Walking through Japan by Detlev Henschel
km on foot through Japan
Travel & Adventure – Hiking

WALKABOUT JAPAN

HIGH-TECH NATION AND 3RD WORLD COUNTRY

3,000 km on foot with a backpack and a tent through mystical Japan. For most people, Japan is Sony, Toyota, samurai, swords, sushi, chopsticks, incomprehensible and pretty far away!

But who really knows,
  • that in this volcanic country of 120 million people, stretching 3,200 km from north to south, 90 people were mauled by bears in villages last year?
  • that 450 earthquakes can occur EVERY day?
  • that most people 30 km outside the city in the countryside can no longer read the menu with their own „alphabet“ of over 20,000 „letters“?
  • that there is up to 7 meters of snow in the mountain villages in winter and that people there still cook on open fires, not to mention heating and running water?
  • how they admire the cherry blossom with enraptured eyes despite an incredibly lavish nature?

Philosophy

In the first week of March, I will head north on foot and with a backpack from the southernmost point of Kyushu, Cape Sata, to enjoy the spring in Japan with its overwhelming cherry blossoms on my way north.

The guiding symbol of this tour will be simplicity and minimalism in an over-excited and oversaturated time; this is also or especially possible in Japan! Moving slowly allows me to have intensive contact with nature and the people „along the way“ while maintaining my physical fitness and the experience. There will be no confrontation with nature according to the usual tried and tested motto – „The fight against steep mountains and a cruel nature“! From my point of view, there is no such thing, you just have to abide by its laws and try to form a unity with it – move to its rhythm!

Perhaps I will succeed in reaching the northernmost point of Japan on Hokkaido „Cape Soya“ with the „will without a specific conscious intention“; it is NOT a goal!

Journal

These posts are daily entries of personal experiences and thoughts.

Tagebuch - Buch Reisebericht Zu Fuß durch Japan
Travel & Adventure

The entire story in e-book format

(Not yet translated into English.)

Japan’s hinterland
3000 km on foot through Japan’s rural areas