I’m in need of replacing my backpacking tent after it basically disintegrated from sitting in storage for two years (Japanese mountain huts are too cushy to pass up). I brought my 3-season tent from US and the inner is mostly mesh for weight savings and ventilation, but I’m seeing that local tent makers favor an all or mostly solid inner tent (with zip down mesh venting), which for the US would put these tents in a 4 season tent category. I’m hoping to get some advice from folks experienced with backpacking in Japan on what kind of tents you’re using and the advantages and disadvantages of the tent design. I have the option to ship a tent from US and I’m only interested in 3 season use. Is a 3 season tent designed for US backpacking fine here or should I be looking at the fully enclosed tents that are on available on the Japanese market?
Thanks!
Edit: Realizing that I should clarify what I mean by backpacking. In the US, backpacking means camping in the backcountry (as opposed to the front country, i.e. car camping), where you have to hike to your campsite carrying in all your gear. It doesn’t mean travel backpacking, which I think it’s what Europeans (and maybe Australians?) tend to refer to as backpacking.
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My guess is that most backpacking tents are sold to Japanese who think.they need a 4season tent even thought they don’t. Most backpackers here feel treat casual backpacking as much more of a serious expedition that we do in the US
You can no longer purchase it from Amazon, but I bought [this tent](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HGHZNNJ) and had it shipped to me in 2018, and it has held up well.
It’s *very* airy though, and I live in Hokkaido, so on some colder nights or at higher elevations, I would have preferred a 4-season tent.
I’m not really familiar with American tents, nor do I know exactly what you mean by “backpacking”. But I can highly recommend the tents they sell at Decathlon. There’s one shop in Kansai, and I believe at least one in Kanto, and they’ve possible expanded to elsewhere in the country as well. And you can probably buy stuff online.
They sell light-weight, durable tents suitable for hiking excursions, which have inner covers that are mostly mesh. I don’t know what exactly your needs are for a tent, but for me, they’re perfect, and I camp very extensively here, including on multi-day treks.
In general I think you should be ok with anything you would be comfortable with in the US. Maybe a difference would be that Japan can have very sudden flash rains, and in the mountains they can make things freezing cold very fast. It’s not uncommon to use something like the Big Agnes Copper Spur here though, so that might give you a reference.
Brought my little backpacking kelty over from the states and it’s been just fine for 3-season use here. It’s actually nice to have the mostly all-inner mesh as a sweaty gaijin
Are you planning on hiking and sleeping alone? If so I would recommend a bivy tent.
I’ve only used a 3 season tent and climb 3,000m or above mountains in the winter here. I’m talking January and February. -20 C weather. That being said I have a nice down sleeping bag, nice down jacket, nice down pants and nice down booties/socks. If you aren’t doing winter go light. As light as you can find.
[https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/gp/product/B088R8V7DS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1](https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/gp/product/B088R8V7DS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
This is what I bought. Did just fine on top of Mt. Kita and was easy to tote.
REI ships to Japan (depending on the brand) and their house brand of tents are well built.
Also check Mont Bell, the Rera Dome mesh looks great for summer camping.
Montbell has great options, even ultralights I think.
A couple of chain stores that have a presence in pretty much any major city are 石井スポーツ and 好日山荘. They carry foreign brands like MSR and Nemo that offer double wall tents with mesh inner. Neither of the major domestic brands, Montbell and Arai, offer tents with fully mesh inners for their 3 season lineup so those are off the table.
I’ve used 3 season MSR tents from summer to winter, camping at few hundred meters to 3,000 m and if I were to guess at least half the tents I see are the brands with mesh inners.
You can also find a ton of more niche brands and ultralight stuff at non-chain stores.
Every single Japanese person out in the mountains pretty much owns a 1-person orange montbell tent lol. They are expensive though so I got a Naturehike tent off amazon, about 14,000 yen and a good knockoff of montbell. Very good 3 season tent!
I like nemo tents. (though they are a little more expensive here). Specifically the Tani 2P which is light enough to use solo, and very spacious. I think it is a Japan-specific design with a traditional cross pole layout.
I think Japanese prefer stronger more traditional, cross pole designs, vs slightly slightly lighter but less robust US designs. My theory is that camp sites here are often a lot more exposed and located in rocky sites right at the tops of mountains. Whereas campsites in the US (in my experience) are usually not near the peaks, but down in the valleys amongst the forests, out of the wind.
I favor the simple 4 corner, cross pole, designs too, and actually saw the ‘spine pole’ of a Big Agnes tent next to me snap in a strong wind, which my cross pole dealt with happily. The weight savings of the ‘spine’ designs are not worth the trade off in strength / peace of mind imo.
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No, you don’t need to buy a Japanese tent.
I hike and camp a lot in Japan, mostly alpine and use a Nemo tent because they are light.
Would recommend you get a freestanding one though because the campgrounds next to huts are often rocky and it’s almost impossible to get the stakes in. Usually have to use big rocks.
Before the Nemo I had a Chinese one from Amazon. Naturehike I think? Great tent for how cheap it was, just wanted something a bit lighter.
Bf has a Japanese one person tent which lasted 10years already.
Montbell makes great gear too. I have a sleeping bag from them but I think their tents/pads are kinda heavy.
It’s not cheap, but I’ve bought the Nemo Tani 2P at Lbreath in Shinjuku, and I’ve done backpacking with it in Japan and later in the US. It’s more of a 4 season deal, but the inner tent still feels very ventilated.
It’s very light and compact, so I’ve also used it for hike and camp and fly paragliding activities (e.g. carrying both tent, provisions, sleeping bag and mat, and paraglider+harness in backpack).
I typically combine it with a Nemo Tensor mat, and a Montbell FP900 sleeping bag. This ain’t cheap, but I needed equipment that is light, compact, and multi-purpose. This fit the bill, and it’s survived 5 years of abuse already.