It’d been a long time coming. Yamatomichi had been on our radar for some time and after visiting them in Japan on a couple of occasions (including my trip which I wrote about here) we knew it was a perfect fit for Outsiders Store. Finally, in April 2026 we launched Yamatomichi for the first time in Europe, with their Co-Founder Akira Natsume, a core group of his team, and select dealers coming to visit us in the UK for a series of presentations, workshops and of course, a hike. 

First stop London. We set up the display and got off to a flying start in our Coal Drops Yard store. A presentation by Akira, followed by a field report from hiking the Cumbria Way (and more) earlier in the week, by the “drunk hikers” Donald (Mori Mori Store, Hong Kong) and Kim (Yamatomichi HLC Staff). Thanks to Deya Brewery for the refreshments. 

The following days saw Yamatomichi international comms guy and PCT hiker Stephen Moss (just “Moss” to most) provide an insightful demonstration of his backpacking gear and how he packs it all into his Yamatomichi MINI backpack (3.8kg Base Weight). 

Next, up north. After a textbook Euston delay session, we boarded a train with broken air conditioning transporting us sweatily to Manchester for the next series of our events. 

Manchester is the home of Outsiders HQ and so it was a pleasure to show the guys around our home city. First order of business was a full-English and a cup of tea at Rowntrees Café – the only greasy spoon left in the City Centre and then lunch at Tony’s Chippy – The hikers diet...

That evening we repeated the presentation, this time with beers from Track Brewery. The next day saw Moss do his thing again with his backpacking gear to a focused audience – there was even a local PCT hiker with a Yamatomichi tattoo!

After lunching on rice & three (naturally), pints of cask ale were enjoyed at the Marble Arch before more pints and a great meal at The Angel – another Mancunian institution. 

In the morning bright and early we met our group of hikers in the carpark at Edale for the final part of our launch events. After a pack weigh-in at the trail-head (1st place goes to Shona from Keep Pedalling whose full sleep system had a pack weight sub 2kg!!) we were off up the footpath. Soon we stopped for our first lesson from Kim, Moss and Hide (Yamatomichi Kamakura Store Manager, and physiotherapist) where we were asked: “Do you know how to walk?”. After a brief demonstration it turned out that we didn’t! We all tramped off up Grindsbrook utilising our new anti-fatigue hiking techniques. 

At the top, we stopped for water and to exchange info on our favourite hiking snacks. Akira loves salted crisps due to their high calorie content and of course, the salt to replace whatever he sweats out. The Brits all kept it classic with boiled eggs and sausage rolls. 

Before long it was time for lunch – the Japanese way. In Japan it’s customary to eat a hot meal – even when hiking. The crew demonstrated three lightweight stove methods for heating water for food, a gas stove, an alcohol stove and a solid-fuel stove. Then for the cooking. Examples of speedy hot ultralight lunches include Akira’s salmon and porcini mushroom soup, Moss’s packet of Smash instant mash with muchos butter, Hide’s curry roux rice, instant noodles and instant rice meals. Oishi! 

After lunch we were treated to a camping demo. The Yamatomichi team and a couple of our guests showcased how they like to spend a night on the hills. For Kim, a very simple Six Moon Designs fly with no inner used just to keep rain off, a half-length mat and a sleeping bag. Moss had his tarp, bug bivvy, foam mat and sleeping bag, Donald had a more luxurious setup with a Hyperlite Mountain Gear DCF tent, cushy Therm-a-rest mat and down quilt. Hide had a very nice Finetrack Zelt bivvi tent – a super light trekking pole shelter that I had never seen before.