Teton Bros. x People - Takuya Kitano - Part 1

We walk in harmony with nature and create products and a future with colleagues who share our values.

Teton Bros. develops products in the field with professional colleagues active in Japan and around the world. How do the many "people" who have come together under the name of "Teton" - the Teton Brothers - interact with nature and build their lives? This is how we create a chemical reaction between Teton Bros. and people.

Takuya Kitano, owner of Sky High Mountain Works, an outdoor shop in Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture, enjoys the mountains freely, regardless of genre, in harmony with the field.

He not only sells products, but also passionately talks about his extensive experience and the charm of mountains, and many people are attracted to his passionate personality and become fans.

Through this interview, he spoke about his unique outdoor philosophy and his relationship with Teton Bros.

Going to Mt. Rokko as part of daily life

-Why did you open a shop in Ashiya, which is close to Mount Rokko?

Mount Rokko has a peak just under 1,000 meters high, and looking south from the mountain you can see the cities of Kobe and Osaka and the sea, making it a fantastic location. Ashiya is located right at the entrance to Mount Rokko.
I love mountains and would like to go to the mountains every day as part of my daily life, so I chose Ashiya as it is the closest place to my beloved Mount Rokko.

Overlooking the city and sea from the rock garden of Mount Rokko, it takes less than an hour to drive here from the shop.

Mount Rokko is about 50km from Suma Beach to the west to Takarazuka, famous for its opera company, to the east, and Ashiya is located right in the middle. This is an area of residential areas and towns called the Hanshin area, but Ashiya is the place where you can get off the train and enter the mountains in the shortest time.
I looked at other stations close to Mt. Rokko, but this one was the closest.
Another big attraction was that the mountains in this area still have a wealth of natural forests that are not planted.

--Please tell us the origin of the store name "Sky High Mountain Works."

When it comes to outdoor activities, my thinking is based on minimalism rather than ultra-heavy. In other words, I use lightweight tools, and by getting to know my body, I strip away things and create even more minimal, lightweight shapes. I initially thought about naming the store something like Minimalist or Minimal. However, minimalism and minimalism mean stripping away more and more, so I wondered how it would work from a shop perspective.

So, I wanted to come up with a name that would really get both myself and the fans excited, a positive name, and so I came up with "Sky High," which means "high in the sky."

Also, in the winter, when the high west and low east patterns are established on Mt. Rokko, where I often hang out, the sky turns a deep blue. If I were to apply this to the America that I love, it would be similar to the blue of California or Colorado on the west coast. I also like blue colors, so I thought "Sky High" was the perfect name. I also combined "Mountain" with "Works," which is often used in American shops and which I personally like the sound of.

Additionally, there is a production company called "Sky High Productions" that produces soul and jazz-funk music, which are my favorite genres, so being involved with them was also a big factor.

The shop is located in a room in an apartment building, giving it a private feel, like a room filled with all your favorite things.

Ever-changing ways to enjoy the mountains

--I have the impression that you enjoy a variety of activities, but how do you usually enjoy the mountains?

In the past, I would occasionally hike the mountains or take a leisurely hike when I was tired, but since I started living near Mount Rokko, I have started going to Mount Rokko almost every day as a part of my life.
I've also started mountain running, and compared to when I only did mountain climbing and hiking, I feel like I've become more mobile and can move for hours or even tens of hours.

I've also been climbing since I was a student, and I still enjoy climbing from autumn to spring, except in the summer when sweat makes it difficult to hold the rocks. Summer is too hot, so I enjoy climbing in high mountains like the Alps, or climbing streams in Rokko, so I enjoy the mountains according to the season.

Following the flow of mountain running, I climbed up the stream. Recently, I often do this barefoot.

--Kitano-san, you call running in the mountains "mountain running" rather than trail running. Why is that?

Trail running gives the impression of being limited to trails, so we call it mountain running. In the mountains, you can have fun running in any direction, whether it's bushwhacking in places where there are no trails, through pleasant grasslands, or on varied rocky ridges.

When you start running up a rocky ridge, it becomes more like "scrambling" than mountain running.

In any case, regardless of the genre, no matter what kind of activity or mountain situation I'm in, I have a desire to be able to overcome it using my own physical abilities, without thinking, "I'm not good at that place, so I can't go."
It was because of this mindset that I was able to naturally acquire various mountain skills through my experiences.

I climbed the scrambling rocks. Lately, I've even been enjoying scrambling barefoot.

The game of scrambling

-Could you please tell us more specifically what scrambling is?

In terms of meaning, I think scrambling is something that falls somewhere between climbing and hiking. I looked it up in a dictionary a while ago, and also on the internet, and that's exactly what it was described as. It's something less than climbing, but more than hiking.

I myself have been visiting mountains all over the country, using ropes or not when there are rocks, and continuing to explore the area as it suits the location, but I had a vague idea that scrambling was climbing rocks without using ropes.

That was my understanding, but nearly 10 years ago, I saw photos and footage of an American runner named Anton Krupicka (known as Tony) wearing New Balance Minimus shoes and running up a 300-400m rocky mountain called the Flatiron in Boulder.
Tony's friend Joe Grant was also in the group, and at first their style and what they were doing seemed unconventional to me, but when I thought about it, I realized it was quite similar to the style of play I was doing.

Anton Krupicka (back) and Joe Grant (foreground) on the rock they scrambled to the top.

--After learning about their style, you became even more interested in the sport of scrambling.

I learned that this kind of culture existed in America, and I started to consciously enjoy scrambling myself. Then, by chance, I had the opportunity to meet them and cover their scrambling culture for a magazine project.
There, I was really shocked to see the huge rock formations known as the Flatirons and also to get a glimpse of their lifestyle.

The Flatirons are huge rock walls that are popular as climbing and scrambling fields.

We climb the Flatirons scrambling style without ropes.

There aren't many rock faces like the Flatiron in Japan, but since then I've been looking for rock faces for scrambling all over Japan, including Mt. Rokko, regardless of scale, and have been enjoying it.

Takuya Kitano
Born in Tokyo in 1972. Owner of Sky High Mountain Works, an outdoor shop in Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture. He enjoys all types of outdoor activities, including mountain climbing, mountain running, climbing, and backcountry snowboarding, and shares a variety of information on his blog and social media. He was involved in the launch of Teton Bros.' mountain running collection and is currently involved in planning and supervising it.

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