Hiking gear in Japan: my favourite brands

11 February 2025

Japanese people take their hiking fashion quite seriously. The following are some of my favourites and recommendations for hiking and gear in Japan.

If you’re checking out hiking gear in Japan, the first place you should make a pilgrimage to is your nearest Mont Bell store. It’s the hiking brand in Japan: you could deck yourself out head-to-toe in Mont Bell and you’d fit right in on the trails.

It’s great quality but at a reasonable price point, and tends to be a bit cheaper than popular international brands like the North Face. I occasionally even see it mentioned on some overseas UL (ultralight) gear recommendation lists - like the Versalite rain jacket.

A particular favourite for me are its limited edition regional shirts. If I’m travelling somewhere new in Japan, sometimes I’ll stop by the Mont Bell store and see what designs they have in stock.

If you’re not sure which Mont Bell to visit but are in central Tokyo, I’d recommend stopping by the Shinjuku store, which you can find on the west side of Shinjuku station. Otherwise, there is a large outlet mall called Grandberry Park in Machida which has Mont Bell along with a bunch of other outlet stores, so that may be worth checking out.

Mont Bell literally stocks everything - clothing, shoes, backpacks, tents, sleeping bags, camping food and so on. So quite literally you could entirely prepare for a hike with a visit to a Mont Bell store.

The one caveat to Mont Bell is that they are a Japanese hiking brand, and so are more suited for Japanese bodies. I’m 5’6” and around 60 - 65kg: although their shirts and jackets fit me fine in a woman’s L, I only fit into their XL pants and they don’t tend to look too flattering on my (not-so-slim) body shape. For men, if you’re on the slimmer side you won’t have any problems even if you’re tall (like 6’4”) as they do have “extra long” versions of their pants.

And Wander: for the fashion-conscious hiker

Me wearing an And Wander shirt

If you don’t mind shelling out some extra cash, the hiking/fashion brand And Wander is another one of my favourites. One of their shirts runs for over 20,000 yen, so compared to a 3,000 yen t-shirt from Mont Bell it’s kind of a crazy price to pay, but personally I’ve found it to be worth it considering the amount of hiking I do (and hence the amount I wear it).

I own one of their black shirts (which I’m wearing in my profile picture) and generally I find with the collar it looks a lot nicer than a plain t-shirt in photos, if you care about that sort of thing! They do have a physical store in Shibuya, but actually I’ve always bought my clothes online and hoped for the best, and it’s turned out pretty well. I wear a women’s medium (or WM).

Workman: an affordable alternative

On the other end of the pricing spectrum, the brand Workman is a very affordable option. They’re not a hiking brand specifically, but aimed at labourers, and so have some really cheap options that can be used as sportwear - think 1000 yen t-shirts and 3000 yen rain coats.

Buying second-hand from Mercari

If you’re looking to save money, another option is to check out the second-hand market on Mercari. A lot of times, people might go hiking or camping once or twice, and then end up having all this extra gear that they never use again. I’ve bought a large backpack for overnight hikes from Mercari, as well as a Mont Bell tent second-hand in really good condition, so there are some pretty good options on there. I recommend taking your time though - if you have while before your next hike, you can just watch the new items as they pop up, and jump on one if you see a good deal.

Online shopping in Japan does sort of have its own culture though - after buying an item, the buyer will usually thank you, and then once it’s shipped will send you another message to let you know that the item is on its way. You’re also supposed to reply and also thank them. I’ve heard stories sometimes that if you don’t reply to them properly they get a bit put off or suspicious, so I would try and be a little bit diligent about replying if you can.

Other hiking and camping gear brands

Starting with the Japanese brands first:

  • Paagoworks is a popular hiking bag manufacturer. I particularly like their range of Switch bags, which are pouches you can wear in a number of configurations - whether around your waist, chest or clipped to the back of your backpack. I actually use mine for non-hiking regular days out as well so it’s super versatile.
  • Yama to michi is another clothing brand that I often see on the trail. Similar to And Wander, I would say they are on the more premium end of things and are also quite opinionated on materials e.g. 17,000 yen for a merino shirt, that sort of thing.
  • Snowpeak is like a fancy camping gear store. I’ll often see it in department stores, actually. I’ll admit I’ve never bought anything from Snowpeak, since if I’m going to buy a tent, it’s going to need to be something small enough I can carry in a backpack, while Snowpeak is more aimed at the camping-only crowd.

