Before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, business had never been better for Japan’s climbing gyms.
“The inclusion of climbing in the Olympics brought a lot of good things,” explains Yuji Hirayama, a climbing legend and owner of Base Camp climbing gyms. "People started to see climbers on TV and in advertisements, which brought many new customers."
Hirayama has won the climbing World Cup twice — in 1998 and 2000 — and is widely regarded as the greatest Japanese climber of all time. “In the 80s, when I started climbing, there were no gyms. I had to train on castle walls,” he laughs.
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