Nestled in the shadow of the 2,857-meter-high Mount Jonen — the pyramid-shaped granite peak visible from the concourse of Matsumoto Station and from the platform of nearby Hotaka Station in central Nagano Prefecture — the Jonen-goya (mountain hut) is today celebrating its centenary.
Although there were a few before him, it was not until the late 19th century that Walter Weston, a British missionary who came to Japan and who is sometimes referred to as the "father of Japanese mountaineering," began to explore the peaks of Japan and, in doing so, piqued the interest of adventurous Japanese, too.
Yarisawa Lodge, the first mountain hut in the area, was built in 1917 in the Yarisawa Valley, located between Kamikochi and the 3,180-meter Mount Yari — the distinctive spear-shaped peak known as the "Matterhorn of Japan."