Starting an independent magazine is never an easy thing to do.
The endless days and nights often merging into one; the punishing deadlines that loom every second of the day; the worry that you haven’t written enough, too much or that it’s incorrect. I’m sure every publisher goes through this when it’s their first ever issue. But when it’s all over you can sit back, have that nice cold beer and relish that you have completed a small step in the journey, ready to start all over again. So, with all that work and worry done for now, welcome to the first issue of Canyon Magazine!
Many people were surprised when I told them I would be making a magazine about canyoning in Japan, when other areas like Europe, America, Australia, New Zealand have had many more years than Japan. Canyoning in Japan is rapidly growing with over 50 companies offering tours from Okinawa to Hokkaido. It is also starting to take off as a personal recreational sport. Japan is a country that I fell in love with many years ago when I first arrived and is home to some spectacular canyons, many yet to be descended. With an amazing environment of deep gorges and rapidly flowing waterfalls, canyoning in Japan is unique compared with other parts of the world. We want to share this with you. This magazine features a range of canyons that are run by companies as well as recreational courses, and highlighting the local areas found here. We will also be showcasing international canyons for people in Japan to experience. There’s a whole world out there to be discovered.
Our beta website that was just recently launched will be updated constantly with new information. If you have any stories, photographs or videos that you’d like to share, we would love to hear from you. You can contact us either in English or Japanese. We hope you enjoy the first issue. Our thanks to everyone in the Canyoning Industry in Japan who are supporting us, given us feedback and have helped out in various ways. Thanks to Mike Harris from Canyons in Minakami, for all the support he has given us whilst building the magazine, to all our friends who have helped us in so many ways we cannot express our gratitude enough and last but most important of all, my entire thanks goes to my wife Amaru, who put up with this crazy idea of starting a magazine and helped build this into something we love.
