With years of experience at a major travel company, Hideki Takeda specialized in planning educational trips that immersed students in history, culture, and the outdoors. He has designed numerous outdoor adventure tours as well as hands-on educational programs that connect people with Japan's rich traditions.

A competitive skier in his youth and a backpacker during his student days, Takeda is a true adventurer at heart. He is equally at home pitching a tent deep in a remote forest as he is guiding others through cultural journeys.

Driven by his love of nature and rural life, he founded And Nature Inc., a travel company dedicated to showcasing the authentic beauty of Japan's countryside. His guiding philosophy is simple yet powerful: "If it moves me, then it will surely move others."

Relentlessly pursuing the question of what travel truly means, he embodies a "philosophy of travel" that seeks to create journeys which deeply connect people to nature, to communities, and to themselves.

From an early age, she grew up surrounded by forests, mountains, and rivers, developing a deep familiarity with camping and outdoor life. At university she studied in the Faculty of Agriculture, researching programs centered on nature and the revitalization of rural communities in Japan. She also joined a mountaineering club, spending her days immersed in the mountains throughout all four seasons, which further deepened her relationship with the natural world.

Today she travels across Japan by car, experiencing diverse landscapes and regional ways of life. Rather than well-maintained campgrounds, she is drawn to untouched environments — deep forests and clear waters where she can feel the silence and inherent beauty of the land. Although she was initially apprehensive about solo camping, she gradually discovered its appeal and now enjoys venturing farther into the wilderness.

She holds a strong affection for Japan’s farming villages and satoyama landscapes, believing they contain a richness and warmth absent from urban life. These experiences form the foundation of her work connecting people with nature and regional culture.

Watercolor painter and photographer. Former travel industry professional. Featured on NHK’s popular program Japan’s 100 Famous Mountains, he has long been deeply connected with nature and mountaineering.

For more than 10 years, he has embarked on annual expeditions to Alaska, captivated by its untouched wilderness. His adventures include canoe journeys across the Arctic Ocean and the glacial seas of Southeast Alaska. These experiences are reflected in his artwork and photography, sharing the beauty of nature with many.

He is also a skilled chainsaw artist, able to create wooden works on the spot in the forest. Humble and unpretentious, his skill and creativity captivate those around him.

Together with his wife Kumiko, who runs the nature-based kindergarten Mori no Yōchien Piccolo, they continue activities that connect people with nature and community.