My journey with Tokyo Powder started with me working at Onsight Climbing Gym in Singapore in late 2015. I was a young, passionate individual with no knowledge or experience with route-setting or the industry at large. Having only climbed for 5 years casually prior, the lure to the industry was with how it ticked and the inner workings – how routes got set, how a gym functions.
I took a chance and leapt down to Singapore when a position opened – to take up working with the retail of the gym and as an apprentice routesetter. I’ll be perfectly honest – when I started I had no idea what I was doing, and to date, the more I know, the less I feel I know.
FIRST TOKYO POWDER
When I first began climbing and when starting out in Onsight, I used Metolius climbing chalk. Back then, it was a staple in most climbing gyms and suited my preference for chalk. Later on I learnt that Mitsuo-san, had also started off Metolius chalk, and founded Tokyo Powder in an attempt to create a more consistent chalk feel and performance – something that I must say today, he has certainly succeeded in.
Initially, when I started in retail, I was skeptical of the Tokyo Powder – why was it so much more expensive than the competition? How could I, help to market it? The pivotal point for me was when I was working on a project (indoors – yes, the blasphemy! But remember this is Singapore, with only a single small crag) and no matter what I did, I couldn’t stick a move. A friend suggested I try out some of his chalk – and as if by magic, a sloper that I could not stick to, suddenly felt much easier. Turns out the chalk was Tokyo Powder, and from then, I was hooked.
As part of my duties in the gym, one of the ads that stood out for me that I did for Tokyo Powder at the time when logo parody was a thing (something that you can’t really do anymore these days) was using the Asahi Super Dry logo. Alongside this, I was also learning more about route setting, doing weekly sets on rope and boulder, as well as setting in a few local competitions.
2016 - Route Setting together for the first time
In 2016, after months of communication just via messages and email, I finally met Mitsuo-san. He had come down to Singapore by invitation to set at a local competition, called Pumpfest. I had the honor of working with him and setting for that competition, together with Ivan Tokumori, the owner of Eyecandy Works – a bespoke chalk bag brand. Filming the whole shebang was Takeshi, an independent filmmaker based in Japan.
I was young, dorky, with a toolbelt made of 3 black diamond chalk bags stitched together. Setting together with Mitsuo-san and Ivan was a pivotal point for me – it exposed a different mindset, working style, attention to detail and a lot of new moves. I vowed to get better at what I do and aspired to be as capable.
Singapore, 2016. Mitsuo-san and I route set together for the first time at Pumpfest.
No route setter is an island.
Fast forward to a year later – I had taken over setting at Onsight and been head setter for a few of the local competitions, when I had the opportunity to go to Japan to do a route setting workshop, held by Tondé, Travis Kemp and Mitsuo-san at Maboo. Legends in their own right – the key takeaway from the workshop for me was that “no route setter is an island”.
What came after the workshop – piqued my interest a lot more. I got into a conversation with Mitsuo-san about route setting and hold choices. To give context to this, his setter at Maboo, Shun Kaido, had come to Singapore for 6 months as part of a learning experience. During this time, I had always wondered why Shun would scour the hold box to find a particular hold, despite the set looking very similar to me.
Mitsuo-san spent the next 2 hours with me explaining why he chose what he chose, the fundamentals of why the holds were different, and how to use them. It again formed the next pivotal point, and it was something that I wanted to apply in my setting going forwards.
Shun-Kaido and I—our conversations about route setting and holds continued even outside the gym.
Transend 2017
A few months later, Mitsuo-san came down with Shun to set at another local competition, Transend 2017. This time, I was the head setter, and asked Mitsuo-san to set a mirror boulder for the finals.
Transend 2017. A mirror boulder set for the finals.
It was another learning experience, where I made the calls that overdid the semi-final round. Thankfully, the finals were a good show (thanks to Mitsuo-san and the rest of the team), and post competition – Mitsuo-san offered for me to go to Japan again to see his mentor, Shogo Murooka to learn more about fundamentals of climbing.
Naturally, I said yes, though I was in great trepidation. I had decided to leave Onsight at around the same time, and so, it was on the plane back to Japan for a stint.
Starting over from the basics in Japan
When I first arrived, Mitsuo-san took me on a setting journey to Grappa, Vert and Maboo. I admit – those days setting there are branded in my memory. It exposed me to how little I knew, despite setting for 2 years.
A photo taken at a later date, showing Shogo and me having a serious conversation at a hotel in Taiwan.
I spent the next few weeks then living in Rock Beans, Shogo-san’s gym in Hachioji, learning the fundamentals of climbing, repeating the same boulders repeatedly, and cracking my head each time I set a boulder there, sometimes over multiple days to get just a single route up to standard to remain on the wall. Rock Beans functions as a training gym – and each route there is the pinnacle of what a training route should be for a solid foundation in climbing. Each placement of the hand, foot or choice of hold are extremely well considered. Some routes have been there for many years, a testament to the quality. Almost like rock, it becomes the identity of the gym and Shogo-san and serves as a test piece for those who are willing.
Climbing in Japan. This stay became a time for me to re-examine not only route setting but climbing itself.
Joinning TOKYO POWDER
Over the course of the trip there, I spent many hours in conversation with Mitsuo-san and also Shogo-san. It helped me develop my setting style as it is today. In one of the conversations, I had asked Mitsuo-san what it would take to be a freelance setter sponsored by Tokyo Powder, not knowing it would develop into what I do for Tokyo Powder today. His advice was to choose a path that made sense to me and to see what comes.
Post trip, I moved back to Malaysia temporarily, before heading to Thailand to help the national team in preparation for the Jakarta Palembang Asian Games in 2018. It was then, that Mitsuo-san offered me a position to work as International Market Manager with Tokyo Powder. I happily agreed to it.
The other side of a bag of chalk
The ethos of Tokyo Powder Industries is to create a quality product with passionate people working behind the brand to make it what it is. Every product is intended to serve a purpose, and no bag is left untouched by a human hand before it leaves the factory. Indeed – a fun fact that I learnt while making chalk in the factory with the team, is that the text of EVERY bag of Speed and Effect is handwritten. To date this little detail amazes me and is a little Easter Egg that few know about.
Making chalk in the factory over the course of my stay there gave me a newfound appreciation to what it takes to make chalk. Where some brands repack a bag of powder and slap a label on it, every single bag or bottle that comes out of the Tokyo Powder factory is mixed painstakingly by hand and hand packed before being sealed, mostly by just two of us in the team.
While it may seem foolish to do this in a world where mechanical advantage exists – especially given the explosion in demand for our products, most of the products create so much friction that it becomes almost impossible to mix and move around in a traditional factory setting without destroying the machinery.
More than chalk.
To me – Tokyo Powder Industries represents more than just chalk and gear. It becomes a tool for not just sending projects, but for conversation and relationships. And with all good sends – some are worth the effort and patience.
My journey together since joining Tokyo Powder has opened opportunities to journey out and share my love for climbing, setting and our products in various countries across the Asian region and meet others from further afield. In some circumstances, it has put me in positions where though sometimes uncomfortable, have given me new experiences and taught me more about myself. These relationships and conversations spur me on to go to new heights in my role for Tokyo Powder.
In the same way that Tokyo Powder Industries has had magic for me in my life and climbing – I hope that each product that you use will spark some magic and conversation that leads you down a path less explored.
Derek Loh
I am currently also involved in trail running