Some other notable brands that I personally use or have see on the trail:

  • Mammut is a Swiss brand that has a sizeable following in Japan as well. I tend to see a lot of men wearing their hiking pants, so I assume they must be good. The backpacks are another favourite - I actually own two Mammut backpacks myself.
  • Nike ACG is like the fashion offshoot of Nike. I don’t see it much on the trail, but personally I’ve bought a couple of pieces from them.
  • To round off the list, I also commonly see The North Face, Columbia (generally tends to be cheaper than North Face) and the very expensive Arc’teryx.

Trying on hiking shoes

Hiking is all about walking, so you’ll also want to choose wisely when thinking about what goes on your feet. When buying hiking shoes, you should try them on first to find the pair that is the best fit for you.

If you’re in Tokyo, I recommend the store L-Breath, which has a branch at Shinjuku station. They have a wide variety of different hiking shoe brands to choose from, and the store employees are really knowledgeable (although they probably won’t speak English). The other large hiking store near Shinjuku is Ishii Sports, where I’ve actually had the opposite experience - the staff aren’t very knowledgable and are generally too busy (or understaffed?) to even talk to you. I have gone there when I already had a specific shoe in mind, but wouldn’t recommend going there otherwise!

The other thing to keep in mind is that since you’re wearing thick socks and your feet will swell while hiking, you should be buying shoes that are bigger than your normal shoe size. I usually go 1cm bigger. Women’s shoes cap out at 25cm in Japan, so if you’re any bigger than that, you’ll probably be looking in the men’s section. I always like the colour options for men better anyway so this works fine for me.

Right now I wear Salomon’s X Ultra 4 Mid Gore-tex model. I’ll admit this is partially because I think they look cool. I went through my first pair within 18 months and am currently on my second so I can’t speak to its durability, but I’m happy with it otherwise.

If you’re curious what hiking shoe brands Japanese hikers are wearing, then these are some of the brands that I generally see on the trail:

  • Mont Bell
  • Hoka
  • Scarpa
  • La Sportiva
  • Columbia
  • The North Face

Choosing a hiking backpack

If I had to pick one backpack size, I would go for a 30L. It’s large enough that you can do overnight hut stays where you bring your own sleeping bag and mat, but not too big that you couldn’t use it on a dayhike, so it’s kind of the perfect all-rounder size. Once you start doing hiking with your own tent, you will probably need to go larger, like a 48L or 60L. 15L packs are a great lighter option in the summer, but I find in the winter that trying to fit all my layers into a tiny backpack as I shed them doesn’t work out too well. Again, L-Breath has a good variety in brands and sizes so that’s where I go to shop.

I currently use a 30L Mammut Ducan backpack. I particularly like it because it has a mesh gap between your back and the backpack - better airflow for my sweaty back!

A final note on Japanese hiking fashion

If you want to try and “fit in” on the trails in Japan, you’ll generally want to cover your skin where possible. The same is true for fashion in the city, but it’s generally in Japan people dress more modestly compared to western countries. On the trail, you’ll see a lot of long-sleeved tops and leggings with shorts on top in summer. Also wearing just leggings by itself is something people don’t generally do over here.

That’s not to say 100% of people follow this. You’ll still see people wearing shorts both in the city and on the trail, so if you feel more comfortable in shorts, and don’t really care about trying to “fit in”, this is completely OK as well. Realistically speaking, if appearance-wise you already look different, you’re still going to stand out no matter what you wear!

Personally, I do wear leggings with shorts on top while hiking, even in summer. I find it reduces the surface area where I need to apply sunscreen, and although I actually hate the heat, it doesn’t bother me too much. But long-sleeve shirts are where I draw the line - I’ll always be wearing a short-sleeve shirt in summer.

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