These are six issues of Japanese crags.
1) The lack of Risk management
People often misunderstand that difficult climbs and beginner routes require very different techniques to climb. But in fact, the danger is much the same.
So it is more important to learn how to protect yourself first than how to climb.
But, you know, climbers today don't understand that and don't practice it.
I don't know if this is something that a young person like me should say, but it seems that today's climbers in Japan are less skilled at preventing danger than they used to be.
More than 20 years ago, it might not have been wrong to climb in mountainous areas using left pitons and bolts.
But while the rest of the world is evolving, Japan is the only country that continues to do the same thing, aid climbing with bolts left by the first ascender.
So as a result, relatively speaking, Japanese climbers have fallen behind.
Older people don't seem to understand this and still teach young people aid climbing, thinking that 40 year old bolts are safe.
2) Do not fall easily! ...About learning the concept of behavioral protection.
The first thing a climber needs to learn is to never fall in a place where they shouldn't.
(Of course, you should never fall in any place...)
First of all, in order to climb in the mountains, you need to be able to recognize where you should not fall. This is called, recognition of the risk.
Please don't brag to your friends that you go to places where you shouldn't fall, without using a rope. That is not a bold act. It is a silly action.
We all sometimes go to the cragging for practice, don't we? I see a lot of people hanging on the first bolt at the crags, but those people need to think a little more.
Hanging from the rope from the first draw is normal for indoor sport climbing, but at an outdoor crag, there is no guarantee that the bolt is strong enough to hang from.
So hanging from just one bolt is potentially dangerous.
Everyone doing so just doesn't realize how dangerous it is.
We need to think more about behavioral protection.
Of course, we also need to improve our climbing ability. There is no better way to protect yourself than not falling.
Some climbers think that they can rope up with any belayer because "I don't fall," but think wisely. We have to be careful, because the belayers who rope with such lead climbers have zero practice in catching a fall. There are belayers who only have experience in belaying like that situation.
If you are a 5.13 climber, you don't fall at 5.9 even by mistake. For alpine rock climbers, 5.11 was only enough 15 years ago. Today's alpine rock climbers need to be able to carry 40 kilograms pack and climb 5.12 normally without getting slow.
3) Wrong belay
Belaying away from the wall is so widespread in Japan that it is even being taught.
Even on outdoor crags, you should avoid belaying away from the wall unless the ground you stand up are unstable.
Believe it or not, some organizations nowadays are instructing climbers to stay away from the wall because they can't see the climber.
It is wise not to get involved with people who stay away from the wall.
4) Misguided pioneering the wall
In Japan, the evolution of climbing has stopped since the development of routes based on aid climbing.
Climbing around the world is evolving, and if Japan just stand still, like the Red Queen's corridor in "Alice in Wonderland," climbing in Japan will quickly become obsolete.
And yet, by climbing with old, dangerous bolts, are we doing so to deliberately increase the danger and put ourselves in a tight spot?
That kind of climbing is mainstream in Japan.
Besides, the technique of protection (knots and setting a cam...etc) is not considered important at all in Japan.
There used to be a time when people used a lot of bolts because of the fragility of Japanese rock.
Unfortunately, that misunderstood way of using lots of bolts is still the mainstream in Japan.
On the other hand, some people bring the assumption of indoor sport climbing to the outside crags. It is true that you are allowed to fall on artificial walls, but that is not recommended at outside crags.
The current state of climbing in Japan is that there is no proper distinction between the indoor and outdoor.
(5) Knowledge of correct bolting is not widespread.
The original Japanese ring bolts and RCC bolts are not strong enough, so proper climbers do not use them.
All students have been using them for a long time, but they should stop.
The standard now is to use stud anchors (called goujons) that are at least 8mm in diameter. Top climbers even use 10mm stainless steel stud anchors when climbing in the Himalayas.
Reasonable climbers don't recommend using bolts. But if you have to, then you should use something reliable.
6) Continuation of old climbing styles
Even though the modern alpine rock climbing record is climbed in an all-free style, Japanese climbers continue to use the old style.
This is a unique problem only in Japan, where aid climbing of bolted routes was considered standard alpine rock climbing style.
In other countries, such climbing is outdated way of climbing.
As a result, Japanese crags are experiencing the Galapagosization phenomenon.
The young generation of climbers today is still in the middle of this misunderstanding.
As a result, climbers who fail to change their style of climbing with aged bolts are getting serious accidents, dying or being seriously injured in crags.
Conversely, for those who have developed advanced free-climbing abilities of today, Japanese crags have become too easy and unattractive.
Japanese alpine rock climbing has, after all, stopped its historical evolution.
And the introduction of sport climbing is the cause of the rapid increase in crag accidents in Japan.