On August 5, 2022, Yakage Town, Oda District, Okayama Prefecture, and Montbell Co., Ltd. signed a “Comprehensive Partnership Agreement Aimed at Revitalizing the Region and Improving the Quality of Life of Residents Through the Promotion of Outdoor Activities and Other Initiatives.”
Montbell will open a directly operated store in Yakage Town in spring 2026, and Montbell has also been selected as a candidate to manage the newly developed “Yakage Odagawa-Arashiyama Kawamachi Campground (provisional name).”
In July 2025, less than a year before the store’s opening, Montbell Chairman Tatsuno Isamu gave a lecture on disaster relief activities.
What are the “Montbell Seven Missions”? Here is a look at the lecture.
The information presented was current when this article was published in August 2025. Please note that it may differ from current information.
Yakage High School Disaster Preparedness Class
At Okayama Prefectural Yakage High School in Yakage Town, disaster preparedness classes have been held every year for first-year students since the July 2018 Heavy Rain Disaster.
Students involved in community research in collaboration with the town office through Yakage High School’s “Yakage Studies” program were in charge of this disaster preparedness class and reportedly helped run it.
At 1:20 p.m., Chairman Tatsuno’s lecture began before about 120 people, including first-year students and teachers from Yakage High School and town officials.
Chairman Tatsuno Isamu’s Lecture: “Montbell’s Seven Missions: Preparing for Disasters”
The lecture program was as follows:
- Remarks by the mayor of Yakage Town
- Lecture by Montbell Chairman Tatsuno Isamu: “Montbell’s Seven Missions: Preparing for Disasters”
- Presentation ceremony for the “Float Cushion”
- Words of thanks and bouquet presentation by Yakage High School students
- Remarks by a representative of Yakage High School
Chairman Tatsuno’s lecture began with a self-introduction, followed by a demonstration of his flute playing.
Here are some highlights from the lecture.
Childhood and a Passion for Mountaineering
Showing a photograph from his elementary school days, Chairman Tatsuno spoke about his frustration at being too frail to join his school’s group mountain-climbing trip.
Later, when he was a first-year high school student, a book he encountered in his Japanese-language textbook—the Austrian mountaineer’s account of the first ascent of the north face of the Eiger in Switzerland, The White Spider—changed his life profoundly.
He said he wanted to become the first Japanese person to reach the summit, and had two dreams: to climb the north face of the Eiger and to work in a field related to mountains.
- Climb the north face of the Eiger
- Make a living from mountaineering
With the support of his companions, in 1969 he successfully climbed the north face of the Eiger, achieving his dream at the then-world-record youngest age of 21. He later took on adventures such as canoeing.
Contributing to Society Through Outdoor Activities
In 1975, the day after his 28th birthday, he founded Montbell.
Montbell’s sales in its first year were 160 million yen. The company grew steadily and became one of Japan’s leading outdoor equipment manufacturers.
In the 1990s, Chairman Tatsuno realized that, as a company specializing in outdoor activities, Montbell could do things for society. That was when he set out the “Montbell Seven Missions.”
- Foster awareness of environmental conservation
- Help children develop the ability to thrive through outdoor activities
- Promote healthy longevity
- Build resilience to natural disasters
- Revitalize local economies through ecotourism
- Support primary industries (agriculture, forestry, and fisheries)
- Promote barrier-free access for older adults and people with disabilities
He explained that these missions fall under different government ministries and agencies, each working in its own silo, while outdoor activities can address them across those boundaries.
Disaster Relief Activities
He spoke about his experience of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, which struck on January 17, 1995.
He was at home in Sakai City when the earthquake struck, he said, but immediately headed to the disaster area to check on the safety of a friend’s mother.
Chairman Tatsuno began providing sleeping bags and tents to disaster victims, and came to appreciate how important outdoor equipment is in the immediate aftermath of a disaster.
He also took part in relief efforts in the affected areas after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.
What stayed with Chairman Tatsuno most strongly was the loss of 74 children from Okawa Elementary School in Ishinomaki City in the tsunami.
“Could they have been saved if they had been wearing life jackets?”
That thought led to the development of the “Float Cushion (Ukusshon).”
He demonstrated that the “Float Cushion” is a product that can be used as a cushion in everyday life and as a flotation device during a disaster, designed to turn the wearer face-up and keep their airway clear even if they lose consciousness.
Since then, Montbell has carried out a range of activities, including relief efforts in areas affected by the 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes and the 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake, as well as the free provision of protective clothing to medical workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Do What You Love
Since the lecture was for first-year high school students, he concluded by sharing his philosophy of life: “Do what you love.”
The most important thing for a person is how they live.
He also touched on the idea that “some people can make an effort and others can’t,” defining effort as the ability to keep working hard at something you don’t like, and saying that he is the type of person who cannot make an effort.
He said that people like him, who cannot make an effort, are “the type who don’t seek out the right answer, but make what they are doing the right answer.”
He told the students that what he had done at Montbell for 50 years was what he loved, and that he had made it the right answer through the results. The lecture then ended.
Presentation of Float Cushions and Students’ Impressions
After the lecture, a Float Cushion presentation ceremony was held. A student representative who had also been affected by the July 2018 Heavy Rain Disaster shared their impressions, bringing the event to a close.
Students who attended the talk shared their impressions as follows.
- I want to make sure I’m prepared for disasters in my daily life, such as by keeping emergency supplies ready.
- I want to have the courage to ask questions proactively at talks and other events, and work on speaking up for myself.
- I want to follow the example of Chairman Tatsuno’s initiative and work hard to make my dreams come true.
From the Writer
While providing support during the July 2018 Heavy Rains, I saw many situations where outdoor equipment proved useful.
At the same time, I realized that simply owning the equipment was not enough; even something as basic as pitching a tent requires experience.
The “Yakage Odagawa-Arashiyama Kawamachi Campground (tentative name),” scheduled to be developed in 2026, may also serve as a place to learn outdoor skills that help prepare for disasters.
We look forward to seeing what Montbell, Yakage Town, and Yakage High School’s “Yakage Studies” do next.
▼The following article also provides more details about the initiatives of Yakage High School and Yakage Town
Yakage High School Disaster-Preparedness Class “Montbell’s Seven Missions: Preparing for Disasters” Information
| Name | Yakage High School Disaster-Preparedness Class “Montbell’s Seven Missions: Preparing for Disasters” |
|---|---|
| Date | July 10, 2025 1:20–2:50 p.m. |
| Location | 3016-1 Yakage, Yakage Town, Oda District, Okayama Prefecture |
| Website | Okayama Prefectural Yakage High School “Yakage Studies” |
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