In late May 2025, Star Shoji (hereafter referred to as "Star Shoji") held a press event entitled "Journey to Purity." This wonderful event was held with the aim of experiencing the BeFree AC, a two-stage portable water purifier from KATADYN (Star Shoji) with the catchphrase "One drop of peace of mind in case of emergency," while doing a bit of mountain climbing
Geargin also participated in this event, so we would like to share the details with you here
table of contents
- For Gearjin, this is a place that holds fond memories!
- The event started with a greeting from the representative of Star Shoji!
- The climbing part begins!
- Variation rush!
- A little bit of valley part and then BeFree AC!
- The second half will be packed with valley parts, so OPTIMUS!
- Now it's time to escape the mountain!
- KATADYN POP-UP! And to Takao Base
For Gearjin, this is a place that holds fond memories!
On the day of the event, please head to the meeting place from Keio Takaosanguchi Station
Takao, and if you leave the station onto the national highway and head north, this is your destination!
From past event reports
Takao Base, which has been used for past events, was the meeting place and pre-departure briefing point for this event, and was already bustling with Star Shoji staff and participants
Upon arrival, each participant was handed an event kit from Star Shoji
Among them is one of the main characters of this article, KATADYN's portable water purifier, BeFree AC 0.5L!
You are free to use the KATADYN backpack or not, so I store it in the bottle holder on my own pack; if I forget it, it's all over
The planned course has some rough sections, so for those who are worried, Takao Base also offers shoe rental services
The event started with a greeting from the representative of Star Shoji!
The event began as scheduled, with a greeting from Star Shoji's President and CEO, Yukinari Sasaki
Yohan, GM (General Manager) of KATADYN Asia from KATADYN,
Mr. Ota from Star Shoji's Marketing Department gave an overview of the event
The course is set to a distance of approximately 4.5km and will involve a circuit of various workshops
Shimizu from AUTHENTIC JAPAN/COCOHELI also tried to allow those who wanted to try out the Cocoheli. Naturally, the helicopter wasn't used, but it was a talisman just in case. He emphasized that Cocoheli is not insurance, but the only service in Japan that uses private helicopters for searches. *Insurance is now also available.
Cocoheli official website https://www.cocoheli.com/
Lastly, we have the strong guide team assembled for this event! They are our reliable allies
The climbing part begins!
The briefing is over and the event officially begins. It's quite a large group
Normally, the main focus of the mountain range is Mount Takao, which can be seen behind the station
As an aside, I'd like to see a facility that smells like beer opening in front of the torii gate
Surprisingly, the main field this time was southeast of Takao, and we didn't pass any major places at all (bitter smile).In a sense, it was like the true ``back'' side of Takao
Entering the mountain from the side of a private house just off the national highway, this is the hiking trail. President Sasaki's backpack was previously sold at Star Shoji! This is also a very rare item these days
From here, it was a gentle but almost straight climb up to the ridge, and it seemed that some of the participants didn't usually go to the mountains, so it wasn't hard for them at this point
We reached the ridge and took a short break
Side note 2: I'm also carrying regular water with me, even though I'm at the water purifier event. I recently bought this bottle at Kawara Kidake in Tochigi, and it's been going really well and I've been using it a lot in my daily life
From the past Yamatomachi extra edition
From here on we enter a short variation section
After some discussion, it was decided that the excessive number of people would be split into two groups, and with a call from KATADYN's Johan, we set off again
Variation rush!
Although it was a short section, we still had to be careful. Due to the rain that had fallen until the morning, the ground was loose in some places, and some participants slipped, creating a tense atmosphere
And the place I came out to was... Sorry, I'll just pass by
Once they got off, the advance party took a rest while waiting for the others to arrive
Meanwhile, a side note 3: A participant wearing normal shoes, which has been a hot topic recently, said that he was doing well!
A little bit of valley part and then BeFree AC!
From here, the route passes through and beside streams for a while
Although it is a stream, the water volume is small and calm, but due to the season, the greenery is amazing
The main event of the day takes place in an open area a little further on!
The president and GM will be leading the demonstration of the new BeFree AC!
