Right now I'm engaged in a series of meetings and lectures as the guest of the JWAF. I've lectured in Tokyo, Sapporo and Osaka about the work of Mountain Leader Training and also the work of the UIAA Training Standards Working Group. The meetings have included an advisory consultancy meeting today with the Osaka branch of JWAF as well as the Search and Rescue Committee. I've also been interviewed by TV and met the presidents of various Asian federations and the Nepalese Ambassador as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations. The Japanese are very interested in learning from the lessons learned in standardising qualifications across the UK and are investigating the possibility of working towards UIAA accredition, though these are early days, with a politically complex background.
We managed to slip in a day's hill walking in Japan's Northern Alps and I had a brief play this afternoon on the ex-competition wall at Kobe University, Osaka. After the lectures I stayed on for a few days and joined the JWAF's General Secretary Mr Takashi and translator Ms Owada for some climbing at Mitsutoge, a stunning location with Mount Fuji as a backdrop.
You can see a report from the lecture at Sapporo at: http://hkdrenmei.exblog.jp/i14/
You can see my other photos on Flickr.
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