THE OTHER JAPAN

Founded in 1992, Walk Japan almost single-handedly established the country's walking tourism industry. Its president, Paul Christie, explains why experiencing Japan on foot is the ideal way for visitors to unlock its unique diversity and cultural riches By Richard Lord

- by Coco Marett

The hustle and bustle of Tokyo, the temples of Kyoto, the ski slopes of Niseko-the list of Japan's most popular tourism destinations is a well-rehearsed one. But as a vast, mostly rural, largely mountainous nation with an excellent network of hiking trails, there's so much more to it than that. Since 1992, Walk Japan has been showing guests from around the world a different side to the Land of the Rising Sun, allowing them to get up close and personal with sights, cultural treasures and communities they might otherwise never experience. Paul Christie, its president for more than two decades, tells Tatler what makes that so rewarding.

Tell us about your personal history with Walk Japan.

I joined Walk Japan as a tour leader in 1997, five years after the company was established, and took over running it in 2002. Japan as a country did not start to focus on inbound tourism until 2003. With no competitors for many years, we pioneered the market for walking tours for overseas visitors, especially to its wonderful but off-the-beaten-track regions. We wanted to provide experiences that engaged intimately with Japan and its people, and to provide insights into and understanding of the country that we had come to love but that otherwise often proved elusive. Walking is the best way to do this.

What are the values that guide the company?

Understanding, appreciating and enjoying Japan is fundamental to everything we do. Our modus operandi is small-group walking tours, which allow us to soak up and be enveloped by our surroundings.