Everything Is Visited Personally
Every campsite we review, every onsen we recommend, every trail we describe — one of us has been there. In person. With our own eyes, our own feet, and our own judgment. We don't write about places based on other people's accounts, press releases, or Google reviews. We write about what we experienced when we showed up, paid the entry fee, and spent actual time there.
This means our coverage is limited by where we've physically been. We can't review every single campground in the Fuji Five Lakes region because we haven't camped at every single one. What we can offer is genuine, first-hand accounts of the places we have visited, with enough detail that you can make an informed decision about whether that place matches what you're looking for.
Jake has camped at all five lakes. He's soaked in every onsen mentioned on this site. He's climbed Mount Fuji three times and hiked the Yoshida Trail more times than that. Yuki has lived in the region her entire life and knows the local context that a visitor would miss. Priya shoots the lakes at night, which means she's there at hours when most people are asleep. Between the three of us, we've covered the region pretty thoroughly.
No Press Trips
We don't accept press trips. We don't accept complimentary stays, free meals, or guided tours offered for the purpose of generating content. Every expense on our trips — campsite fees, onsen entry, bus fares, gas, food — is paid by us, out of our own pockets or from the site's revenue. We do this because independence matters. When we say a campground is worth the price, that opinion isn't colored by the fact that we got in for free.
This policy means we sometimes can't afford to visit expensive resorts or luxury ryokan. Our coverage skews toward the accessible — campgrounds, public onsen, free viewpoints — because that's what we actually use and what our readers are most likely to use too. If we ever do accept a complimentary experience for coverage, we will disclose it prominently in the article.
No Sponsored Stays
Similar to press trips, we don't accept sponsored stays at campsites, hotels, or other accommodations. A "sponsored stay" is when a business provides free accommodation in exchange for coverage. We don't do this. We pay for our campsites like everyone else. If a campground owner offers us a free night, we decline.
The exception: if a business offers us a tour of new or renovated facilities for the purpose of updating our coverage, we may accept that tour if it doesn't include complimentary services. For example, if a campground has added new showers and invites us to see them, we'll visit and report what we saw. But we still pay for our own camping if we stay overnight.
Gear Recommendations Based on Actual Use
When we recommend gear — tents, sleeping bags, stoves, bear bells — the recommendation is based on actual use in the Fuji Five Lakes region. Jake's ¥300 Uniqlo fleece is a real recommendation, not a joke. He's worn it camping for four seasons. He knows exactly how it performs in 10°C lake-side conditions. When he says it's adequate for summer camping if you layer properly, that's based on his actual experience, not the manufacturer's specs.
We don't do "gear review" articles about products we haven't used. We don't accept products for review in exchange for guaranteed positive coverage. If a company sends us something to test (which happens rarely), we disclose it, and our review reflects our actual experience — good, bad, or indifferent.
Our gear recommendations are practical and price-conscious. We assume our readers are normal people with normal budgets, not outdoor enthusiasts with unlimited gear funds. If there's a cheap option that works, we'll tell you about it. If the expensive option is genuinely better in ways that matter, we'll tell you that too. But we'll always give you the context to make your own decision.
Photos Taken by Contributors
All photographs on this website were taken by our team members (Jake, Yuki, or Priya) unless otherwise credited. We don't use stock photography. We don't download images from the internet. What you see is what we saw when we were there.
This means our photos aren't always perfectly composed or professionally lit. Priya's astrophotography is exceptional because that's her specialty. Jake's campsite photos are functional documentation rather than art. Yuki's shots tend to capture details — a sign, a trail marker, a facility — that other photographers would miss. The photos serve our content: they show you what the place actually looks like, not what a marketing team wants you to think it looks like.
Affiliate Links — Clearly Marked
Some of our gear recommendations include affiliate links to outdoor retailers. When you click these links and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. We only link to products we actually use or have thoroughly researched. Affiliate relationships do not influence our editorial content.
We disclose affiliate links where they appear, typically with a note like "(affiliate link)" or a general disclosure at the top of gear-heavy articles. If we recommend a product that doesn't have an affiliate program, we still recommend it — we don't swap in an inferior product just because we can earn a commission on it.
The income from affiliate links is minor compared to our PDF sales. It covers some of our hosting costs and occasional gear purchases for testing. It's not a significant revenue stream, which means we have no incentive to compromise our recommendations for commission rates.
Fact-Checking Process
Our fact-checking is collaborative and ongoing. Here's how it works:
Initial research: The writer visits the location, takes notes, photos, and records details (prices, hours, facilities). For articles based on past visits, we review our notes and photos from those trips.
Writing: The writer drafts the article based on their direct experience. Specific facts — prices, bus schedules, opening hours — are double-checked against official sources where possible.
Review: Another team member reviews the draft. Yuki checks local context and current conditions. If something seems outdated or questionable, we flag it for verification.
Updates: We monitor for changes that affect our content. If a campground installs new facilities, an onsen changes its price, or a bus schedule shifts, we update the relevant article and note the change on our updates page.
We're a team of three, not a newsroom with dedicated fact-checkers. Mistakes can happen. When we discover an error — whether through our own observations or reader feedback — we correct it promptly and transparently.
Corrections Policy
When we make a factual error, we fix it. Simple as that. If the error is significant — a wrong price, an outdated schedule, a closed facility listed as open — we update the article and note the correction on our updates page with the date of the correction.
If you spot an error in our content, please let us know. We appreciate corrections from readers, especially locals who notice changes we might have missed. We verify reader-submitted corrections before publishing them, but we take all feedback seriously.
What We Won't Do
We don't write negative reviews of competitors to make ourselves look better. We don't accept payment for positive coverage. We don't delete or alter reader comments (we don't have comments, actually, but the principle stands). We don't fabricate experiences or quotes. We don't use AI to generate content — everything on this site is written by a human being who was actually there.
We don't claim to be objective in the way a news organization might be. We have opinions. We think climbing Fuji is overrated. We think Lake Motosu is the best campsite in the region. We think the Kawaguchi ropeway is a waste of time and money. These are subjective judgments based on our experience, and we present them as such. What we promise is that these opinions are honest — not influenced by compensation, pressure, or the desire to please advertisers.
Our Promise
We promise that every piece of content on this site reflects genuine experience, honest judgment, and independent editorial standards. We promise to correct errors when we find them. We promise to disclose any situation that might compromise our independence. And we promise to keep writing the kind of honest, practical outdoor content that we wish existed when we first started exploring the Fuji Five Lakes.
If we ever fail to live up to these standards, we want to hear about it. Contact us.