and Canada before pursuing certification in Oze – a park she is very familiar with and keen to introduce to international visitors. Based in Nagano, Taka operates Nozawa Onsen Tours in the popular ski resort and hot spring town of the same name. Offering tours that reveal the long history and culture of the village, along with the surrounding environment, Taka reveals a side of Nozawa that many if not most international visitors miss.

We discuss the national park in the first half of the interview before moving onto the tours Taka offers at Oze and Nozawa Onsen in the second half of our chat. For more information, visit the Nozawa Onsen Tours website or Instagram - links are above - and of course you can find information, images and a map showing you where the national park is on the episode page of the Snow Country Stories Japan website.

Outland Japan is a bi-weekly podcast hosted by Peter Carnell - a freelance tour guide based in northern Nagano – that transports you to rural, regional and the wilds of Japan in pursuit of stories that lie outside the neon hum of Tokyo and golden trimmings of Kyoto. Stories of travel, life and culture beyond the big cities. Follow the show on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. Please note, prior to October 2024, Outland Japan was named Snow Country Stories Japan.

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Episode 37 of the podcast takes us to Minakami in Gunma Prefecture to speak with Zack Berman of Momi-no-Ki Lodge. Originally from the United States, Zack and his wife Amanda own and operate the large self-contained lodge in the heart of Minakami – a hot spring town now well-established as one of Japan’s best outdoor destinations. We discuss the skiing and snowboarding available at the multiple resorts in the area – including the celebrated backcountry of Tanigawadake Tenjindaira and more – along with the fantastic rafting and canyoning, hiking and hot springs all within easy reach of the lodge. Minakami remains somewhat off the radar for international visitors but it shouldn’t and I doubt it will for long.

You can get in touch with Zack and Amanda via the lodge website, their listing on AirBnb or Momi-no-Ki’s Instagram or Facebook. As Zack mentions toward the end of our chat, when booking via the official website, enter the code POWDER for a discount.
This is the first episode of the podcast under the new name 'Outland Japan'. Under the new name, I’ll be expanding the focus of the podcast from just the ‘yukiguni’ or snow country to all of rural, regional and the wilds of Japan. I will continue to focus on the snow country, as I’m based here and want others to discover it, while also exploring those rural, regional and wild areas across the country as we travel outside the big cities to discover a different side of Japan.

Outland Japan is a bi-weekly podcast hosted by Peter Carnell - a freelance tour guide based in northern Nagano – that transports you to rural, regional and the wilds of Japan in pursuit of stories that lie outside the neon hum of Tokyo and golden trimmings of Kyoto. Stories of travel, life and culture beyond the big cities. Follow the show on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. Please note, prior to October 2024, Outland Japan was named Snow Country Stories Japan.

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In Episode 39 of the podcast we travel to the deep snow country of Minami-Uonuma to speak with Kuwakino Keiko. Keiko is the head chef of Sanaburi, the Michelin-starred restaurant within the renowned hotel, Satoyama Jujo. Awarded that Michelin-star in 2020, Keiko has since gone on to receive a Terroir Award and a score of 15.5 by Gault Millau in 2022 while also nominated as one of Japan’s 100 Best Chefs. Keiko’s acclaimed cuisine draws on the traditional plants and methods local to the Minami-Uonuma area, with ‘sansai’ (mountain / wild vegetables) and ‘tsukemono’ (pickled / preserved vegetables) being fundamental to the seaonsal menus she serves to guests.

In the first half of our chat we explore Keiko’s own story and her journey to becoming head chef at Satoyama Jujo before delving more fully into the principles and methods which underpin her cooking and the cuisine she serves in the second half of our chat. In telling Keiko’s story and exploring the principles which underpin her cooking, I hope to promote the fact that some of Japan’s best gastronomic experiences lies outside the cities.
Minami-Uonuma has long been renowned rice and sake – indeed, we have already travelled here on the podcast in Episode 24, Hakkaisan Brewery: Snow-Aged Sake & Beer from Powder Mountain – along with its heavy snow and abundant natural landscape. For more information, follow Keiko via her Instagram or visit the official Satoyama Jujo website. I hope you enjoy.

