HIRAGA JUN CUP
The namesake of this event, Hiraga Jun—a graduate of Nirasaki High School’s mountaineering club and a native of Kai City—was the visionary behind the Kai no Kuni Long Trail. In 2013, he and his friends launched the concept for this ambitious project.
As one of Japan’s foremost mountain photographers, Hiraga Jun captured breathtaking footage of some of the world’s most remote and uncharted landscapes, bringing them to audiences through television and the internet. He often spoke about Yamanashi’s unparalleled natural beauty, believing it could rival the most stunning vistas on earth. His dream was for more people to come and experience it firsthand.Tragically, in May 2022, while on assignment in Alaska, he lost his life after falling into a crevasse. While not every detail of his vision for the Kai no Kuni Long Trail has been realized, his passion and dream live on in this project. We hope that in the years to come, more people will visit and experience the beauty he so deeply cherished.
For more about Hiraga Jun and Yamamoto Kenichi, please visit Hiraga Jun’s Official Website, explore the series “The Man Called Hiraga Jun” (Parts 1–3), or read the blogs Running and Taking Pictures! Talking and Taking Pictures! by Hiraga Jun, the Running Photographer, and Yamamoto Kenichi.
