Every 11th August, Japan celebrates “mountain day” where many head to the wilds and experience the great outdoors. And to celebrate, BS11 is hosting a mountaineering special with actor and mountain climbing enthusiast Takatoshi Kaneko. Of course, he’s also coming with a special guest, whose role in an anime certainly fits the occasion! That’s right folks, Yoko Hikasa, who voices Kaede Saitou in Encouragement of Climb, is tagging along!

Together, the two of them will be taking on Mount Kirigamine, a 1,925m volcano in Nagano Prefecture. Encouragement of Climb also featured the mountain on the 14th episode of the second season. In fact, many fans of the series try to tackle it too as a homage to the anime. It’s even an anime pilgrimage site for the series as well! And now, Yoko Hikasa will be trying to take this challenge herself. However, she’s still a novice climber with zero experience, so Saitou will be teaching her the ropes as they go along.

The Japanese government itself added Mountain Day to the Japanese calendar back in 2016. It also has ties with Encouragement of Climb, as characters Aoi, Hinata, Kaede, Kokona, and Honoka also serve as ambassadors for the day.

Source: BS11