Under a heavy rain, I climbed a rocky path for three hours. I didn't see any other climbers until I reached to a mountain hut. It was still raining and I could see nothing other than white fog.

Three days afterwards, the wind start blowing the crowd and a “spearhead” of Mount Yarigatake, which means mountain of the spear, showed up. I lost for word and just could watch it. However, other staffs were just dealing with a routine job. It was a “daily life” for them, and it also became a “daily life” for me soon. I never imagined that a photograph I took at this moment became a beginning of my five years photo shooting for this “daily life.”

These photographs were taken at Kitahotaka Mountain Hut which at an elevation of 3106 meters (10190 feet).
Kitahotaka Mountain Hut, so called “Kitaho”, is the highest alpine hut in Japan. Mountain huts provide sleeping berths and meals for climbers.
They open this place on April from start digging out the hut from few meters thick snow. During next six months, about two thousands hikers stay for a night. Then after a short summer, they close this place before snow start covering the hut completely again.

After each of them getting through the different jobs at different cities during winter, they step on the top of snowy mountain again, for the next short summer.

George Herbert Leigh Mallory who disappeared during their attempt to make the first ascent of the world's highest mountain is famously quoted as having replied to the question "Why do you want to climb Mount Everest?" with the retort "Because it's there". If you asked “Why you work at Kitaho?” to them, they would reply same answer. Because working at Kitaho is precious “daily life” for them.