Takamichi Nagasawa

 

Born in 1977 in Oita Prefecture.

In high school, I was a member of the mountaineering club.

After studying English in New Zealand for a year, I moved to Tokyo.
I studied field work in general at the Department of Architectural Ecology at Touyou Technical College (now TCE Tokyo Environmental Engineering College).

I came to Iriomote Island in 1999 and worked for two years as a guide at one of the few sea kayaking tour shops on the island at the time.
I had originally planned to stay for two to three years and considered leaving the island when I retired, but I was captivated by the rich nature, culture and people of island life and decided to continue living on Iriomote.
During my time on the island, I learned about fishing, hunting, gathering wild vegetables, and rice cultivation from the islanders, and learned about the true nature of Iriomote, which could not be known through tourism alone, and how to interact with it. I became particularly devoted to hunting Kamai (the Ryukyu wild boar of Iriomote Island), and

I was involved in the preparations for the establishment of Iruntiftademura, an experiential accommodation facility run by the community center in the village of Hoshidate where I live, and served as manager for three years from 2003.

In 2006, I established Shimamari Ashibi, the first full-scale trekking guide service on Iriomote Island.
I started a guided tour that mainly focused on trekking, introducing the nature, culture, and people of the island that had had a great influence on me.
Canyoning and caving, which are now major activities on Iriomote Island, were also included in the tours for the first time on the island.

My specialties are mountains, forests, rivers, waterfalls, streams, rocky areas, jungles, mangroves, and all of the land areas of Iriomote Island.

From 2012 to 2018, I took advantage of his winter holidays to visit Taiwan, a foreign country right next to Iriomote Island, staying in Taiwanese aboriginal villages and traveling every year to explore the roots of Iriomote Island's traditional kamay hunting. I interacted with Taiwanese aboriginal hunters, such as the Paiwan and Bunun tribes, and was impressed by their wonderful culture and the wisdom of living in nature, which brought me to a renewed appreciation of the splendor of Iriomote Island's nature and culture, with which I have much in common.

 

In 2016, I obtained a meat sales license and opened a butcher shop in order to sell Kamai (Ryukyu wild boars from Iriomote Island), which I had previously only consumed himself.

By the way, my wife and daughter don't eat meat, so we hardly ever eat out, and I also think that Kamai meat is the safest and tastiest meat in the world, so I don't have any problems not eating beef, pork, or chicken, so apart from eating Kamai a few times a month, my diet is almost entirely pescatarian (a vegetarian who only eats plant-based foods other than fish).

 

I started operating a small accommodation facility with only two rooms in 2018. Unexpectedly, over 70% of my guests were foreign tourists from Europe, and through my interactions with my guests, I felt great joy in being able to let people from all over the world know about the wonders of Iriomote Island, and I was able to see that Iriomote Island is a wonderful place even from a global perspective.

 

Although I had no experience in track and field or running before, I became interested in running after accompanying my daughter, who was a junior high school student, to her relay training in November 2024, and has continued to run every day even after my daughter stopped running.

I have also started trail running, and thanks to my background in hunting kamai and running around on animal trails, I now have better results in trail running than in marathons.

Qualifications and affiliations: OMSB Water Rescue Specialist, RESUCUE 3 JAPAN Technical Rope Rescue, American Heart Association Heartsaver First Aid, American Heart Association Heartsaver CPR/AED (general adult, child, infant)
・Japan Disaster Relief Promotion Council Outdoor Lifesaving Course ・TCJ (Tree Climbing® Japan) Tree Climber ・First Class Small Boat Operator License ・Class A Hunting License ・Okinawa Prefecture Nature Experience and Safety Management Guide ・Taketomi Town Fire Brigade Iriomote Branch Member