Outland Japan is a bi-weekly podcast hosted by Peter Carnell - a freelance tour guide based in northern Nagano – that transports you to rural, regional and the wilds of Japan in pursuit of stories that lie outside the neon hum of Tokyo and golden trimmings of Kyoto. Stories of travel, life and culture beyond the big cities. Follow the show on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. Please note, prior to October 2024, Outland Japan was named Snow Country Stories Japan.

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Episode 27 of the podcast takes us back to Yamagata Prefecture and onto Tsuruoka, a city known for its diverse and rich traditional food culture. In 2014 Tsuruoka was designated a UNESCO ‘Creative City of Gastronomy’ in recognition of that food culture including continued agricultural practices and use heirloom crops and wild plants foraged in the forests and mountains, along with creative use and contemporisation of those gastronomic practices. It was the first city in Japan to be awarded the status yet it remains relatively unknown (including for many Japanese).

In exploration of Tsuruoka’s food culture, in this episode I speak with Alexis Crump, Coordinator for International Relations of the Gastronomy Department in Tsuruoka. As Alexis and I discuss, the gastronomy of the region is reflective of its varied topography, with different food cultures and distinct areas existing within the UNESCO designation awarded to Tsuruoka.

Six distinct areas including Tsuruoka, Atsumi, Asahi, Kushibiki, Haguro and Fujishima account for the area generally referred to as Tsuruoka City, and each have their own food culture. Tsuruoka’s mixed landscape coastline, plains, forest and mountains is reflected in its varied gastronomy which takes advantage of the food available in each environment.
As we discuss in the interview, Tsuruoka offers visitors many reasons to visit in addition to its celebrated food culture. To learn more about what’s on offer, visit the official Tsuruoka City website for information about the region’s many attractions, festivals, hot springs and accommodation. You can also find images, a map of where Tsuruoka is and links to everything we discuss on the episode page of the Snow Country Stories Japan website.

Outland Japan is a bi-weekly podcast hosted by Peter Carnell - a freelance tour guide based in northern Nagano – that transports you to rural, regional and the wilds of Japan in pursuit of stories that lie outside the neon hum of Tokyo and golden trimmings of Kyoto. Stories of travel, life and culture beyond the big cities. Follow the show on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. Please note, prior to October 2024, Outland Japan was named Snow Country Stories Japan.

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Episode 35 of the podcast takes us to Shiga Kogen Highlands in Nagano Prefecture. Declared a UNESCO Biopshere Reserve in 1980, Shiga Kogen is an alpine landscape which includes major peaks such as Mount Shiga and Mount Kusatsu-Shirane – one of Japan’s most active volcanoes – renowned for its biodiversity, wetlands and distinct seasonal beauty.

In this episode I speak with Yokota Shinji – a talented landscape and nature photographer who regularly accompanies guests into the alpine landscape of Shiga Kogen. He provides nature tours, photography tours and workshops for both Japanese and English-speaking guests and as such is an ideal person to accompany us to Shiga in this episode.

Shiga Kogen Highlands sit within Joshinetsu Kogen National Park and will of course be familiar to many listeners as the ski resort of that name – Shiga Kogen Mountain Resort – is the largest ski resort in Japan – something we covered in Episode 13 of the pod while nearby Shiga Kogen Brewery – something we covered in Episode 6 of the pod - takes its name for this area of the mountains. Today’s chat is however all about the Biosphere Reserve. Shiga Kogen Highlands is one of ten UNESCO Biosphere Reserves in Japan, a global system of reserves awarded that status in recognition of their biological diversity and as models of mutual beneficial relationships between people and nature.

For more information and to view Shinji’s beautiful photography, please visit his website and follow him on Instagram and his YouTube channel. You can also find more information, including how to get there, at the official Shiga Kogen Highlands website along with Shinji’s images on the episode page of the Snow Country Stories Japan website.

Outland Japan is a bi-weekly podcast hosted by Peter Carnell - a freelance tour guide based in northern Nagano – that transports you to rural, regional and the wilds of Japan in pursuit of stories that lie outside the neon hum of Tokyo and golden trimmings of Kyoto. Stories of travel, life and culture beyond the big cities. Follow the show on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. Please note, prior to October 2024, Outland Japan was named Snow Country Stories Japan.