"Our water purifier is amazing!" exclaimed Johan (laughs)
It was impressive to hear President Sasaki passionately and precisely explain the selling points of BeFree AC
So I'll give it a try
It's certainly clean... well, the stream we visited this time was pretty clean to begin with (lol), but I think that stream water would have a particular smell, but when I drank it, there was absolutely no smell, and it was just plain delicious. Even if there's no problem with the water purification, if the water smells a little too much, it needs to be filtered... One of the features of BeFree AC is that you can add a cork-shaped activated carbon filter in between to further improve the taste! And the filtration takes just about 10 seconds (!), so it's almost instantaneous
It can be made compact when not in use, and this 0.5L model weighs just 72g, making it super light. My impressions after actually filtering stream water and drinking it were as I mentioned earlier: the taste was great, but what I thought was even better was being able to drink the cold stream water on the spot. It's a different experience than carrying cold water in a water bottle or something. Above all, as long as you have a water source, you can have drinking water! This is an advantage in many ways
Some of the participants were brave enough to deliberately try using dirty water
It cleans in seconds! We plan to do a separate in-depth review of this BeFree AC water purifier, so if you're interested, please wait a little longer!
Gear review is out!
The second half will be packed with valley parts, so OPTIMUS!
After all participants have experienced the amazingness of BeFree AC, they will climb up the stream
At the top of that climb was the next workshop, but during that time, there was also a smoke bomb demonstration by Hosoya Kakou Pokkem, who was accompanying us, but this time, unlike last time, he was in the late group and it ended while we were watching the Star Shoji filming (wry smile). What a shame, we won't know what happened! And sorry Pokkem!
Hosoya Pyro official Pokkem website : https://hosoya-pyro.co.jp/product/pokkem/
The final event within the event was a demonstration of boiling a large amount of water using OPTIMUS' multi-fuel stove, NOVA, and a small freeze-dried food tasting session
This versatile stove can use white gasoline, kerosene, and diesel without changing the jet, making it easy to use, but it also has multi-purpose capabilities that make it suitable for use at high altitudes and in polar regions.It is also great for boiling large amounts of water at once when there are a large number of people, and in no time at all, a large cooker full of hot water was ready
The product that was tested using the hot water was freeze-dried food from KATADYN, and it has not yet been decided whether it will be introduced in Japan
It's a parade of flavors that are a little different from Japanese, and it's quite unique, so I think it reflects the country's character
Now it's time to escape the mountain!
After a light meal, we headed down the mountain
This is common! The most difficult part comes at the very end, but there is no need to worry as the guides will be watching over you
We made it down the mountain safely
Actually, we had planned to visit the Takao 559 Museum, which crosses the road, but it seems we had run out of time for the hike, so we decided to skip it
KATADYN POP-UP! And to Takao Base
We then headed to the place next to the Salomon Takao store
KATADYN POP-UP is currently being held at COCOHELITAKAO
Here you can see the lineup of products available in Japan, as well as detailed demonstrations of the water purifiers. However, there is only a short time left, so be careful if you want to see it!
・KATADYN POP-UP SHOP will be open until Monday, June 16, 2025.
・Business hours: 9:00-17:00 / Closed on Mondays.
・2217 Takao-cho, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo
・COCOHELITAKAO Instagram https://www.instagram.com/cocohelitakao/
So everyone returned safely to Takao Base
Let's all toast to the completion of the event!
Afterwards, we enjoyed the delicious food prepared by Takao Base
The mission was accomplished after listening to the closing remarks while watching the reliable backs of both main characters!
At first glance, it may seem like a simple circuit, but it's the result of careful research and careful planning by President Sasaki, who seems to have actually walked around the area and come up with the course. After all, I think the most lively person on site was President Sasaki himself (lol). As you'd expect from someone who works in the outdoors
So, it was a really fun and valuable experience to learn about and use a water purifier, which I (the author) would never use on a regular hike. It makes me want to continue taking it with me on hikes, and in these unpredictable times, it's useful both in everyday life and in emergencies, so it's a good item to have on hand! I left Takao with these thoughts in mind
・Star Corporation official website https://www.star-corp.co.jp/
・Star Shoji KATADYN website https://www.star-corp.co.jp/katadyn_befree_ac/
・Star Corporation official Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/starcorp_japan/
Yans
