Bugger me for living in a country with no mountains at all. Japan's Alps really are quite something. Leaving the area cleaner than you found it is taken quite

Bugger me for living in a country with no mountains at all. Japan's Alps really are quite something. Leaving the area cleaner than you found it is taken quite seriously by Japanese hikers. I've hiked in the Southern Alps, including up Kitadake, Japan's second highest mountain, during my stay there as a graduate student. The occasional views you get of Mount Fuji standing far out in the plains are breathtaking! I joined a hiking group at the university I was staying at, which proofed a rewarding way to get to know Japan's hiking culture. To be fair though, as soon as you leave the family-friendly day-trip hiking trails leading from the valleys to mountain hotels/restaurants well below the treeline in Europe's Alps behind and get to the trails that require at least a minimal amount of preparation and gear the story is much the same. People clean up after themselves, and pick the incidental wrapper or bottle lost by others along the way. People who hike up a mountain are on the whole a lot more respectful of nature and personal responsibility.