About

At the core of our company philosophy is our belief in sustainable nature travel and protecting Hokkaido. We are growing and learning, but ultimately we are aiming for eco-friendly practices to be and remain a huge part of our business. As a tour company, but also as lovers of Hokkaido, and those raising children locally, we feel it’s our responsibility to be a positive impact, and we hope to inspire our guests to be proactive in taking steps to join us in this journey. 

We support our local communities in any way we can – collaborating with local land owers, artisans, farmers, activity providers and small businesses wherever and whenever possible. We support local community projects and conservation efforts, aim to reduce waste and reuse wherever possible within our business model and wish to respect our local culture bringing resources directly in to the local community. 

Sustainability-wise, we have two main commitments for 2020, that we invite all of our guests to join us with. 

1. Offsetting our carbon emissions. International travel normally involves flights and flights are not great for the environment. But there are things we can do about it. Offsetting carbon emissions is a great first step (check out Carbon Footprint for great ideas), and so is thinking intentionally about your travel. Traveling less each year for longer periods and really getting to know a place is one option. Choosing tour companies with eco-rated transportation is another. We’re commiting to offset our carbon footprint as well as reducing it – both in our own team travel, and by taking eco measures on the buses we use (new vehicles come with eco ratings, and we can make sure we’re traveling together rather than all taking separate hire cars this way). We invite you to join us.
2.  Going zero on single use plastic. This can be a hard one in Japan, but we’re committed to doing it by 2020. Already, you don’t get single use plastic water bottles on our tours (Japan has AMAZING drinking water readily available, so bring a reusable bottle and we’ll stop to offer refills often!) We also want to create an eco pack for our guests so that you can be equipped to travel without getting endless plastic bags and bottles on your Japan adventure. We want to take care of every single one of our travelers, but we also want to be as positive as we can be on our local environment. We hope you understand and feel excited about traveling with us!

These are just 2 parts of the bigger journey that we’ve got ahead of us.  This year we’ve made big steps updating our policies to reflect our eco-conscious values, and will continue to make eco-travel choices for the better.  We are engaged with the Travelife certification program and we have started the process to work step by step towards complying with its international sustainability standards.  There’s a long road still ahead of us, but we’d love you to join us when you travel Hokkaido!