Daisuke Hokari: Transitioning to a Mountain Hut Owner

2019/05/17

"I'm quitting the company to become a mountain hut owner."

I can't forget the look on my boss's face when I told him that. He was absolutely stunned.

After graduating from university and joining SoftBank, I worked in the corporate division for five years before my request to transfer to the Corporate Planning Department was granted. There, I was responsible for drafting business strategies and formulating business plans for new ventures. It was the work I had always wanted to do. Three years later, just as a management position was within reach, I submitted my resignation. For my boss, it must have been a bolt from the blue. And besides, what even is a "mountain hut"?

For me, it wasn't particularly new. My family business is a mountain hut founded a hundred years ago, and someone had to take over. I had vaguely considered returning to my hometown since my student days. Furthermore, the biggest reason I decided to quit at that time was that I could no longer feel a sense of reality in my work. Working in an administrative department, while I might meet people from partner or group companies, I rarely met outsiders in a professional capacity. Also, the business plans I created on my computer projected revenues in the hundreds of billions of yen, but just tweaking a few parameters would cause fluctuations of tens of billions. It felt like playing with numbers, and I had no sense of its reality.

In contrast, working at a mountain hut is a constant series of realities. When people hear "mountain hut," many imagine a pension or a resort hotel, but it is not that easy. We currently operate five huts, but the main one is located at an altitude of 3,000 meters—a facility built on a rocky ridge like a fortress. Naturally, there is no infrastructure; we collect and use rainwater, generate our own electricity, and transport all supplies by helicopter.

Our main job is to welcome, entertain, and accommodate climbers. During the peak summer season, we sometimes see over 500 climbers a day, but in winter, the huts are covered in snow and cannot operate. Therefore, the season begins in spring by digging the hut out of the snow, preparing the facilities, and welcoming guests. Then, in autumn, we perform the closing operations, and the season ends. The mountains show us a different face each season, and we live our lives alongside nature every day.

Living in the city, it is difficult to feel the changing of the seasons firsthand. Nature is beautiful, but it can also be a threat, sometimes making you feel that your life is in danger. That is precisely why the mountains are interesting. There is probably no other job where you can feel such a sense of reality.