If you hike in the Chichibu mountains this summer in Saitama Prefecture, you may stumble across an American-style summer camp with huge tents and 50 to 60 school kids exploring nature with walks and tree-climbing adventures and enjoying campfires and roasting marshmallows.
And you will find the tallest "kid" there is Jeff Jensen, 41, an alpine mountaineer and program manager of English Adventure.
Jensen started working with English Adventure in the spring of 2004, about a year after a fellow outdoorsman, Dave Paddock, established the company, hoping to provide returnees a "real American camp experience" in Japan. It now offers nature and wilderness courses — in English — for everyone from beginners to native speakers, as well as a variety of seasonal camps.