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In Episode 29 of the podcast we return to Niigata Prefecture and onto Niigata City to speak with Jenya Yuss. Jenya works for Edge of Niigata, a travel company based in Niigata City and operating tours and experiences in the city and wider prefecture. As such she’s an ideal person to introduce to the story and the reasons to visit Niigata.

When Japanese think about the snow country, Niigata is one of the first prefectures to spring to mind. Subject to very heavy snowfall, Niigata is synonymous with that snow along with its rice, sake and seafood. Situated on the coast of the Sea of Japan and at confluence of two rivers, Niigata City has long been an important trade and port city that connected Japan to the outside world. A place through which people passed along with traded goods. A mix of the traditional, industrial and grittier elements you’d expect of a port city.

Jenya and I discuss the city and its history, her own story, travel experiences offered by Edge of Niigata along with tips of onward journeys further into the snow country by train and ferry. You can find more information on the Edge of Niigata website or follow them on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. More information including links to everything we discuss in the episode, images and a map showing you where in the snow country we are, are on the episode page of the Snow Country Stories Japan website.

Outland Japan is a bi-weekly podcast hosted by Peter Carnell - a freelance tour guide based in northern Nagano – that transports you to rural, regional and the wilds of Japan in pursuit of stories that lie outside the neon hum of Tokyo and golden trimmings of Kyoto. Stories of travel, life and culture beyond the big cities. Follow the show on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. Please note, prior to October 2024, Outland Japan was named Snow Country Stories Japan.

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Episode 18 of the podcast takes us once again to Niigata Prefecture and the snow country area of Matsunoyama. Famous for its very heavy snowfall, Matsunoyama is a place in many ways defined by that snow. In this episode I speak with Kamimura Shotaro, a regional revitalisation coordinator based in Matsunoyama. Shotaro’s work tasks him with revitalisation of the community and as such, we discuss the multiple challenges being faced by the people of Matsunoyama while also exploring the opportunities of life in the deep snow.
This episode highlights the reality for many communities in the snow country and across Japan. Communities that are struggling to sustain themselves in the face of depopulation and an ageing population, changing economies and lifestyles, and climate change. But there is also cause for optimism, something Shotaro and I discuss in the second half of the interview including reasons to visit Matsunoyama including Matsunoyama Onsen – considered one of Japan’s three great medicinal hot spring towns – along with Echigo-Tsumari Art Field and the big snow of the small resort, Matsunoyama Onsen Ski Area. We recorded the interview on a very wet day in a charismatic roadside tea house named Matsunoyama Chakra.
Shotaro’s website ‘Snow Notes’ documents and educates about life in both Matsunoyama and wider snow country. He publishes some pages in English but obviously, most pages are in Japanese. I recommend the online translator DeepL for Japanese to English translations. You can also find links everything discussed in this episode and more information including a map of where Matsunoyama is located on the episode page on the Snow Country Stories Japan website.

Outland Japan is a bi-weekly podcast hosted by Peter Carnell - a freelance tour guide based in northern Nagano – that transports you to rural, regional and the wilds of Japan in pursuit of stories that lie outside the neon hum of Tokyo and golden trimmings of Kyoto. Stories of travel, life and culture beyond the big cities. Follow the show on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. Please note, prior to October 2024, Outland Japan was named Snow Country Stories Japan.

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FAQ

How many episodes does Outland Japan have?

Outland Japan currently has 51 episodes available.

What topics does Outland Japan cover?

The podcast is about Culture, Places & Travel, Ski, Society & Culture, Japan, History, Property, Lifestyle, Outdoors, Podcasts, Sports, Travel and Wilderness.

What is the most popular episode on Outland Japan?

The episode title 'The Sake, Sushi & Story of a Snow Country Port City with Jenya Yuss / Edge of Niigata' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on Outland Japan?

The average episode length on Outland Japan is 38 minutes.

How often are episodes of Outland Japan released?

Episodes of Outland Japan are typically released every 14 days.

When was the first episode of Outland Japan?

The first episode of Outland Japan was released on Mar 26, 2023.

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